Showing posts with label uses for old jumpers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label uses for old jumpers. Show all posts

5.3.13

Jumper Challenge - Part 2

Ok, so there wasn't a huge amount of jumper left after Part 1, but enough for a few small things. I still had both cuffs - these make great fingerless gloves, but for some reason I was set on having a go at a dress for my old Sasha doll, now loved to bits by my daughter.
Looking at the cuffs, I could just picture one of those polo neck jumper dresses from my childhood, do you know the ones I mean? Tight, pure acrylic ribbed top with a roll neck and a little pleated skirt - oh I remember them so well!
Perfect for Sasha from the Seventies.



The ribbed bit of one cuff makes the top part of the dress, with the start of the sleeve becoming the skirt. I cut the other cuff in half for the sleeves.  The beauty of this is there's very little sewing to do - just the seam up the sleeves and a hem around the bottom of the skirt - I used some flowery braid to cover the stitches. Then cut holes for the arms and sew them in. The end of the cuff is the roll neck bit,  and I think it rather suits her..

Seventies Sasha

I'd made hearts in Part 1 and wanted to try a few more small things that were a simple shape, like mice and birds.


Lavender bags, hanging decorations, pin cushions, a cat toy? PLENTY of possibilities!


And there was even enough left for the pygmy owl keyring.
Flowers from the embroidered braid made good owl eyes I think, and saved me having to cut tiny circles out of felt which is such a miserable, fiddly job..


Not too shabby for an old jumper

19.2.13

Jumper challenge - Part 1

I've made quite a few things out of old jumpers since the Christmas calendar cushion. And I've been trying to get my hands on a tatty blue cashmere one my 8 year old has adopted, but he's taken to wearing it in bed and isn't at all willing to give it up. So instead I bought this bright pink cowl neck jumper in a charity shop for £2.50 and cut it up before I remembered to take a photo...
Not cashmere, but a nice soft wool mix.

There are loads of brilliant upcycling ideas out there - some friends run craft workshops in Hereford, and one they offer is making a cushion and fingerless gloves out of an old sweater. But I wanted to see how many different things I could get out of this particular top.
And I can absolutely guarantee all of them are easy to make, because I'm still getting to grips with my sewing machine. I've already come clean about how mine has spent most of its life in a cupboard.
I'm more enthusiastic now, but find that's not quite enough sometimes...far too familiar with my stitch unpicker. So tend to look for ways round things I'm not sure about. Like zips.
This small cushion cover is zip-free. And using the rib at the bottom of the jumper for the edges of the opening means less hemming.


I cut a square out of the front - 12" plus a little extra for a seam allowance.
The other piece from the back of the jumper is the same width, but about a third longer to make the envelope pocket on the back of the cover for the pillow.



The only thing to watch out for is that this extra bit is folded over and pinned on the right side of the jumper (the side you want to see) making it the same size as the other piece. Then pin the two squares together, inside out along three sides, with the ribbed edge and folded edge matched up and left open. The folded bit will be inbetween these square pieces, so it won't be visible while sewing the sides.

When finished, turn it back the right way, put the cushion pad in and pull the pocket part over the top of the opening, so it's all tucked away.


The heart was cut from a small piece of vintage material, and edged with some purple bias binding.
I used the shape to cut a few more out of the jumper sleeves. The first one looked a bit big so I made the next ones smaller and filled them all with lavender.



The cowl neck is now a snood with bias binding sewn over the raw edge. I've been wearing it out gardening and like it because it doesn't flap about and get in the way.

Part 2 is still at the ideas stage, but I'm thinking pin cushions, mice, a doll's outfit and possibly a pigmy owl keyring?


Linking with Lakota's Ta-dah! Tuesday