Ecolovies ~ Recycled Wool Sweater Hats

It's that time of year again. The time when all of us northerners want to stay inside and keep a blanket on with a hot cup of something. For my kids that is perfect playing outside weather... however... keeping them warm is a must.

This idea came strait out of Handmade Home... I finally got my copy of the book and have already started writing notes in it on the projects I want to make and the modifications I need to make for my own handmade home. I am truly in love. Amanda Soule's ideas speak to my heart in so many ways. I was already living that life. I buy used and local whenever I can and have for years... to see a successful mama live the way that I do is very affirming. And wow... she is a creative soul!

So today, I made the wool sweater hats. One for each of the kids (I have on Alex's because he and I are the same size). It was simple. I went to the Value Village sale, and got three wool sweaters, paying at most $3.49 for them. Then I washed them in hot, twice, and dried them on high. They felted beautifully! Even the one I was worried about that was only 90% lambs wool.

Some little tips I found out. The 'youth/adult small' size starts at Cyan's age (8) for my kids. This may not be true... my kids may just have big heads, but Cyan's is a child's large and it isn't quite long enough. So just something to keep in mind if you try this pattern out.

The other is that the tighter the seams the better they lay. That seems like a no-brainer, but if you have the larger seams, the hats tend to puff up off the head.... that doesn't look as good.

And I love the embellishments Amanda did! The little birds are super cute, but for Cyan's I took some scraps from a friends stash and just cut shapes then put a cute button in the center. It worked out great!

The band beneath this hat is another scrap from the my friend Teresa... she makes clothes at the market and gives us all her scraps for fun things to make! I thought that the layer look on this hat was particularly cute.

Oh and if you don't have a baby to make the sleeves into hats for (they are really small after the felting) make them into arm warmers! I will show those another day, but Cyan loves hers. :)