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PatriciaS
Gabber Extraordinaire
USA
537 Posts |
 Posted - 12/29/2006 : 6:51:08 PM
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Okay, I've got two all wool sweaters that I'm thinking about felting.
The first sweater is a commercial one, and I've pretty well definitely decided to felt it. I would like to make a tote, so will be figuring out how to design that using primarily the back of the sweater. I'm kind of excited because the front has pockets on each side, so I can use those to design inner partitions which have pockets. How cool is that??
My question about this sweater is: what happens to ribbing when it felts? Should I plan on cutting that off, or unraveling it, or what?
In fact, actually I have a more basic question: should I felt the sweater and then cut it up and make a tote bag out of it, or try to create the tote back and then felt it? (I've not done ANY felting yet.) It's all just plain gray. It might be fun to add some black accents or black and red or some other color/design interest.
The 2nd sweater is a lovely handknit Norwegian sweater I picked up in a thrift shop for about 2 bucks. Beautiful. BUT, it doesn't fit me, and even if I were to lose sufficient weight, it's still not flattering because it's drop shoulders -- tho some serious shoulder pads would help. Anyway, I'm looking for some ideas on what to do with this sweater if I felt it. Any suggestions?
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blwinteler
Permanent Resident
USA
3145 Posts |
Posted - 12/29/2006 : 8:48:23 PM
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Serious shoulder pads? I would felt it instead. I'm not fond of the linebacker look on women  .
I have yet to try felting a sweater to turn it into something else. I think, on the one with the ribbing, perhaps you should felt it all and then make the tote. This way you can see what happens to the ribbing and can make more informed decisions on the other. Of course, if you don't like sewing or piecing things together, you may want to just stitch up the bottom of the sweater, get rid of the sleeves somehow, and then felt it.
Again, I have not done this, so my ideas may or may not work. Let us know what you do and how it turns out.
Take care!
Brandy
My finished projects
[img]http://members.cox.net/blwinteler/th_TeamVegas2.jpg[/img]
Not all Dumbs are Blonde. |
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yarnlover
Permanent Resident
1730 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2006 : 06:01:01 AM
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Felt first, then cut.
I'd leave the ribbing and see how it looks after felting. You may be able to incorporate it in your bag right in place, or may have to cut it off and attach elsewhere, if you like the look of it.
I have felted several wool sweaters from the thrift shop, and cut them. I now have lots of pieces that I want to turn into a bath mat, but so far, I only have lot of pieces.
The difference in thickness is one problem I have right now in putting things together. You may find either of the sweaters will end up being extremely thick when felted. That was my experience, though others felted to a good thickness. Good luck. |
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PatriciaS
Gabber Extraordinaire
USA
537 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2006 : 9:50:58 PM
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Felt first, huh? Is that kind of an iron-clad rule (or guideline)?
I don't have to worry about the pockets felting closed, do I? They're just regular pockets, but I definitely want to preserve them for those inner pockets, like I mentioned.
Thanks, all. Any other comments? And yes, I'll come back and show ya'll what I did. I'm not in a big hurry, so it won't be right away, probably.
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purlthis
Permanent Resident
USA
2719 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2006 : 9:58:34 PM
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Felting makes the knitting turn into more of a fabric that won't unravel. If you cut unfelted knitting, it's going to likely go bad when you wash it since it has unfinished edges. I explained it to my dad's gf by explaining that felting is to wool what a hot iron is to plastic. It sort of melts and meshes the fibers closely so they don't go anywhere when cut.
Rachel
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As I get older, I prefer to knit. Tracey Ullman
http://purledthis.blogspot.com/ |
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KCShaw
Gabber Extraordinaire
USA
393 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2006 : 10:28:59 PM
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| the ribbing just felts and looks like felted ribbing. Id leave it, it can be used as part of the design. I have done a couple Back packs from old sweaters, they are really versitle actually, arms make good leg warmers too! If they are a bit plain you can always add some weaving with wool yarns or something on surface, embroidery maybe, will all felt together.( even beads) |
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yarnlover
Permanent Resident
1730 Posts |
Posted - 12/31/2006 : 06:59:19 AM
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quote:
I don't have to worry about the pockets felting closed, do I? They're just regular pockets, but I definitely want to preserve them for those inner pockets, like I mentioned.
I don't think you'll need to worry about this but if you want to be absolutely sure, you can put something in the pockets. If you have an old hankie or other piece of fabric, cut to about the size of the pocket and slide into pocket. You could take a couple of stitches to close the pocket so it won't lose the liner during felting. Just use regular thread that you can snip out after the felting is done. |
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PatriciaS
Gabber Extraordinaire
USA
537 Posts |
Posted - 01/01/2007 : 7:18:52 PM
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Oh, goodness, Rachel, I wouldn't cut live knitting and not secure it somehow. LOL. Sorry to have so badly mislead you. I would have sewn up all the edges by creating my finished project, only larger than it wuold be after felting.
KC -- good ideas. The sweater I want to make a tote out of is quite plain, just a lovely dark medium gray. Goodness, it just occurs to me -- what did you do for handles or straps or whatever?
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