Have you been ice skating or waiting for the bus and felt a cold gust on your behind? Can you get your hands on a wool sweater you don’t mind chopping up for parts? Keep reading and I will tell you how to make an upcycled skirt or BUM WARMER and if you like…put a dog applique on it.
You will need:
- a wool sweater
- scissors
- sewing machine
- elastic
For the optional Dog Applique-you will need:
- embroidery floss (brown, black, cream)
- needle
- felt (cream and brown)
- paper and pencil
- scissors
- 1 black bead (optional, you can do with out a bead and sew a black dot on)
Do you remember the wool sweater above? It’s been upcycled before and now we are cutting it up for more parts! You might already know this but knit sweaters will unravel if you just cut them. So you need a sweater with wool in it. When you wash the sweater in hot water and put it in the dryer it will shrink and “felt”. This prevents it from unravelling. Now we can cut it like it’s fabric.
The sleeves are already gone to the dog, now we are going to use the best part! The area below the armpit could be made into so many things! A purse, tea cozy, slippers, mittens, big dog sweater….So many ideas so little time. If you would like to see what we did with the sleeves scroll to the bottom of the post.
Cut straight across the sweater.
Fold over the top one inch (2 cm), and pin in place.
Sew almost all the way around to make a casing. Leave a 1 inch gap to slide the elastic inside.
If you don’t put on the applique and decorate it with felt then slide the elastic in now. However, since I wanted to add something fun to the booty of the bum warmer, I’m going to insert the elastic as the final step.
Cut a page in half. Find a photo of what you would like to applique on the bum. I recommend a flower or an animal that is really simple. This dog was found when I searched for dog felt projects or how to draw an easy dog. I tried to copy the simple dog I found.
Pin the page to your felt and cut out the dog applique.
Try on the bum warmer and pin the applique into the area you would like to have it. It can go on the front or the back.
Grab your embroidery floss, needle, scissors and black bead.
Hand sew the applique on using embroidery floss. I used matching thread but you could make it stand out by using a contrasting thread. I just did a very quick running stitch to attach the dog to the skirt.
Then I added the ear and too spots to his behind.
The last step is to insert your elastic. I like to put a huge pin on the end of the elastic and insert it into the 1-2 inch gap we left. Then wiggle it through the casing. When you get it all the way around the waist area and back to the gap, pin it to the other end. Check to make sure that the elastic didn’t get twisted. Adjust to the desired width. Try the skirt on again and test out the size. If you are happy sew the elastic together and remove the safety pin. Machine sew the casing closed.
This sweater will fit a preteen daughter to an adult XL woman. As long as the elastic is comfortable, the wool will stretch with your size. I could have tightened the elastic and made it a skirt for my 8 year old too. If you find its getting a bit stretched out just wash it again. Use warm water instead of hot and warm dryer so it doesn’t shrink too much.
Easy Dog Coat from an Upcycled Sweater
Make your little dog an easy winter sweater by repurposing one of your own!
You know how you should never, ever wash a wool sweater in hot water or put it in the dryer? Well that is exactly what you need to do today to make a little dog a wool coat.
We have a little girl named Gemma who is a Yorkie/Poodle mix. This is the perfect size for her. She is 9 lbs and loves to share your toast. She gets chilled easily so she loves it when her momma makes her a new coat or sweater.
You will need:
- a wool sweater (or wool blend with at least 50% wool)
- scissors
- tape measure or ruler
Start by washing your wool sweater in hot water and machine dry it. This will shrink the wool and “felt” the stitches of the sweater so that it will not unravel when we cut it. You could wash and dry the sweater a few times to further shrink it.
Lay the sweater on a flat surface and cut the sleeve off at the shoulder seam.
Also cut off the cuff.
Lay the sleeve flat with the seam in the middle facing upwards. I cut 2 small leg holes 3 inches apart.
Cut the holes small because the sweater will stretch after a day or two of wearing it.
This photo shows a much bigger hole after Gemma wore it for 3 days. She gets cold with the weather changing so she sleeps in it at night too.
This photo shows her right after I made it. Her fur is very scruffy and adorable….but matted. So we took her to the groomer.
And here she is after grooming and smelling like cookie shampoo. She is so darling. The sweater size looks bigger because of her haircut and because of stretching. When we toss it into the washer and dryer it shrinks back to perfect size again.
That sweater had two arms, of course, so we can make a second one for her to wear on laundry day! Hurray!
