Thursday, March 28, 2013

blanket from upcycled sweaters

After searching the internet for tutorials on making a blanket from recycled sweaters I winged it and had a crack at it. 
I have loads of knitwear from Savers to make my softies so I only had to buy a couple more and I was ready to go. I have learned a few things from this first attempt.

The seams have to be zig zagged. I used straight stitch at first and it wasn't strong enough.  Then I overlocked all the seams but that made the seams a bit riiffly. I managed to steam press the billyo out of them and they are sitting pretty flat.

Felting the sweaters definitely makes the wool less stretchy and helps the seams to sit smoothly. But it is possible to overfelt so don't wash the sweaters too long. A hot wash and then air dry worked best for me. Also the knitwear needs to be close to 100% wool. A similar weight wool knit in the sweater selection gives a pleasing result. And varying textures adds interest.

I used 20cm squares for this cot blanket with 5 across and 6 down. I then put a layer of wool quilt batting behind the patch work and backed the blanket with cotton jersey. I turned it through and hand stitched the opening closed. The final step was adding an embroidery thread running stitch to hold the layers together. I put my label in the seams - ALICE BLUE SOFTIES.

I had some squares left to make a nursery cushion for the feeding chair or rocker.











I like the whole process of repurposing old things into something else - its a sustainable way of crafting.

2 comments:

  1. They look great Mary - cosy and soft. Good problem solving too

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  2. Thanks Vicki - the blanket is so cuddly!



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