Hello there,
My evil boyfriend shrunk my favourite stripey jumper in the wash. It is wool and has now felted to an extent. I was wondering if I could turn it into a bag?!
It needs to be more fully felted in a hotter wash I think. Should I cut and sew the bag before I felt it, or do this after? Should I sew it with cotton or with wool? (I haven’t felted anything before).
Thanks,
Red
I would say finish felting it before you start cutting…just to make sure all the stitches are “lost” in the felt and don’t come undone.
As far as what to sew it up with, I don’t have a clue. I would assume that since you’ve already felted it, the sewing thread doesn’t matter as long as it’s sturdy 
Good luck and what a great recycling idea. 
I agree with April…and then sew it with wool and throw it in the wash one more time to felt those sts and make them extra sturdy!
EVIL BOYFRIEND!! :mad:
Isn’t he indeed! He will probably say he did me a favour since I will have a new bag!!
Great, thanks for the quick replies and the help guys! Good idea to chuck in in the wash again 
What temp should it be? Hot wash?
Red
Yes…hot wash. Do exactly what he already did to your poor sweater, except this time, on PURPOSE! :lol:
I recently did this intentionally to a sweater I picked up in a thrift shop. Yes, you do cut up the sweater after you’ve felted it.
I found that anywhere you can see stitch definition, you’re likely to have a bit of fraying/unraveling when you cut, so keep agitating it in the hot water until you can’t see the stitches at all anymore.
Some parts of the sweater (like the main body) felted much faster than others (the sleeves and the ribbing at the neckline and around the bottom). My particular sweater also shrunk more in length than in width. FYI - it was an American Eagle sweater in a pure red and the felt it made was really beautiful.
The only two problems I ran into were, #1, I did use any sort of pattern for the purse and did not measure very well when I cut out the pieces, so the purse was much smaller than I intended and, #2, the sweater I chose was quite thick and I had a hard time getting two layers of it under the presser foot of my sewing machine. I wound up having to handsew parts of it.
Also, I am not the greatest seamstress, so the whole purse turned out a little crooked, too.
It was an interesting experiment, and I learned some good lessons for the next time. Hope my boo-boos help you too!
I think recycling it into a bag is a great idea!
As far as the “evil” bf though…I think he deserves some kudos for attempting the laundry even if he did flub it. :rollseyes: My DH threw some laundry in the dryer a few weeks ago that wasn’t supposed to be machine dried. It shrunk my jeans a bit, but all worked out okay. iI don’t think he’ll do that again. :roflhard:
I made shoes for my ds out of a felted sweater. You should have seen it, it started out as a men’s XL and when it was felted it would have been too small for my 3 year old! I felted the crap out of it, though, so the shoes would be thick. I washed and dried on hot 4 times, I think. I also got a pair of shoes for my mom out of it, though I wasn’t able to make the soles double thick like my son’s are. Here is a pick:
Oh, you can see how thick it ended up if you look to the right of the scissors.
Some sewing tips:
There is no need to finish edges, don’t try to hem it will just make you crazy
If you plan to carry heavy things, add a non-stretch fabric to the strap (the straps that go over his feet stretch easily)
You can use any type of thread, just like regular sewing
Make sure you use a needle designed for thick fabric (like a needle for jeans/canvas) or you will break a lot of needles
I think that is it. Have fun, post pics when you are done!
when you’re done, you can use some embroidery thread and a sturdy sharp needle to embellish it
Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for all the advice! I cant wait to make my bag now. I think I just need to get a strong needle for sewing and then I will be off! I will post a pic when done. I’ll put one up of my first knitting project too
Thanks once again!
Red - In the UK