A blanket made of felted sweaters. 9 ideas

Amazing things can be made from old clothes, such as a blanket made from felted sweaters. In every closet there is at least one shrunken sweater with shiny elbows - to wear at home, for example… In practice, such things simply feed moths, but could become cozy blankets and blankets, brooches and even children’s pants and dresses.

Sweaters can come from more than just your closet. I buy items for alteration at second-hand stores by weight on sale days. Sometimes, especially “sad” items from thrift stores are given away in bags for free, so as not to be thrown away. If you set a goal, then finding woolen items to reuse will not be a problem. Suppose we already have sweaters, now we need to prepare them for work - felt them.

How to felt a sweater?

Make sure that the items are knitted from 80%-100% natural wool. If the composition is not in favor of wool, the item will not mat. This won’t be a problem in the project - you can still make a blanket from the motifs, it’ll just be a little more work. In addition to the composition, things from the last decade are impregnated with water-repellent compounds and may not “sit” precisely for this reason. That’s why I’m all for second-hand. Sometimes you may need to run the item through the car again. In general, this is not an exact science, you can experiment with water temperature, detergent, with or without a mesh….

So, here we go:

The item will fall faster and better if you rip it open, remove the seams, elastic necks and labels.
Natural things shed a lot of fluff, which clogs the machine filter. To avoid problems with the washing machine, it is advisable to put things in a pillowcase and wash them in it, or wash one sweater at a time along with other things (cotton, linen).
Prepared fabrics without elastic bands, cuffs and collars We put them in a pillowcase.
Grate laundry soap, 1 tbsp.
Take 1 heaped teaspoon of soda - soda scrubs the fibers and really helps to felt the wool.
If you have a couple of tennis balls, put them in your pillowcase along with your sweaters, soap and baking soda. There are recommendations to put an old towel or jeans with your clothes.
Run the wash cycle at the hottest temperature. Inspect the wool - can you still see the knit seam? We’ll have to run things through again. If your machine has a dryer, feel free to dry your wool. The chance of successful felting increases significantly.

Alternative felting method

You can “boil down” woolen items. In this case, you will be able to control the entire process at every stage. Rinse with very cold water, the temperature difference perfectly “shrinks” the wool. It’s better to overcook than to sew a blanket from fraying thin wool.

To be fair, I note that lying around is not necessary. Beautiful blankets and blankets can be made from sweaters without felting .

What you can read on the label:

100% wool; Great Lambs Wool; Wool with 10% something else (spandex, rayon, cotton, polyester, etc.): if no more than 10% additives, then everything should work out 100%.
Alpaca: the machine wilts, but the boiling is better.
Camel: camel wool feels great, but it smells when boiled, and even in the washing machine.
Cashmere: lies weakly, remains thin.
Angora: old angora sweaters are lying around with a bang, but modern wool is well processed, you will have to sweat.
Cotton, viscose, silk, acrylic and polyester are not felted (just in case).