This was me, this morning. I was making scarves out of old cashmere sweaters. My friend has been buying used sweaters for years and giving me any she thinks I'd like. Most are too small, and I've given a few to my sister and even to the Salvation Army. A quilting friend showed some scarves she had made with her late father's cashmere sweaters as keepsakes for her siblings. I was nervous about cutting into them, but she assured me they would hold up fine. The other day I took a deep breath, got out my 6.5" square, and rotary cut a stack of squares out of four sweaters.
Today I sewed 10 squares each into four strips, alternating the colors, then sewed the strips together to end up with two really soft and warm scarves. I'll keep one and send the other to my sister Jenny who's always cold and lives in Colorado. I also traced my hand for a set of mittens which I may get to tomorrow or Saturday. I'll attach the ribbing which I cut off the sleeves separately. I still have most of the 8 sleeves left, but I set those aside for a "rainy day."
I was on a roll today so I started on a wool pincushion project from a kit I got at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum on our last visit to Golden. When I cut all the pieces out, I was a bit disappointed that the kit didn't include nearly enough fabric for the whole project. I had to scrounge around in my very limited wool stash for under the wings and the "cap." I did get those things doubled and blanket stitched, along with the beak.
Now I'm ready to sew the body together and stuff it with some crushed walnuts. Then I'll add all the other parts, including the button eyes. It's nice to work on something and get it nearly done. Quilts are such a long term commitment!
I have volunteered to handle the monthly UFO challenge for one online group I'm in this year, so I think I'll try to make some more pincushions using wool. They won't be as fancy as this, but I'd like to do a little more work with wool, and pincushions seem perfect for a quick winter afternoon project.
1 comment:
I have heard another thing you can make with old sweaters are mittens - you just cut out the shape of a hand making the mitten as long as you want to go over your wrist, sew it and line if you wish with fleece or leave as the sweater. I think one could also felt the sweater first if wool and then cut - less chance of fraying and also might be warmer?
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