>> Betz White is the author of the upcoming book on recycled felting Warm Fuzzies: 30 Sweet Felted Projects. An avid felter, sewer, and green crafter, Betz sells her one-of-a-kind recycled wool items internationally, teaches workshops, and maintains a popular blog at betzwhite.com.
Refashion your old sweaters into fabulous, no-sweat creations.
Summer’s here! Time to take a closer look at the old sweaters accumulating like dust bunnies in the back of your closet. Ask yourself, are you really going to wear that oversized tunic again? Be realistic: if that turtleneck was too itchy to wear last winter, won’t it still be too itchy next winter? Try looking at those sweaters as raw materials for some new crafty projects. Use this as an opportunity to challenge your creativity. Make new from old, with the result being one-of-a-kind (not to mention free!).
Start by acknowledging what you still like about your formerly loved sweater. Is it outdated but made with a great yarn? Consider unraveling it and reusing the yarn by knitting or crocheting it into something new.
Is it pilly and misshapen but beautiful in color? Try cutting it into strips to craft with. Did your favorite wool sweater go through the wash and become a Shrinky Dink? Sounds like it’s time to cut and sew with sweater felt.
RIP IT GOOD
To recycle yarn, look at the condition and quality of the yarn. If the sweater is heavily worn or partially felted, it won’t unravel well and the yarn may have weak spots. Check the seams to see if the sweater is linked together with yarn and not serged seams. (If it was serged together with thread, the pieces were cut and sewn in manufacturing. Avoid this, or you’ll end up with short lengths of yarn rather than a continuous strand.)
With the sweater inside out, cut and remove linking yarns. Remove any neck treatment and sleeves. Try to begin unraveling the sweater from the top, as most sweaters are knit from the bottom up. For more tips about unraveling, washing, and winding your recycled yarn, check out this handy link: az.com/~andrade/knit/thrifty.html.
Felt is an unconstructed fabric (not woven or knit, like a sweater) made of wool fibers bonded together. In the presence of heat, moisture, and friction, wool fibers shrink and bond together resulting in a thick, dense material. When these conditions are applied to a constructed fabric, the process is technically called fulling, though in the crafting world (and in this article), most folks still refer to it as felting.
References:
Archives