Mittens out of Old Sweaters!

As I sat down to lunch with a dear childhood friend, Theresa, she couldn't wait to show me her newest creation.  Mittens out of old sweaters!  As I looked at her beautiful 'new' mittens, I knew I wanted to try this myself.  A trip to salvation army was made right after our lunch.  I felt like a little kid again, as I used to spend hours with Theresa, creating whatever held our passion at that moment.  From quilting, knitting, crocheting, making doll clothes, creating doll houses out of cardboard and wall paper, decoupaging with Holly Hobby (remember those? )....the list goes on...  There was never a dull moment!

I bought three wool sweaters from Salvation Army that were suitable for felting.  As soon as I got home, I washed the sweaters in a hot washing machine, and dried it on the hottest cycle in the dryer.  Unfortunately, I have a front load washing machine, so it's not as effective as a top loading machine for machine felting.  Nevertheless, doing the washing and drying process twice was sufficient.

I downloaded the mittens pattern instructions from Studio5 .  This is the pattern I used.  I used gold fleece for the inner lining. 

The mittens are really nice and warm, but they are a little small for me.  It's an ideal size if you have small hands.  I would recommend enlarging the pattern slightly for adult sized mittens.

If you any old sweaters that are no longer being used, why not recycle them into mittens?  You  could even make scarves, hats, or whatever you want! :)

Enjoy!
til next time   ~Jan