Operation Old Sweater: 10 Great DIY Rescues
Is there a hole in the heart of that beloved camel cashmere from your freshman year at Stanford?
Don’t become unraveled! The crafty set – people like Stefanie Girard, who wrote Sweater Surgery – take the green approach to spinning yarns, reconfiguring new objects d’smart from those ratty pullovers that once warmed our bones.
Handwash your old sweater (I like to use baby shampoo) and treat it for unsightly coffee or red wine stains. Then circumvent those Jarlsberg cheese holes in the wool and make something cool!
Here’s a look at 10 reclamations, from Ugly Dolls to pretty petal pins:
1. Stuffed Toys
A favorite project at Brandeis Hillel Day School in San Francisco, parents are asked to contribute old sweaters for the students to conjure their own, arty Ugly Dolls. My own 10-year-old, Lauren, made this creature in just a couple of days and they instantly became BBF’s.
2. Bitchen Boatneck
Deborah Lindquist makes her groovy dog wraps from recycled cashmere sweaters, and you can do it, too. Just find a square without holes and make two for the front legs. Then your pet can walk the walk!
3. Beaded Cuff
I love this upscale take on the 70s tennis sweat band. The beaded cuff woven by Olive Brown is simple to make, by cutting your own elongated rectangle from your rescued sweater, stitching the borders and embellishing with beads or other hot glue glam.
4. Pet Bed
Lately, my pug has taken to sleeping in the laundry basket. Why not take your old sweaters and other scraps and make a patchwork pet bed, like Apartment Therapy suggests? Gather an assortment of old sweaters and a pillow and get working on that soft place for your pooch to land.
5. Pullover Coasters
Olive Brown made these from a shrunken woman’s fair aisle v-neck pullover. The set of eight, sold at Etsy, is something you can also try to make by cutting the circles and top-stitching the front, leaving a zigzag stitch on the back. The edges are finished with an overlock stitch.
6. Snuggly Slippers
Follow the footsteps of Craft Stylish, and avoid booties made from yucky synthetic materials. These old woolen slippers are stitched with love. All you need is paper, a pen, scissors, an old sweater, thread, a machine, a scarp of yarn and a crochet hook. Have fun padding around!
7. Doll Clothes
If you or your child can knit, this book from Amazon provides patterns and ideas. I always loved sewing my own Barbie clothes from discarded items that wound up in our rag box. Let your kids try their hand at Project Runway ensembles using old sweaters. Try some lederhosen for that Heidi doll!
8. Flower Brooch
Thick rose wool felt from a rescued cardigan is paired with a heavy vintage bronze shank button in this classic flower. Found at Etsy, you can arrange your own floral jewelry with scissors, glue and a pin from your neighborhood craft store. Add a center flourish and attach to blazer lapel. You grow, girl!
9. Cell Phone Cozy
Craftbits is calling! Pick up and read the steps for making your own, fetching felted mobile phone pouch with a key ring at the top for attaching to jeans or your purse.
10. Teapot Cozy
We adore these at EcoSalon and even touted the beauty of the pot sweater for Mother’s Day this year. This one from Etsy is ideal because the pretty blue yarn is washable. Accented by a handknit multicolored flower with a vintage button for the center, it’s about 19 inches around and stretches over a 4″-to-6″ teapot. Not handy with a needle? Ask a friend to help.
Main Image: Amazon
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12 Comments
August 6th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Guess there will be no tweets for a while. Lots of time to make sweater stuff.
August 7th, 2009 at 2:42 am
I think these ideas are marvelous- is there a web sit source for more ideas?
August 7th, 2009 at 11:39 am
These ideas are ingenious…now to think of some way to recycle socks missing its mate! Anyone have any ideas?
August 7th, 2009 at 11:49 am
I like all these ideas, EXCEPT any idea to do with “green” and “BARBIE”??? It’s sort of an oxymoronic connection, isn’t it? I do not encourage children to be addicted to those mass-marketed sweat-shop-created plastic dolls who may be responsible for girls growing up with some sort of complex–I invented a doll based on my own grandmother’s MOTHER’s doll, which has been around since 1902 –I tested her on several little girls, asking them “which would you rather play with? Your old Barbie? Or this?” while showing them, and 100% chose Eco-Aislinn. Aislinn is all about “green” (just like my own family has been for generations–do not understand why this “trend” wasn’t just part of good old common sense and the ‘natural’ way of things–but, that’s another essay..lol) and she eats organic, goes camping without a pink plastic ugly toy “RV”–she doesn’t do her nails or wear polyester..she’s kind to her elders, not conceited, has no complexes, and best of all, she has a very funny folks-y hairdo! So, try the kids on an alternative way of playing. Encouraging making accessories–”green” or not–for Barbies is sort of paradoxical, and defeats the entire purpose of really trying to clean up the earth–both physically, and philosophically..by helping to eliminate sweatshops. thank you
August 7th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I agree about the plastic Barbies. But my kids often play with my old ones my mom saved and that sort of fits into the “vintage” category since I’m pretty old. Also, we have some from before I knew how gross plastic can be. I love the ideas of the mismatched sock. I have hundreds and they would be fun to reuse. So far, my kids have only made sock monkeys with them, but I will investigate.
August 7th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Hi, Luanne, I didn’t mean to imply that those old Barbies shouldn’t be played with…sorry, Of course, those old ones are better and many weren’t made by the new sweatshops, and the plastics were different, I apologize if I sounded a bit ‘uppity’, lol..didn’t mean to..I am pretty old, too, and never had any Barbies, (are you kidding, HA, in our family? we had canoes and stuff like that..my grandmother and mom didn’t believe in purchasing any toys…but I sure had a ball..I remember that) or, if I did, I would certainly recycle her, into some cool character, or make little clothes for her, but, the sock monkeys are a good idea, I did make two of those last Christmas for my daughter-in-law and son and put hats on them and sewed little outfits, and they loved them, even in their late 20s! She put them in the living room, on top of a book case, and I do want to do some more, it was a fun thing to make..I used those directions in the socks, haha..a bit of a problem, but it worked, and now I want to do one out of old socks, without buying the red heel ones…anyway, wanted to tell you I hope I wasn’t offensive..lol..thanks,
August 8th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Not at all, Aislinn. It just made me thing about the Barbie thing and that’s good. I’ve always has a huge soft spot for them. My room, growing up, was a Barbie compound with Barbie furniture handed down by my cousin. I believe I played with them until I was 14. I spotted my own 13-year-old playing with a doll alone in her room while visiting her grandmother. Sneak! I also adored making doll clothes, and my girls like designing clothes, as well. Some things are handed down cause we are excited about them. Still, It would have been wonderful to have grown up with canoes like you. How cool is that? Your women folk sound like they had other notions of child’s play, perhaps fun found in the outdoors. Guess we had lots of that, too and it brings back warm memories. Please keep leaving your thoughtful comments.
August 11th, 2009 at 12:29 am
Great ideas! I have several sweaters that are pretty stretched out of shape but I dont want to toss them because I still like the softness of the cashmere. I will probably make some socks of slippers out of one of them!
August 11th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Thanks, Luann..I like hearing about “normal” childhoods, and I am sure I would have HAD those Barbies (those days, they were much cooler than the new ones), as I agree, it is so fun to make teeny-tiny- doll clothes! I still make doll clothes, and I had FOUR BOYS, ugh..I am hoping for a granddaughter, lol…I am making quilts right now, and some aprons, for christmas presents, starting early, but got alot of old socks out–wool, and am going to see if they “felt”, I don’t know, I “wing” it half the time, and thanks for your comments…at least it’s all recycle reuse…good for you, sincerely, Aislinn….
August 18th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
These are great and unique ideas! I would love some more step by step instructions on some of them though. That dog sweater did not look really straight forward! I also love the coaster ideas. Old sweaters can often be found at thrift shops, and in cute colors. You don’t have to worry about the style! Also, I have some fab sweaters that hubby put in the washing machine, oops, but I have not been able to part with them although they are now a little too short for me. Renew here we come!
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