# What do you do with wool sweaters from the thrift store?



## rhaige9 (Oct 31, 2010)

I didn't want to hijack a thread about a thrift store sweater find. I saw a few XXXL merino wool sweaters the other day. I know I've seen people here get very excited about finds like that, and I almost bought them. There were four of them, under $4 each. The only thing is, I'm not sure what I would do with them. Do you unravel them and make something else out of them. Do you sew them all together and make a quilt? I haven't ventured into the world of fabric crafts, but I'm wanting to. What would You do with these sweaters?


----------



## LWMSAVON (Oct 8, 2002)

Wind in Her Hair said:


> if they are knit in the round and seamless and knit out of a nice yarn- I would be inclined to unravel it and wash it and steam it and use it. If not, I might wash it, full it (felt it :teehee and cut mittens out of it and sew them together. You can take the sleeves and make a hand muffler -or slip a sleeve over an old tired lamp base to decorate it up, etc.
> 
> You can felt it/full it and cut out and sew oven mitts, etc. I used a sweater to make a knitting bag out of.


Thank you for the mittens idea! I picked up two wool sweaters recently for free at a local thrift store that has freebie boxes in the foyer. I always look through those and usually find clothing for my children, myself, and sometimes hubby.


----------



## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

Felted slippers too - the sleeves for the sole and the rest for the foot part.


----------



## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

There are tons of cool ideas on-line for making things from sweaters, including making DIFFERENT sweaters out of them.

Have you seen Katwise's sweater creations.
She is making a boatload of money on them and they are very unique.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wC8vu2BoBE[/YOUTUBE]


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wC8vu2BoBE[/ame]


----------



## Belfrybat (Feb 21, 2003)

I make cat and small dog beds and donate them to the humane society shelter. But I won't pay more than $1.00 for them. I stuff them with leftover scraps from quilting or other sweaters if I find any on the monthly 10 cent sale at a nearby charity shop. 

I don't have any to show you at present, but here's the webpage I learned to make them from: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Cat-Bed-from-an-Old-Sweater

Another version I saw used cut up sweaters like a patchwork quilt, but I liked the above one better.


----------



## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

Yep.. What WIHH said.
If they have knit seams and if they aren't pilled up to badly at the sleeves and armpits, then unravel them.

I de-knit a hideous, huge Shetland wool sweater from the thrift store and got 3,000 ft of wool. I skeined it, washed it and dried it.
Awesome.

I also toss them in the washer (in a pillowcase..always in a pillowcase) and dryer and use the fulled wool for stuff. You can lightly full it or go all the way.

Endless possibilities. I have way too many wool sweaters in the stash box of fun.
And the change purse I use used to be part of an old green cardigan. It is very cool and folks comment on it all the time.


----------



## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

You can make both mittens and slippers from old wool sweaters. I've done both. I love them. But of course, now I am afraid of the bedbug epidemic, so I am going to have avoid them.


----------



## lathermaker (May 7, 2010)

mekasmom said:


> You can make both mittens and slippers from old wool sweaters. I've done both. I love them. But of course, now I am afraid of the bedbug epidemic, so I am going to have avoid them.


Would boiling the wool take care of the bedbugs?


----------

