For fun in recent months I’ve tried a couple “extracurricular” projects out of felted wool. The first was a pair of running leggings from Resweater, the blog of a fellow felted-wool-lover. I made a pair for my daughter who runs — and she runs year-round in western Michigan, even when there’s snow on the ground. Resweater blogger Kris has given us a very helpful tutorial here.
So what started out as a man’s XXL merino wool sweater is now serving in a whole new capacity as comfy, breathable leggings. Grace says they keep her warm and dry and they don’t smell afterwards :). Thank you for the great idea, Kris!
And then I made another practical little thing — a “draft dodger” for the chill that sneaks under the doors of older houses. So, yeah, this also was for my Michigan-dwelling daughter. I kept trying to think of anything BESIDE a snake that I could make out of that elongated shape, but wasn’t coming up with anything I liked. Finally decided this would be a fun time to try my hand at felted wool flowers, and came up with this:
Now it’s a veritable garden to ease winter’s bleakness and usher in the hope of spring, right? I used this tutorial at prettyhandygirl.com to practice making flowers. Fun! I sewed a flat pocket with a velcro’ed flap at one end. It was lightweight and simple to send through the mail, and upon receiving it, my daughter filled it with dried beans from her pantry and put it to use.
I want examining and I think this website got some really useful stuff on it!
Did you felt the wool of those running pants before you sewed them? I assumed you did — but then I washed and dried them the other day, thinking they were as shrunk as they could be — and now they just cover my knees! Whoops! (Maybe another pair for Christmas, if you’re not too sewed out??)
Oh, no! Yes, things can felt up more. It’s best to wash these in cool water on gentle and then line dry. Hmmm…we’ll see about Christmas :)
I need a few of those draft dodgers!
Oh, Gloria, you are always an encouragement to me. You just say the word (and the color), and I can whip up some draft dodgers for you, too. Have I yet mentioned that I’ve been saving up some lovely lavenders for you? Well, I have…!
Awww, that is an adorable draft catcher. I love the stripes. Thank you for linking to my tutorial.
Have a great week!
Brittany
Gladly, Brittany. And thanks for the help on learning something new. I’m sure I’ll be playing around some more with your pattern :)
Those pants look great! I made the mistake of wearing synthetic pants last night jogging, and I was freezing. I kept wishing I had my wool ones on! I love the draft dodger too. What did you use to stuff it with?
Hi, Resweater! Thanks again for the great pattern. As for the draft dodger, I gave it a recloseable end (with Velcro) so it could be mailed without “innards” and then filled by the recipient with something like rice or beans. My daughter used beans — which hold it in place nicely by the door.