Another day on the re-useable bag theme. Today’s bags aren’t vintage bags in themselves – although it can be fun to score an oldie but a goody. I saw airline totes from the 1970’s the other day in a thrift store. So cool!

These bags are made from old sweaters.

It’s one thing to felt a piece of new knitting. But you can also felt a piece of old knitting. Or machine knitting. Or make use of a wool sweater that you might not use otherwise – one that doesn’t fit anymore, one you don’t like anymore, or one you bought for $2 at the thrift store.

Like this:

The first thing you need is a 100% wool sweater. Ideally, it will also be a colour (or pattern) that you like.

The second thing you need to do is felt the sweater. Knot it up in a pillow case and toss it into the washing machine, with some towels and/or jeans to balance the load. If it doesn’t felt enough to lose stitch definition – i.e. if you can see the individual stitches – put it in for another round. Heat and agitation make wool felt. Front loading washing machines are more gentle and will require more repeats to felt an item. Hot water works faster. You can also fill the tub with hot water, toss in the sweater, put on your rubber boots, grab a plunger and get in there to agitate it. Your choice.

Once the sweater is felted, you need to decide which part to use. You can cut felted knitting without worrying about it unravelling. The bag on the left was the simplest kind – I cut it off straight at the underarms. The bottom ribbing became a seam allowance (a big one) in the base. The base is oval, just eyeballed from the size of the bottom plus a seam allowance. I edged the top with some piping from my fabric stash, made matching handles and a lining, and that’s that. I’m not much for open bags, but that would have been even easier.

The one on the right was one I wanted to be as big as possible. Those fake suede patches at the base actually cover the armscye from where I cut away the sleeves. The waist ribbing from the sweater is at the top, underneath that piping edge. This one has a square bottom which was a little bit trickier to sew. To cut the right size rectangle, I flattened the bag, then measured the whole width. The sum of the narrow side of the rectangle base and the long side of that base had to be the same as the width of the flattened bag. The other thing with this one was that I discovered after getting home that it had one little moth nibble. I unravelled some yarn from the cuff (which I knew I was going to cut off anyway) and darned the hole with the same wool. After felting, I couldn’t even find the repair again.

Have you made any bags from recycled or thrifted materials?