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Monday the whole family (plus the dog), my aunt and uncle, cousin, wife and 2 mini cousins packed up and headed to a local pumpkin patch. The kids had a great time, BUT it was COLD. It feels like winter here.
Already dry chapped winter skin is making an appearance. My hands hurt with cold all afternoon. It got me thinking about felt (remember I found felt last spring), and how even though I am the NON-crafty sort, the one who said, “craft schmafts“, I was desperate to turn old Salvation Army wool sweaters into mitts and slippers for the kids.
Did you know you can ‘felt’ old wool sweaters by washing in hot water and rinsing in cold? Make sure you add soap :)
Here are a few of the sweaters that I felted. I think this batch went through 2 cycles in the machine. These started out as adult larges and are now about a kids size 4 (I know because they fit Georgia).
Once felted, I cut the sweaters up into usable pieces. Mostly this means cutting out the seams.
I decided to make Sam a pair first. Mostly because he was the only one who DIDN’T care about color, design etc. It was nice to be able to do whatever I wanted. He wasn’t bothered in the the least to get the dark gray lambs wool. I traced his hand, added a 5 mm – 1 cm seam allowance and then cut out two templates.
I pinned the paper templates to the fabric and then cut out the fabric. I did two layers at a time … mostly because I am lazy like that. Also note, that you can use the ribbing of the sweater waistband as the wrist area for the mittens if you cut them as above.
I then turned them inside out and sewed them together. I sewed these by hand, because I don’t own a sewing machine, and have no clue how. No worries though … hand stitching works just fine.
Woohoo—> one down and one to go.
Once the two mitts were sewn, I used other recycled felt pieces, buttons etc. to add a cute design. I think these turned out sufficiently boyish.
I am working on some Chihuahua mittens for Georgia (her newest obsession). Lizzy has now decided she wants ‘girl’ Skulls. Then I am going to get started on some felt booties.
Do you have any projects on the go?
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MK xo
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October 16th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
I have some old sweaters that would be perfect for this, thanks for the great idea
Noreen’s last blog post..Vote for my Girls and Giveaway
October 16th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Those are so cute! Um, I mean, rugged. ;)
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October 16th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
I love those! What a great idea! I am going to have to try this
October 17th, 2008 at 5:52 am
I LOVE those mittens! They’re great. Thank you for sharing! I’ve been making things from felt, too, only using crafters felt (I am so inspired by your upcycling of the sweaters though!) – lately I’ve been making little felt bunnies and also doing some crocheting. Something about fall makes me want to nest :)
October 17th, 2008 at 7:14 am
They are so cute!
Should try something myself. :)
October 17th, 2008 at 7:22 am
I’m sterting to think your middle name must be Doris! Very creative:)
October 17th, 2008 at 7:24 am
How about I’m “starting”
October 17th, 2008 at 7:24 am
wow! LOVING the skulls! last year i was all about making “recycled” wool diaper covers. i think i may be inspired by you though, we just moved somewhere cold (from sunny florida) & don’t own mittens! Seeing as I’m ‘craft-challenged’ i never would have thought to decorate the mittens. :) looks great.
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October 17th, 2008 at 10:04 am
I have been meaning to try this. I just never seem to actually pull into the goodwill driveway as I pass by. I do have a few sweaters I could felt but I wanted to use cheap ones in case I messed up.
Those are great mittens.
I’ve been making wool felt crowns lately. I wonder if wool sweaters would work instead of the felt I’ve purchased. It would be cheaper and I like cheap.
lace’s last blog post..Crowns for the Girls
October 17th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Whenever I try to “felt” a sweater it doesn’t work as planned…Whenever I don’t try as was when I washed a sweater I wore when I was little and os now being worn by the little one at our house it did! I had a small pity party and then realized it was big to start and it fits just right now…..
Lesson learned for next time though.
Great mitts…its that season already!~
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October 17th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Man, those are CUTE!
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October 17th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
What a great idea! And I love the red hat up top—is that hand made too???
October 17th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
It is starting to get cooler here, too! It has been in the low 40’s here.
I love the mittens that you are making! Great job…..Cindi
October 17th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
wow thats realy cool i like them thanks
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October 17th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Those are incredibly cute!! I wish I had more time to spend with my sewing machine. I would put the bindings on my 2 quilts that have been for months to be finished.
October 17th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Wow, those turned out super cute! Roo’s in love with chihuahuas, too. I’m curious to see your take on that!
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October 17th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
You. Are. Amazing.
LOVE those!
Angella’s last blog post..Cheap Date Nights
October 18th, 2008 at 6:10 am
I love this idea!
We have a sewing machine here but it belongs to my husband. He’s in the Navy and uses it to hem his pants whenever he gets a new uniform. Yeah… I’m not the sewing type. The machine scares me and sounded like a tommy gun going off in my ear the first time I attempted to use it. I much much MUCH prefer to embroider and do any kind of sewing by hand. It may take longer, but it’s less terrifying, and much more satisfying.
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October 18th, 2008 at 7:24 am
I have so many sewing projects on the go—it’s making me dizzy! Since we moved into a new home I made curtains for six windows, 3 baby wraps for pregnant friends (I have two more to go—one for me and one for my sister), pillow covers, bed sheets for my son’s crib, and now the big project is a red devil Halloween costume for my 2 year old. That should be fun!
By the way, those mitts are quite fashionable! Love the “skulz” embellishments!
October 18th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
What a cool idea! I’m going to email this url to my wife (she’s a lot more crafty than I) because I know we have some old wool sweaters just taking up space in the closet right now. PS - nice photos too!
October 18th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Wow, these are AWESOME!! You are SO clever, Kim. I wish I could sew properly! I bet the kids loved these.
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October 19th, 2008 at 8:11 am
Those are adorable! You did a great job!
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October 19th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I really dont know how to comment here, other than to say that I like the way you use your content….keep up the good work.
October 20th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Very cool
I think they turned out great.
October 20th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I have no time for projects…. there’s way too much on my plate these days. Awesome idea with the gloves though!
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November 12th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
? Seriously? I was searching Google for dry macular and found this… will have to think about it.
November 29th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Haha, kids always seem to fare the worst when it comes to chapped lips and skin in the winter time. Probably because they’re always outside and not really concerned with skin care. Ohhhh to be young again!
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December 28th, 2008 at 8:37 am
this is realy cute, and i like to sewing also on my new bosh sewing machine. Keep up the good work, we like your articles so mutch.