recycled sweaters blanket tutorial

Re purposing old sweaters into something else has been a theme of mine for a while now. And I have shifted my focus to making cushions and blankets out of felted wool squares. Here's a snapback to my first quilt. My softies are also made from recycled sweaters.

Look away now if you are absolutely bored to tears with this type of malarkey.

Here are some easy steps to follow if you want to make a cosy blanket to snuggle under for a snooze on the couch.

✽ Collect 8 or 9 wool jumpers from friends, the opp shop or your own wardrobe. Choose jumpers that are pure wool for felting. You can use an 80/20 blend but it won't felt as well. I've made a blanket without felting at all - you just need to back it with a suitable fabric.

✽ Wash the jumpers on a hot wash using  soap flakes or your usual powder. Check how much felting has happened by seeing if the stitches are still visible. Don't over felt the wool because it gets a bit board like. If you want more felting you can pop the knits into the dryer. 

✽ Cut a template for your squares from some tracing paper or flexible acetate. I used a 20cm X 20cm square. Or you could go freelance and use all different sizes of rectangles and squares. The final look can vary from bohemian to polished contemporary, whatever look you are after.

✽ Cut the jumpers up the side seam all the way to the underarm and then down the arm seam on both sides to open up the jumper. Place your template on the jumper in the most efficient way you can to get the most squares. You can use the rib bands but be warned they can pull the square out of shape as you stitch them together unless stretch the seam to match for size as you sew. You can also cut squares that include the arm seam in an arc across it - it adds to the charm of the blanket and is a more efficient use of the sweater.

✽ Arrange the squares in a pleasing colour combination on your largest table or if you are fit and able - on the floor. I had 6 rows across and 8 rows down.

✽ Zig zag the edges together in a 6mm seam to form the 6 strips. Then sew the strips together along the long edge.

I chose not to back this blanket because I love the light feel of it, so even though the felting minimizes fraying I wanted to finish off the raw edges so I blanket stitched them by hand.  
A good tutorial for the  half crossed blanket stitch is here. 

✽ For the cushion - I stitched 4 squares together for the front and another 4 for the back. I used an invisible zip as I am a thrill seeker. To refresh my memory on this holy grail of sewing I used this tutorial on YouTube. Inserting an invisible zip.

✽ Put the zip in first, then open it half way. Sew the other 3 edges together, being careful to line up the squares to a perfect intersection. It is easy to do this if you stretch the fabric well ahead of the intersection so that it lines up. That way you have evenly stretched the work rather than stretched the last few cms only as that leads to warped seams.
Turn your cushion right side out through the opening that you made in the zip. Pop the cushion insert in, do up the zip and admire your work!

 My finished recycled sweater blanket is ready for the first Autumn chill.

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.

my sustainable softies

As readers of this blog would remember - I make softies for anyone who loves a little cuddly, quirky fellow to make them smile.
They are made from recycled wool, angora and cashmere sweaters.
Well... I have now become even more eco friendly by using a stuffing made from recycled PET bottles. I know - very environmentally aware and responsible and all that. These toys are now completely made from recycled materials, leaving the smallest possible environmental footprint. (Always wanted to write that)

 Chloe is not quite finished but I'm doing that today.

These softies are for sale on my facebook page - Alice Blue Softies.
You can look at the page even if you don't have a facebook account.
If would like to buy one of my softies for $30 AU you can leave me a comment or go to the facebook page and reserve your softie by commenting under the photo. You can private message me on my FB page and then my people can talk to your people.
I can post anywhere for whatever it costs and I use paypal or bank transfer.

And as a little acknowledgement to the Australian company that makes the eco friendly toy stuffing here's their link and a pic.