Recycled Sweaters with Needle Felting

4 November 2010 Author: Leslie Bower

Recycle, Reuse, Upcycle - these are all common concepts in today’s world of going green.  It is so simple to take recycled sweaters and make them new again by either felting directly on the sweater or by adding needle-felted accents.  Grab a sweater from the back of your closet or from the nearest second hand shop and let’s begin.

An easy way to dress up a sweater or any other article of clothing is to add pre-made felted accents.  There are many choices ranging from flowers, leaves, beaded balls and swirls.  These can be attached with just a few tacking stitches, add some embroidery accents and you have created a new look out of something old.



Another fun idea is to create your own design and accent using flat wool felt, wool roving, and a few embroidery stitches.  Cut out a fun shape such as a leaf, butterfly or flower out of the flat felt. Using wool roving which is available in many trendy colors, create a lively accent by needle felting the wool roving onto your felt shape. Attach these handmade accents using coordinating embroidery thread or yarn, and add some simple embroidery stitches to highlight your felted accents.



A design can also be needle felted directly on to a sweater.  Draw your template on a piece of brown paper bag and use this as a guide to felt your wool roving directly on to the sweater. All you need is the wool roving, a needle felting needle and the foam block you will use to place under the sweater.

Accents can be placed around the neckline of recycled sweaters, around the waist or even down a sleeve. Adding beads, rhinestones or other specialty threads will create that one-of-a-kind brand new look to upcycle that old sweater.