Monday, September 15, 2008

I love to shrink sweaters!

I had so much fun today!
I've been thinking about making things out of old sweaters for over a year now, since someone gave me a sweater they shrunk thinking that it might fit Julia. Julia refused to wear it because it was itchy, but I kept thinking that it might make a nice pillow.
Recently, I've come across a couple of craft books about felting and re-using old sweaters. Sometimes, the ugliest sweaters make the cutest bags, dolls, mittens or purses.
So, today I went to the thrift store and had a blast. It was so much fun to just pick up sweaters, the uglier the better and not worry about size or style. I only had to check to make sure they were wool. I was worried that there might not be that many wool sweaters, but I was wrong! When all was said and done, I brought home 15 wool sweaters and only spent $50. Now I just have to do something with them.
When I was shopping, I didn't have any particular plans, so I just bought anything, but the more I handle them, the more they "speak" to me. The green one above wants to be a pillow with appliques. There's a knobbly brown one that is going to be a stuffed animal.
The best part of it is seeing them shrink. :o)
That pink sweater in the middle was the one that shrunk the most, but I still don't know what I am going to do with it. Any ideas?



6 comments:

Elizabeth said...

this looks like soo much fun!!!!!!! I think that pink one would make a fantastic sweater monster.... when you come up here I'll show you the kit i have for sock monsters... it might be more fun to improvise w/ the sweater lol see where inspiration takes you. I love love love this idea though.

Colleen said...

Great idea! It would be a wonderful monster. It's all fuzzy and bright.

Leslie said...

so how much did they shrink?...give me a idea of size perspective. I love the pink stripey one. I love your crafty plan for all the others, but im not sure about that one it is pretty out there.

Colleen said...

They all shrunk to different degrees. The pink one would have fit Quincy loosely, now I think we would be squeezing it on Mitch.

Grammie/Mom said...

Hi. I'll be interested in seeing what you create from your sweaters. I hear a lot about felting. xxoo

Elizabeth said...

oooohhh hey, leslie's friend mary made a felted sweater cupcake! It's sooo cute