Thursday, December 17, 2009

Recycling Wool Sweaters

I love to buy 100% wool sweaters from places like Goodwill, Salvation Army and other second hand stores and turn them into things like this! First, I felt the sweaters in the washing machine until the knit is no longer visible. Once they are dry it's time to get cutting.



These hand warmers are made from sections of both sleeves. I use the body of the sweater to make handbags. I remove the sleeves at the shoulders when I am making the handbag (that will be my next post). I then slide my hand into the sleeve and see where I would like to cut it for the hand warmer length. Usually about midway up the arm. I then make a slit for my thumbs next to the seam.



Then I take some scrap from another sweater and cut out the little flowers and sew them on with buttons.



Next up!



These are sure to keep your hands warm this winter. Go see if you can find some old wool sweaters and have fun!

8 comments:

Erin @ The Impatient Gardener said...

That is so cute! I'd love to see some other creative ideas to do with sweaters that have been, um ... overloved by the dryer.

Jean Campbell said...

Carolyn posted a pic this week of her daughter wearing a coat she made of felted pieces. I would imagine the material would make wonderful throws. The colors remain bright, so patchwork would be marvelous.

Gail said...

Michelle, I love this idea and have wanted to try the purses...Have you seen the throws made from old sweaters? gail

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Wow! You are so creative! Good job Michelle!

Kris said...

Oh this is such a brilliant idea! I'm off to the Goodwill tomorrow to see what I can find. Thanks for posting the tip and the pics. :-D

Judybec said...

wonderful! love your buttons and flower touches!
I've got an old sweater I bought last year at goodwill with the intent of making it into a handbag! (it was so colorful I couldn't pass it up) BUT, I've been too chicken to cut it -- I'll be VERY interested in your next post!!!!
Thanks for sharing!!!

Tiffany said...

These are so cute! Love the bags too. What a great idea. I think I'm going to have to brave trying out the sewing machine finally. Wish I had my mom's stash of buttons. They would be so great for projects like these. Where do you find them all?

allhorsestuff said...

YOU my dear, have the best ideas!!!
WOW!
KK