Transform a Wool Sweater into a Felted Vest

Tina Hilton, contributor

23 users recommend

Give an old sweater in your life a second chance with a little makeover.

Sloan Howard

Simply cut off the collar and sleeves of a felted sweater.

Tina Hilton

You can even reuse the sleeves.

Tina Hilton

Give an old sweater in your life a second chance with a little makeover.

Photo: Sloan Howard

Add Comment
Print

excerpted from the article "Knit Knack," in CraftStylish Restyle, p. 22

Sweater styles change, but sometimes, you can't bring yourself to toss out (or donate) an old knit garment that's a terrific color, made of wonderful fiber, or has sentimental value. Keep that sweater in your life: give it a style makeover.

One of my favorite ways to transform a sweater is to start by felting it. This means you have to start with a sweater that's 100-percent wool-or a blend of wool and another feltable fiber (no acrylic, please). Here, I transformed a huge men's Icelandic-style pullover into a cropped, ethnic-style vest-­­and a matching pair of cozy mitts. All this sweater really needed was a trip or two through the washing machine, some cutting and reshaping, and a hand-sewn trim-instant gratification.

Felt the Sweater
Although there's no sewing in this step, it's still one of the most transformative parts of the process.

1. Wash the sweater. Set the washing machine for its hottest cycle, and add a no-rinse wool-wash product. Start washing the sweater, but stop the machine and check its progress a couple of times during the wash cycle. This sweater was washed twice. When you like the texture, run the sweater through the spin cycle.

Wash the sweater.

2. Dry the felted sweater. Use a hot setting. Machine drying removes any remaining loose fibers-so be sure to clean out the washer and dryer after you've finished felting.

Dry the felted sweater.

Reshape it
You can cut and resize the sweater any way you like, and because it's felted, the edges won't ravel.

1. Remove the neck and sleeves. First, cut off the neck band. Then lay the sweater as flat and smooth as possible. To remove the sleeves, cut along the bottom of the yoke design. To widen the neck opening, cut along one pattern row. If you want to make the body narrower, pin in new side seams, and machine-stitch them, right sides together. Trim off any excess seam allowance.

Cut off the neck band.

Add Comment Print

How to Make an Infinity Scarf  

Back to List

How to Make Snuggly Slippers from Old Sweaters

Comments (5)

TinaHilton writes: Hi from another Tina Hilton! You could be my clone, except for the fact that we look so different. I'm a craftsperson too, mostly weaving and spinning. Have you ever made a felted tote bag from a wool sweater? That's fun too.
Posted: 8:29 pm on December 14th

Tina_Hilton writes: One of the best parts of this process is scouring the local thrift shops for diamonds in the rough. I have a stack of reclaimed sweaters ready to be converted to hats, bags, pillows, vests, cat beds, hot pads, mittens, scarves - somebody stop me!!!!
Posted: 5:38 pm on October 7th

Sweet_Dee writes: Very cool! Love the fact that you reused rather than buy or trash. And I, too, love the red blanket stitch. the colour combos are awesome!
Posted: 3:08 pm on September 26th

VeryPrairie writes: I especially love the red blanket stitched edges, very cool project!
Posted: 6:14 pm on September 24th

theemptynest writes: LOVE IT!!!!! I have the same felting fetish. Great job.
your friend,
Janet
The Empty Nest
Posted: 5:21 pm on September 23rd

You must be logged in to post comments. Log in.