Awareness Purse

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Crochet World included my Bead Felted Awareness Purse pattern in their October issue. The below final version was tapestry crocheted with Petal Pink and Aran Patons Classic Wool and #5 triangular glass beads from Fire Mountain Gems.

Bead Felted Awareness Purse
The 11” wide Bead Felted Awareness Purse in Crochet World.

Awareness Purse before felting
The 17 3/8” wide Bead Felted Awareness Purse before felting.

You guessed it! This pattern was perfected little by little. Never having worked with this wool before, I had to learn how it shrunk during felting. Even though I knew it would shrink more in width than height, it still surprised me! Along the way I also experimented with the size, color, beads, and straps. The first and second versions of the purse feature square beads and thinner straps.

Before Felting
The first and second purses before felting.

The First Awareness Purses
The first two purses after felting.

The Awareness Purse Open
All of the bags have a surprise inside. This is the inside of my second attempt.

The beads were slid to the front of the loose stitch in all three versions.

Front Bead Stitch
The loose stitch allows the beads to be slid to the front of each stitch.

My mother survived breast cancer, but unfortunately, she didn’t survive her second round of Lymphoma. Hopefully, all types of cancer will find a cure someday soon.

5 Responses to “Awareness Purse”

  1. Debbie says:

    I am so sorry about your mom. I loved your purse design, I have the magazine and I was going to change the color of the ribbon. I’m a lymphoma survivor, just past the 5 year mark. The purse can be made into any color to show support and that is why I loved it. Knitting, Beading and Cancer Awareness. Thanks for a great pattern, your mom would be proud!

  2. This pattern was in the October 2008 issue of Crochet World. Sometimes old magazines are sold on sites like Ebay. My Bead & Felted Tapestry Crochet book at https://www.tapestrycrochet.com/Projects/BFTCprojects.htm has a similar pattern that you might like. Congratulations on being cancer free!

  3. Babs says:

    Been looking for this pattern. But unfortunally I can’t find it. I am a breast cancer survivor of 3 years now (4 years in June). My oncologist says I’m cancer free! 🙂 If anyone would please let me know where to get it, I’d greatly appreciate it. Thank you!

  4. Quita says:

    I love this purse. I have the copt of the magazine, but unfortunately I am not experienced enough to make this! I have a friend who is battling stage 3 breast cancer and my Mom just had surgery to remove stage 3 uterine cancer. Wish I could make this for them! Congrats on such a beautiful creation.

  5. This purse is not too difficult if you don’t include the beads. The felted stitch is loose, which makes it easier than the projects with tight stitches. I hope you’ll give it a try!

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