How To Design A Resist For A Bag – The Q&A Sessions

Welcome to the first episode of my new Q&A series.

If you still have trouble finding the right way to make a resist for a 3D wet felted object, this episode is for you.

Today’s question is from Kathryn, from Walla Walla, in Washington state.

And Kathryn writes:

“I am trying to make a wet felted case for my son’s new MacBook Pro computer. I viewed your template making video for the clutch bag – thinking I could use that for my effort.

I made the template and started to lay out the wool and realized that I didn’t know why I needed the top resist.

You have a resist that has a top and bottom, when I thought I only needed the bottom to cover with wool, so that I could make the pocket.

If I don’t intend the top to have a pocket, why do I need the top part of the template?

I ended up cutting the template in half and placing the top part under the bubble wrap to serve as a guide, as I wanted the top to cover the bottom of the bag as I see on your photo.

Can you help me understand

• what the top template is for and
• is there any additional video that shows how you proceed from the template to the layout and to the end product?

Thank you so very much.”

Thank you for your question Kathryn. This is very relevant, because I know so many of you aren’t sure how to design a resist for the item you’d like to make.

A resist is basically used to keep two pieces of wool from felting to each other. But it can also serve as a guide for when you’re laying the wool.

Let me explain this better by showing you exactly how I use it for this particular project.

If you’re not familiar with the project Kathryn mentions, and you want to better understand how a resist is made, I recommend you take a look at the video.

In that video I show you how to calculate the size of your resist, according to the tablet or laptop you’re felting a cover for. Click here for the link.

So, the pattern is divided into two areas: the pocket and the cover area. In the video I mention that I cut about 2mm off the top part of the resist.

The fact that the flap is a bit smaller than the bag area ensures that the flap will exactly cover the bag part. The bag needs to be a bit bigger than the flap because the tablet has a thickness of about 1 cm.

So, why not just make a resist for the bag area and lay the wool freely for the cover? Well, because if you have a pattern you can use to guide you when laying the wool, that’ll make your life a lot easier.

So, here is how I lay the wool. You can see that the wool for the flap area has already been placed, but it’s only on one side of the resist.

Then, I just concentrate on the pocket area.

When I turn the bag over, you can clearly see what the flap looks like.

So, I find that having the top part of the resist can be a huge help to guide you in laying the wool in a precise way.

To answer the question about additional videos, there is a 9-part video course on how to make this piece, with a lot of detail. You can find it at my Etsy shop. Here’s the link if you want to check it out.

And this is my answer to your question Kathrin. I hope this helps.

Talk to you soon!