Monday, December 17, 2012

Easy Felted Arm & Wrist Warmers

Here is a fun winter project that pretty much anybody can do! Chance are you already have everything you need to do this already in your home! All you need is a sweater that is at least 80% wool!

 I wanted to make a felted wool quilt so I had been collecting sweaters at Goodwill for months. After cutting my quilt squares, I hated to waste so much of the wonderful felted wool. So I decided to make arm and wrist warmers from the sleeves! Here are a few that I've made!


(These have already been sold to a friend!)





There are so many ways to embellish and dress them up! They are practical and cute and really help keep your arms and hands warm and leave the fingers free for typing and texting!



My daughter was sweet to play hand model for me when she dropped by after work today!

These are the first pair of wrist warmers I made! I wear them to work and I love them!

I like making them so much that I decided to sell them at them vendor mall where I work!

There is something comforting and cozy about working with felted wool! To felt the wool, you wash the sweaters in very hot water with laundry detergent and dry on high heat. Some sweaters will have to be washed twice to felt properly. Beware, it is very messy! After washing the sweaters you will have clumps of fibers in the washer and on the sweaters. I just look over the sweaters and pick off the clumps before drying them. I am saving the loose wool to put in the garden next spring for the nesting birds! Because the fibers come off of the sweaters, I only wash one sweater at a time or if they are very similar in color I will wash them together.

Felting the wool causes the fibers to become very tight so you can cut it without concern that it will unravel. I use a blanket stitch especially around the thumb hole mainly for reinforcement.



You still have time to make a pair as a gift for Christmas or for yourself for winter!

3 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Cute. It is too warm around here most winters to even think about wearing wool. I like the way these look though.

RobinL said...

Very creative and clever Robin! I especially like the bright green one with bright buttons.

RURAL said...

Those are really cute, and since it's very cold here, perfect.

Have a wonderful Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

Jen