1. Fill sink or basin with enough hot water to submerge the purse. The water should be as hot as your hands can comfortably tolerate for a minute or two. Add a few drops dishwashing soap, soap flakes or other soap, but do not use glycerin or detergent. A good measure is 1 tsp. soap to 2 quarts of water. The soap solution should be slightly slick to the touch.2. Place a sheet of bubble wrap inside the purse to keep the wool sides from touching. Submerge the purse in the water and press all over the bag to soak it throughout and remove all of the water.
3. Once the bag is soaked, hold it over the basin and allow water to drain. Transfer to a dry basin or tray and lay the purse flat. Press the water through the wool; then wrap your fingers in plastic wrap or cover the purse with netting and begin gentle circular massage of the surface. Focus on one side, one area at a time, and massage the entire surface of the outside of the bag: this will further felt the surface layers. Your goal is to entangle the fibers and cause them to become tighter, so the massaging should not visibly move the fibers or the design. As the felt begins to shrink, gradually increase your massaging pressure. Put one hand inside the bag and massage from both sides. This is called "palming."
4. Roll the bag and press into the basin 25 times from each of the four sides to further felt the wool. Increase the tightness of the roll and repeat, squeezing with your hands but never wringing.
5. Test if the fabric has reached the "soft felt" stage by pinching one side between your fingers. It should pull up in one mass and the fibers should not come loose. If it passes the test, move on to the next step; otherwise, continue massaging and rolling with increasing pressure.
6. "Fulling" is the stage where the fibers become further shrinking of the fabric. It can be done in many ways: rolling, rubbing on a bumpy surface such as washboard, slamming onto a surface, sometimes even stomping, etc. Basically, this is a continuation of the felt-making process, where we increase vigor to shrink the fibers down. Try all of the techniques on the purse; you can even rinse out the soap and toss in the dryer without heat for a few minutes at a time.
7. Once the bag is shrunk to your satisfaction, roll it in a dry towel to press out the water, wrap the foam piece in a plastic bag, put it inside the purse for shaping and allow to dry overnight. The next day, steam-press the purse with a hot iron (cover first with a soft sheet or other cloth barrier to keep the iron from burning the wool). This will give the purse a finished look.
