Giving Old Sweaters a Beautiful Repurposed Life

A new (to me) crafting activity I’ve recently tried is working with fulled (felted) wool. It’s a lot of fun and frustration, and a great opportunity for hoarders!

About a year ago, I found a gorgeous wool sweater at a local thrift store. I now have a chest full of fulled wool sweaters patiently awaiting a new, repurposed life. I’ve done a lot of experimentation (hence the frustration), but I’ve learned a lot in the process!

For example, I know that there are oodles of wool sweaters available at the thrift stores, but that most of them are not suitable for repurposing. I won’t buy anything again that isn’t 100% wool, as they rarely react well to the fulling process. They also need to be as large as possible, because it is difficult to make anything of any size otherwise. Loose-knit wool doesn’t achieve good results. Drying in the dryer was only attempted once! (My dryer still coughs up lint balls occasionally). I tried hand-fulling in a bucket of hot soapy water, and learned that the results weren’t worth the labour-intensive effort.

Yes, the sweaters have been worn. But, by the time the fulling process is complete, they have been washed in hot, hot water several times, so I guarantee you they are clean! I’ve made some great finds – such as a men’s extra-large, virtually new wool sweater that had a tiny hole in he front. I can work around that! It cost me less than $2.00. Even better, my favourite crafting supply scout (aka my daughter, herself a bit of a craft supply hoarder) went out of her way, little ones in tow, to get me a huge box of gorgeous already-felted, patterned wool pieces that I’m slowly working my way through.

So far, I’ve fulled about three dozen adult sweaters, and created a few little girls’ sweaters from them. Sometimes it takes cutting into three adult sweaters to make one little size 2 jacket. They are super soft, warm, and quite water resistant. I already have a pile of felted wool scraps that I can make smaller items from, when I have the time. There are so many things that can be made from a little scrap of beautiful felt, it’s a hoarder’s delight!

And that’s not even mentioning needle felting. I would love to try my hand at that some day soon!

There are many Etsy sellers who produce beautiful work with felted wool. Two of my favourite items are the felted wool mittens from FeltSassy.etsy.com and the felted wool slipper socks from Pawfelts.etsy.com. The sweater is from my shop, WhoaItsMe.etsy.com.

GoTo our latest Treasury!

That is, the latest treasury by GoTo...Great Panes. Beautiful. And, I see in the posts that

Juliesparklybits

has had a sale from the treasury. Yay!

Click here to visit the treasury before it disappears on November 15!

Housekeeping

Did you know that there are some super great ideas and tips on Etsy about team building? I did, but had not taken full advantage of this knowledge up to now. Today, I did a little poking around the Etsy Team Guides section.

• I added our team blog to the Etsy Team Blog Ring.
• I added our team blog address to my Etsy shop page.
• I read this creative team marketing article on the Storque
• I got some ideas to discuss in our upcoming team chat
• I am wondering how we might make our own holiday gift guide
  

I want to thank Mamta for stepping up as the promotions coordinator for the team. I hope that our efforts will soon pay off in increased membership and increased sales for all members.

Happy Hoarding!

Sizzlin' Hot Treasury

MadameTeasley has continued our November challenge by helping to fuel team momentum this week with a Red Hot treasury of team items. These are great for the holiday season! Visit the treasury. Send your friends. Ask them to join our team!Treasury expires on Friday, November 13.

Ice Blue treasury

Thanks to WhoaItsMe for beginning this week with a wonderfully wintry treasury of icy blues and snowflake patterns.Treasury ends on November 11, so hurry on over and pick your favorite items for that special somebody!

The top 10 reasons women give for hoarding fabric/yarn/beads/jewelry findings/scrapbooking supplies/(your craft supply hoarding obsession here):

10. It was such a bargain, I would be wasting money if I didn’t buy it.

9. I had to buy it, I might not be able to find it again.

8. It was my mother’s/sister’s/aunt’s/someone's-who-I-once-crossed-paths-with, and I just can’t bear to part with it.

7. My parents grew up during the depression so I grew up in a household that saved everything. (It’s my parents’ fault!)

6. I showed great restaint – I didn’t buy even half of what I wanted.

5. I’m saving it for just the right project.

4. I need to have a lot of supplies if I am going to be creative!

3. It draws attention away from my significant other’s sports card/beer stein/model car/comic book/(his obsession here) hoard.

2. When I’m suddenly snowed in, my supplies will carry me over until spring.

1. Hoard? What hoard? This is my collection!

HOARDERS HAVE BEEN BUSY

One year ago we became an Etsy team, we hoarders. We decided on the name, Hoarders Unite! An avatar and a banner were chosen in our infancy that were orange and green. They were fine at the time, but later on some of us decided we'd like something different. Thus the new banner and avatar in blue with a little bit more modern design.

We posted photos of our work spaces and found that some of us were not only hoarders but hmm, shall we say, messy. We have so many supplies that it is hard to maintain them in the space in our home allotted to our art and craft. We encouraged one another with our ideas on organizing and storage.

We thought we might like to swap supplies but really that never did happen. We might try that again, we'll see. We seem to like to hold onto our supplies, thinking that we might need this or that "someday."

Our fearless leader, Sinclair, or Nature With Me, kept us going through the year, challenging us to use supplies on hand and NOT purchase new. Secretly and in theory we agreed. I'm guilty of purchasing new. I can't stick to one media, thus I need new supplies now and then. I started to knit a rug. Needed yarn, needed needles. Bought some. Worked on the rug until I decided to make a scarf. Made scarf. Made another scarf. Made another scarf...was challenged to make hats for veterans in southern Oregon. Made hat. Made another hat. And another...you get the picture. Had to buy more yarn and more needles. BUT, I bought a lot of the yarn and all but one pair of needles at second hand stores. I was using SOMEONE'S hoard!! LOL!!

So, one year later, sock monkeys and boo-koo scarves and hats later, Sinclair has again challenged us to become more active in order to help promote our shops, and to participate in the team. We responded by having THREE treasuries of our talented members' offerings at Etsy; by answering her call to share our gifts by doing a challenge a month via her blog, "Sharing Our Gifts" whereby we make items for a certain charity or needful organization a month and each month featuring a different state of the union, and by volunteering to do the blog once a week on a given day.

Today is my day, I'm happy to be a part of this group which challenges me but also offers encouragement and support in my online handmade business, i.e., Etsy shops.

I think Sinclair was doing a wonderful job with the blog and the other activities she organized but it isn't fair that she has to do all the work!! So, Sinclair, thanks for all you do for all of us!!

Now carry on, Hoarders. Let's show 'em our stuff! Mark all your items with the tag, "hoardersuniteteam" and upload the avatar with your item photos if you have room. Talk about us in your own personal blogs, encouraging buyers to search for our name at Etsy. Let us set some personal goals for the second year of Hoarders Unite that fellow members can help each other attain.

Ta ta for now,

Nancy ~ nanalee

Etsy shops: GARMENTURE http://garmenture.etsy.com/

and VICTORIAN VISIONS BY NANALEE http://nanalee.etsy.com/