Uses for "old" wool sweaters?

[nmm2112]

Hi -Anybody want to share their favorite uses for wool (and lambswool) sweaters that they no longer wear? I know some people make diaper covers out of them...
Can you turn them into felted balls? Or, hmmm what in the world can I do with them?

[schatz]

I had a great pair of mittens made out of a sweater. Bought them at a craft show. I think they shrunk the sweater to make the weave really tight and then cut out the mitten pattern. They had a lighter weight sweater for lining and a heavier one on the outside.

[karlin]

I've made mittens, slippers (for both DS and DH), sweaters for DS, pants for DS, diaper covers, and overalls.

[~Quse~]

I haven't done these yet, but would like to some time:

felted wool patchwork blanket
pee pad

[cassiemommy]

for Christmas gifts, I made several felted wool purses out of old sweaters. I'm a knitter, but it seems like such a waste to me to purposely felt something you knit (this is probably because I hardly have ANY time to knit these days, anything I end up knitting is precious to me!). They turned out to be such a great hit with my cousin and her g-friends that they're all saving up old sweaters to make their own!

[mehndi mama]

I use them for pull-on & wrap-style soakers, mittens, toddler & baby pants, slippers, potholders.....whatever I can make from them, basically! You can use them pretty much like you would polar-fleece, especially if you felt 'em up first.

[Lou]

same here~ we make woolen pants, cardigans, dresses, etc from old wool sweaters. i also make doll clothes reusing the buttonholes, buttons, collars, etc. i want to make a large quilt from felted wool squares one day.

you could definitely cut up octagonal pieces of wool sweaters and sew them together to make pretty wool balls. i've done that with felt, no difference.

i'm gonna make some mamapads and i was thinking about using felted wool pieces as stuffing, and doing a layer of flannel on the outside... anyone tried that?

[Kerry]

Can someone post links for directions for the balls, slippers, purse, or toys. Thanks.

~Kerry

[cassiemommy]

I didn't go by any patterns, but I did google "felted knit purses" to get some ideas. Then, I basically tried to use the maximum amount of sweater in the purse. For one of them, that meant avoiding the hole that was there; for another, it was to use the cute Tigger (my sister's fav cartoon) that was embroidered on it; and for another, it was to use the buttons that were on the cardigan as a button-up top closure. For myself, I used this much thicker one to make a simple sack-style one, so I just cut off the arms and the shoulder part to make it straight on top and felted that. There's no "right" way to do this and probably whatever you do will look ok!

[Kerry]

Thanks Cassiemommy, I will do that. I haven't had great luck with felting the sweaters. They work great as diaper covers but they don't get "felted." Thanks for the info.

~Kerry

[bdavis337]

http://www.needletrax.com/knittingzone/felting.htm

I just googled "felted wool slippers" and this was the #3 link! You'd have to order the patterns, but the ideas are great by themselves!