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I had so much fun making upcycled mittens from repurposed sweaters {here} last winter that I just had to try some more. These would make great Christmas gifts. They’re easy and inexpensive to make. You can personalize them by choosing colors and pattern to match your “gift-ee’s” tastes.
I went to the thrift store looking for a wool sweater to felt and repurpose and then make into upcycled mittens. I didn’t find a wool sweater that I liked. Bu-uuut…. I did find a gorgeous child’s sweater. Psst. Look in the children’s clothing for sweaters to turn into mittens. This was a size 18 months and plenty large enough to make into mittens.
I did find a wool scarf that I liked. I wasn’t sure if it would shrink too much after the felting, but I decided to give it a try because I really liked the pattern and colors.
I threw the scarf in the washer with a load of cleaning rags on hot. We use all natural cleaners so I didn’t have to worry about chemicals bleaching the scarf. I dried it on hot to continue the felting process. It didnt’ shrink much. Whew.
I used the mitten pattern I’d made earlier and laid it on the scarf. I cut out the 4 pieces for the mittens and sewed them up with just a simple strait stitch on the sewing machine.
They turned out pretty cute. And they’ll definitely be warm. Because the fabric was felted, I just left the opening of the mitten as is. It won’t unravel and I didn’t want to make it too bulky by adding a hem there.
Next, I moved on to the pretty green sweater.
To minimize the amount of sewing on this more difficult for me the non-seamstress sew-er fabric, I laid the pattern so the outside edge is on the sweater seam. By using the sweater seam as the outside edge of the mitten, I don’t have to sew that area.
The green mittens turned out even cuter. My oldest teen daughter snatched these up right away. Got the teen daughter vote of approval!
You might also be interested in these repurposed sweater & mitten projects:
I’m a mom of 3, a veteran and military spouse. I’ve moved into 20+ homes all around the world. My passion is helping busy people make the space and time for what’s really important to them.
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