By Tiffany Threadgould
Old sweaters are a great fabric for new projects. Take your favorite striped, argyle, or plain old sweater and reconstruct it into a holiday stocking. This makes a great personalized project and a fun way to preserve sweaters that have holes or stains. Simply cut around that spot or embellish it with found objects. Stock up on old sweaters and create sweater stockings for your whole family.
Materials
Template See PDF below
Large sweater
Pins
Fabric scissors
Tape
Sewing machine or needle and thread
Buttons
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Download the Stocking Pattern Right click to save the PDF to your desktop. Directions on downloading PDFs. |
Directions
Step 1: Print out the template. Cut it out and tape the two pieces together at the center.
Step 2: Place the pattern on top of the sweater and pin through the top layer. Carefully cut out one layer of sweater.
Step 3: Flip the pattern over and pin it in place on another section of the sweater. Cut out your second stocking piece.
Step 4: Pin and cut out your other pattern pieces. Line up the bottom edge of the trim with the bottom edge of the sweater.
Step 5: Take the two pieces of trim and place them together with right sides facing in. Stitch along the ends.
Step 6: Pin the heel to the front of the stocking panel. Stitch along the inner edge.
Step 7: Place the right sides of the stocking together and stitch around the perimeter, leaving an opening at the top.
Step 8: Pin the trim edges at the top of the stocking with the right sides facing the wrong sides of the stocking. Stitch around the top edge.
Step 9: Flip your stocking to the right side and fold down the top trim. Add a scrap piece of sweater to create a hang tab. Embellish your stocking with buttons and any other found objects. You’ll be ready to give the gift of recycling this year!
About the author:
Tiffany Threadgould is a design junkie who gives scrap materials a second life. She’s the founder of RePlayGround, where you can find her book, ReMake It! (Sterling Publishing), a series of do-it-yourself recycling kits, and online instructions for projects that you can make yourself. She’s also the head of design at TerraCycle, where she designs new products from loads of different wastestreams. Tiffany thinks that garbage has feelings too and sometimes can be found talking to her pile of junk at her design studio in Brooklyn, NY.
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