Felted Sweater Magic

To celebrate the first day of Autumn, I decided to start working on all my felted sweater projects. All through the year I hunt for wool and cashmere sweaters that were once destined for never-never land. I bring them home, felt (or full) them in my washing machine and cut them up for future creations.

Today I will turning this adult wool and mohair pullover into a wonderful child's cardigan sweater. This is what it looks like after felting. It shrunk to almost 1/2 it's original size, yet retained the lovely knitted texture of the cable pattern. The color is a warm creamy white and oh so very soft. The first thing I did was cut it up the center front. Because felted wool does not fray, raw edges are not a problem. I used some vintage fabric strips to bind the front edges and then needle felted, with my wonderful Viking embellishing machine.

I used some remnant wool yarn in a pretty dark pink to needle felt three stems for my Yo-Yo flowers.

                                      

I continued the needle felting all along the collar line and added a cute loop at the back of the neck.

                                      

I raided my remnant stash for this pretty blue floral satiny cotton which I used for two handy pockets.

                                      

I thought this would be the final look...but the more I looked at it, the more I thought something was not right in the design. After staring at it for an hour, it hit me....it looks too heavy! I wanted a light airy look, something more whimsical in style. In an instant I knew what I had to do...and it wasn't going to be easy.

I had to perform Sweater surgery....this cutie had to go under the knife...I mean scissor.

The operation was a success and the recovery was complete! Now this is the look I envisioned in my mind. After some additional needle felting around the arm holes and a cute blue bow tie closure, my lovely cardigan vest is complete. I really love how you can still see the great cable detail from the original garment. I think this would look adorable on a young girl ..maybe over a turtleneck and with a cute pair of jeans. This will most likely end up in my Etsy shop this week.  I would love to get your feedback, so please leave me a comment if you have a moment. Until next time, be kind and stay creative.