Ravenhill: I HEART Christmas decorations Turorial

December 17, 2007

I HEART Christmas decorations Turorial

You have already seen that I dare to cut things up; be it a vintage kimono, tablecloth or here a Norwegian sweater. This sweater is one of the most traditional Norwegian patterns.

What I did: tossed one of my thrifted sweaters (needless to say, it was in poor shape!) into the washing machine on 40C with some gentle detergent in a zippered pillowcase (to prevent the lint from the sweater from getting into and clogging my machine.) When it came out it seemed suitably felted. I knew it was felted enough as the fibers had matted together and the sweater had shrunk considerably. I let it dry flat.

I made a heart pattern by folding a sheet of paper in half and drawing a half heart on the fold, making it a bit bigger than I wanted the finished heart to be (seam allowance). I cut around it. I held the pattern in place over the felted wool (right side up) getting the heart lined up nicely with the sweater design. Then I cut around the paper using my rotary cutter. Watch those fingers! As you can see, after cutting out a few my rotary cutting mat looks like it has grown fur!

When I had a front and back cut out I pinned them together with right sides facing. I sewed the hearts together using a matching colored thread and leaving an opening on the straight edge near the tip for turning and stuffing the heart. Note that some felted sweaters might be too thick to sew together on the machine. I tried one that wouldn't fit under the presser foot, despite me adjusting the machine to free hand sewing. These sweater hearts are so nice though becuase they have some real stretch to them. The hearts turn out looking much more perfect than when you use fabric.

Next I turned the heart right side out and stuffed it pretty full. I sewed up the opening by hand using matching thread.

Now is the fun part! You get to decide what trim and decorations you will use! I used a loop of ribbon which I sewed on and then hid my stitches with the other trim: flowers or bows. On these I used red satin ribbon and crochet alpaca flowers. These are fantasy flowers, intentionally asymetrical and with raggedy edges the way I like them.
Someone more clever than me would likely sew the loop on when sewing up the heart. I figured that out afterwards...

An idea is to make a larger heart with the felted sweater, omit the loop, and make it a sweater pillow! It is a great way to get more use out of a sweater that has shrunk or become outgrwown.

Here are some I made more Christmas decorations with bells and green ribbons.

If you would like to see another cut-up felted sweater turned into something new and useful, click here.

Dec 17, 2007 7:28:00 PM | crochet, Felting, knitting, Norway, Remake, sewing, Vintage

17 Comments

Oh, these I truly love! The warmth of a sweater combined with heart-shape, these are absolutely the best fabric hearts I've seen.

Posted by: Merruli | December 17, 2007 at 04:16 PM

wow! those are so cute! perfect! i'm pretty sure i have an already felted sweater in my closet! woohoo!

Posted by: Joanna | December 17, 2007 at 06:34 PM

How completely gorgeous are your woollen hearts - and so suitable for your climate!! It is really lovely to meet you and I too will spend time today reading your lovely blog - my first from Norway! Thanks so much for visiting.

Posted by: Louise | December 17, 2007 at 09:57 PM

Oh wow... great hearts. I love hearts and these are gorgeous!! and sooo Norwegian!

Posted by: Tonje | December 17, 2007 at 11:53 PM

thanks for sharing, so cute!

Posted by: betz | December 17, 2007 at 11:58 PM

How talented and how very pretty!

Posted by: Hazel | December 18, 2007 at 12:24 AM

They are so beautiful!!!
I might try to make some too. Thanks for sharing.
By the way, you wan the draw in my blog, so please send me your address so I can send you the earings. Hope you like them!
Hugs

Posted by: Ana | December 18, 2007 at 10:16 AM

Thank you for popping over and visiting my blog- There should be more photos from my exhibition up here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/crunchcandy/sets/72157602968618094/
or here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/crunchcandy/sets/72157603212155795/
my flickr pro account just ran out so I think maybe some of the other images are missing in cyber space at the moment!
Both exhibitions were held at the 'here shop and gallery' which is here:
http://www.thingsfromhere.co.uk

hope that helps!

And needless to say I absolutely LOVE these hearts- can't wait to spend some more time visiting you here.

Posted by: Camilla | December 18, 2007 at 11:53 AM