How to Make Snuggly Slippers from Old Sweaters

cal patch, contributor

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Keep your feet warm with these cute slippers made from an old sweater.

Cal Patch

Trace your foot to begin making the pattern.

Cal Patch

Here's the tracing of my foot.

Cal Patch

Keep your feet warm with these cute slippers made from an old sweater.

Photo: Cal Patch

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My feet are always cold, so I'm constantly looking for nice slippers to wear. Unfortunately, most of the affordable ones I find are made from 100% synthetic materials, which means they're not environmentally considerate AND they make your feet sweat. Yuck! So I came up with this alternative to buying slippers: Make them out of old wool sweaters. Care to join me in stitching up a pair?

You'll need:

• Some paper
• A pen
• Scissors
• An old sweater (ideally a felted wool one)
• Thread
• Sewing machine
• A scrap of yarn (worsted or smaller)
• A crochet hook that suits your yarn

More recycled sweater projects: • Make an Embellished Blanket with Recycled Sweaters • How to Felt Sweaters • Make Hats from Recycled Sweaters • How to Make Sweater Dog Toys

1. Make the pattern by tracing your foot onto a piece of paper.

Trace your foot to begin making the pattern.

Here's the tracing of my foot.

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Comments (19)

MissNye writes: Beautiful tutorial and great idea. I have made similar slippers with the following changes:
- I pre-shrunk the wool before making slippers by washing and drying on hot.
- No seam allowance
- Wove a ribbon through the crocheted edge to use as a drawstring.
Thanks for posting. Really nice!
Posted: 12:49 pm on January 29th

vanessalynne writes: I love recycling projects and this is a great one. I have a ton of old sweaters and I just love these slippers. THANK YOU!
Posted: 7:28 am on January 21st

teariana writes: They not only look comfy they are a lot prettier than most slippers for sale. I wasn't surprised you came to the conclusion that next time you would omit the seam allowance, I like my slippers to fit just so, too. Which is another thing I don't like about retail slippers. They never come in half sizes and more often than not come in sm. (5-6), med. (6-7) and lg. (8-9.) I wear between a 6 1/2 and a 7 1/2 so the small is too small and the medium is too large. The only prob. I have is that I live in So. California so we rarely have wool sweaters. I have been making my own, but out of purchased wool, :(. Which kind of defeats the recycling thing. I have seen recycled wool yarns, so I may give those a try, we'll see.
Posted: 8:05 pm on January 14th

HCDiane writes: Great! Can't wait to try this. Looks so easy!
Posted: 3:51 pm on January 13th

Greenkid1216 writes: I love this idea for old sweaters. For longer wear, I would strongly suggest felting the sweaters first by washing in hot water with jeans (something that really creates agitation)and some soap. Don't use mohair--I think that might result in too slippery an end product. Also, I love the idea of adding darts to the heel, that would make the slippers better wearing.

Fabulous idea and a great recycling project. I'll have to head to the thrift store for knitted sweaters for this one!!
Posted: 3:35 pm on January 13th

AZAmethystGirl writes: Simple ADORE Mary Jane & Ballet Slippers!!
Love wearing something on my feet as My Sweetheart calls
me his Little Pop Sickle.
Have so many beautiful Sweaters that belong to me and my identical Twin Sister!
Was going to try selling them or taking to resale.
For people who have yard sale or try resale boutiques in
Arizona they sometime go for so little.
Many with the most amazing textures, yarns, colors, hues & patterns. Wonderful PROJECT!!! ADORE IT!!
Would really love to see the results of other artisans
out there doing this project!!!


Posted: 8:53 pm on March 11th

pamrev writes: cool this project is awsome!
Posted: 10:48 pm on November 3rd

ChesterBunny writes: I'm in the process of making these slippers right now and I'm finding that the heel of the slipper doesn't cup my heel as it should. To correct this I'm adding some darts (for lack of a better term) via the zigzag stitch to create that cup for the heel. I have one slipper sewn and I'd say it seems to be working, because it already feels more sturdy.

Thanks for this article, I'm a relatively new sewer and small project like this helps to build confidence.
Posted: 1:01 am on January 24th

cftsimon writes: Very cute and good idea. I just am learning how to sew socks from fleece and found that puff paint on the bottom stops them from being slippery. You can be really creative and write names, draw pictures.....whatever to just make the bottome uniques.
Posted: 1:26 pm on December 12th

truff writes: I have been looking at slipper patterns for two or three days now and by far, your directions are the best to understand and most complete!

thank you
Posted: 7:28 am on November 8th

jazzyjen writes: Very, very cute! I just crocheted slippers and even though I used wool, I probably should have used a smaller size hook. They are really stretching out too much. An old wool sweater is the perfect thing, I think!
Posted: 1:16 pm on May 27th

ShayMarWood writes: Way cute! I wonder how useing a shoe insert would work for the sole? Sandwich it between the sweater and suede sole? It would give some support for the foot. Also, make the sole out of that no skid, rubbery shelf liner? Or use the bottoms from those ugly no skid socks the hospitals give to patients? Could even cut out shapes, how cute would paw prints be?
Posted: 11:03 am on March 3rd

samsstuff writes: Even if I didn't have old sweaters lying about, I might just have to go to a local thrift store & pick some up for this! Thanks for sharing!
Posted: 11:50 pm on February 14th

OrahLee writes: I LOVE LOVE these!!! I'm going to crochet over some clear elastic on the last round, then I won't have to mess with straps. These are a perfect project.
Posted: 2:19 pm on February 1st

gracie_girl writes: Good idea...You can use the cushioning rubber refrigerator liner stuff--I don't know what else you call it--to make non-slip soles.
Posted: 1:38 am on January 31st

gardenuh writes: Thank you, thank you, Cal Patch! Making a pattern from the foot's outline is exactly the solution I needed! I've got the felted sweater, the hard-to-fit feet living with me and am now set to roll! They'll be a valentine.
Gardenuh
Posted: 9:44 pm on January 28th

Toffy writes: Great recycling project. I have slippery tiled floors, so I think I would have to sew some non-slip stuff to the bottom of the sole before I could join these together. Another tip for using these if made in a thinner fabric, such as T-Shirt fabric. Travelers going thru TSA Security Checks at the Airport have to remove shoes and often socks. These if made in a thin fabric (t-shirt) can be slipped on quickly and easy to tuck into a carry-on bag. Couple years ago San Diego Airport supplied some foot covers, I kept mine and reused them a few times, but this idea would dress that up quite a bit. Great for gift giving as well.
Posted: 9:36 am on January 28th

krazycrafter writes: I saw someone made flip flops out of old yoga mats.
I am thinking, maybe that could also work for soles, I just need to find an old yoga mat.
Posted: 8:51 am on January 28th

bxmamanco writes: Very cute! Thanks for sharing....I guess one can do something similar with old socks that need a new bottom?
Posted: 11:41 pm on January 27th

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