Looking for a fun and creative way to upcycle old wool sweaters while spending quality time with your kids? Crafting with felted sweaters is the perfect activity for families! With just a little effort, you can transform those worn or shrunken sweaters into colorful, soft materials that are perfect for kid-friendly projects like hot pads, pillows, or cup cozies.
Not only is it a great way to teach your children about sustainability and reusing what you already have, but it’s also a wonderful opportunity to bond while creating something unique together. In this guide, we’ll show you how to felt wool sweaters and dive into some easy projects your kids will love!
By far, one of my favorite things to up-cycle for crafting purposes are wool sweaters! It’s nearly addicting. And you can find them for only a few dollars at your local thrift store.
What is Felting and Why Try It?
Felting is the process of transforming wool fibers into a dense and durable material. It’s simple enough for anyone to do! And the best part is that you can find wool sweaters in the thrift store.
The benefits of crafting with felted sweaters is that you have a cost-effective crafting material. I am a thrifty crafter. I typically don’t want to spend a lot of money on my crafty supplies. You too? Great! You’ll love creating felt material from old sweaters. You can get several projects from one wool sweater, so it’s very inexpensive.
Plus, it’s just fun to rescue old things and give them a new life. That’s why I love thrifting and up cycling. It reminds me of our grandparents and great-grandparents who had to live sustainably and couldn’t afford to go buy new things all the time. Let’s bring back the handcrafted gifts.
You can even use damaged wool sweaters. Have you accidentally shrunk a wool sweater? (Here I am over here sheepishly raising my hand). Well, you don’t have to throw it away! You can transform it into something new. Or, sometimes wool sweaters get holes in them. Now you can reuse them anyway.
Felting is great for kids because it’s a simple process that they can help with. It’s a great hands-on crafting material that is easy to work with, and felting encourages creativity and hands-on learning.
How to Felt Wool Sweaters: Step-by-Step Guide
The materials list is very simple:
- 100% wool sweaters (avoid synthetic blends)
- scissors, laundry detergent, and a washing machine or sink, dryer
Step 1: Check sweater table for wool content
You want 100% wool sweaters. Unless you have some you can pick from your drawer, you will want to head to your local thrift store. The thrift store is a treasure trove of cheap crafting goodness! Check out the men’s section first — and go for the biggest sweaters you can find. Because when the felting process is complete, your sweater will be a smaller version of your original. So, start big.
Step 2: Washing the sweater
Machine wash your sweater in hot water with detergent on the cycle with the most agitation. Then, toss it in the dryer on the hottest temperature setting. When you’re done, you will have some dreamy felted wool to work with. The beauty of the felting process is that the fibers are now so tight, that you can cut the wool and not worry about any fraying. This makes it a breeze for crafting, because it requires minimal sewing.
Step 3: Prep wool for crafting
Now you can start to plan your crafting projects. Each sweater has the potential for multiple creative crafts. Here’s how you can use one sweater for almost 10 projects.
Here are a few tips for kid-friendly involvement when crafting with felted sweaters:
- Let them pick colors or patterns that they like in the sweaters you purchase
- Explain the science behind felting (heat, moisture, and friction)
- Plan the felted craft projects with them
- Let them do most of the crafting – felted wool is very kid-friendly!
Fun Kid-Friendly Projects to Make with Felted Wool
Simple Projects for Felted Wool Sweaters
The two easiest crafts for kids to make with felted wool are hot pads and cup cozies.
Coffee Cozies
These super easy coffee cozies require no sewing (unless you want to tack on some decorative buttons). Just cut a section from the sleeve of your sweater. Remember, the felting process makes your wool free from fraying — yay! So, just slip on the arm piece to fit your coffee cup however you like, and you’re done! We purchased these travel mugs at the dollar store.
Felted wool cup cozies make a great gift on their own, or you can fill them with candy or hot chocolate mix or a gift card for even more fun!
Candle Cozies
Another variation of the coffee cup cozies is a candle cozy.
These cozies are made like the coffee cozies. Just use a section of the sweater arm. No sewing required. Slip it on a glass votive candle holder, fold up the cuff, and that’s it.
Potholder
Another super simple idea when crafting with felted sweaters is to make a hot pad. You’ll need 2 layers of wool cut into a square shape. Help your kids create a template out of cardboard or paper first, then use that to cut the wool.
Then, all you need to do is sew around the edge to connect both layers. You don’t need to turn this inside out first. Because the wool is felted, it won’t fray and the more it’s washed, the tighter the fibers will become. So, just sew about 1/4 inch in from the edge either with a simple straight machine stitch or by hand.
You can add additional durability by sewing across each potholder with an X pattern.
Creative Ideas for Felted Wool
Your kids can create all sorts of imaginative items with their wool – including ornaments and stuffed animals. But let me show you two ideas that we’ve made.
Felted Wool Stars
First, you can craft adorable felted wool stars for Christmas. These look great as a gift topper or gathered together in a basket or bowl as a festive decoration.
First, create a star template with card stock. Then, use your template to cut out 2 stars from felted wool. You can use the upper arm of the sweater for this… cut the arm open at the seam, and you will be amazed how much wool is available.
No need to sew right sides together on any of these felt projects. Just sew all the way around your star, leaving a little spot for stuffing. Stuff, sew shut, then add your raffia and jingle bell. Sweet!
Wool Garland
The next creative idea is a really great one for using all those leftover scraps of wool that you’ll accumulate! If you don’t want to waste even a little bit of wool (that’s me!), then gather them up until you have a nice colorful collection. Or, just focus on one or two colors for a more subdued project.
You can cut them into any shape you want – circles or squares work best. With a large needle, thread in some yarn or embroidery floss and let your kids poke through the center of each wool scrap, evenly spacing them out, until they have a nice length of garland. Use it on the tree, on the stairs, or around the doorway. It’s festive, thrifty, and cozy!
Practical Items to Craft with Felted Wool
Two practical items your kids can craft with felted wool are pillows and mittens.
Pillows
This particular pillow was made with a wool skirt since it had this cute fringe.
Felted wool pillows are easy to make. Just cut to your desired size and shape and then sew the whole thing except for a little spot for stuffing. Stuff the pillow and finish sewing shut.
The side seams on this pillow were already the side seams of the sweater, so I cheated on the sewing! The ribbing and cables on your sweater add interest and texture. You can even use some leftover scraps to make coordinating felt flowers. I glue mine on with E6000 glue. Or you can tack them on with needle and thread.
Mittens
While we haven’t personally made mittens, I know they’d be super simple and fun to craft with your kids! Just follow the steps we’ve done on other projects.
First, create a template of a mitten by tracing the size of their hand onto a sheet of card stock. Remember, you’re making mittens with just a thumb separated from the rest of their fingers, so this should be rather simple. Leave a little extra room for stitching.
Now cut out 2 pieces of felt for the front and back of your mitten. You may choose to use the sweater’s cuff as the cuff of the mitten. Simply sew it together and voila! You’ve got cozy hand-crafted wool mittens.
Crafting Tips for Success with Kids
When you’re crafting with kids, you’ll want to keep it simple. Choose projects suited to their age and skill level. Also be sure to use tools safely. For example, younger kids may want to use blunter needles. You may need to help them learn to use the sewing machine – this is a great life skill! Or, instruct them on how to sew with a needle and thread. These are great activities to develop their fine motor skills.
Next, encourage creativity by letting them design their own shapes or patterns. When you’re crafting with felted sweaters, it’s a very forgiving crafting medium – and inexpensive. You can incorporate additional materials like buttons or jingle bells as we’ve done in the projects above.
More Ways to Upcycle Old Clothes with Your Family
I love to be thrifty – whether that’s buying homeschool curriculum, crafting for my Etsy business, or living one one income. You too? Here are some other fun ways to upcycle old clothes.
Other uses for old sweaters
We’ve created patchwork blankets with sweater scraps or flannel pieces. You can upcycle almost any piece of clothing. Another fun item to reuse are your jean pockets – by putting a piece of wool in the middle of two jean pieces (one with a fun pocket), you can create jean potholders.
Introduce other DIY techniques
The next craft my daughter and I intend to do while crafting with felted sweaters is to learn how to do simple embroidery on felted wool. This is beautiful, sustainable, and a great hands-on project that can be done while listening to music or an audiobook! You could then sew on a backing and make these small pieces into beautiful potholders or frame them.
Benefits of crafting with kids
Of course, anything you can do with your kids will strengthen family bonds. But crafting with kids also teaches them problem-solving and perseverance. Plus, your kids will learn to appreciate thrifty and sustainable living, along with valuing handmade over mass-produced items.
Want more craft ideas, gift tags, and inspiration? Check out our craft resource library.
