Felting Sweaters

This week the thrift store had a 50% off sale.  I have been waiting for one of these sales, hoping I could find some wool sweaters to felt and use in sewing.  I really hit the jackpot with this trip!

Up until now, I've mostly seen acrylic and cotton sweaters.  No good for felting.  This time however, I came home with an armload of sweaters.

It gets easier to spot a 100% wool sweater as you search through racks of other stuff.  The wool sweaters are always a little fuzzy and thicker.  I think often they end up at the thrift store because they have been accidentally slightly felted and don't fit any more.  I know I have done this to a few sweaters myself!

Do you remember these Gap sweaters from around 2000?  I remember the year because I was in my first year of university and my roommate had one.  I love this one and can't wait to make it into something fun. I felt like I had hit the jackpot when I found this sweater.  I snatched it up so fast!

This one is good too.  It is a Mens size Large I think. I like the colours, but I'm not sure I would let my husband wear a sweater that looks like this. 

Before felting the sweaters, I cut them all up.  I cut off the sleaves and cut them open.  For the really big sweaters I also cut apart the front and back.

Here's what I ended up with:

So, what am I going to do with all these felted sweaters?

I am going to make some Knit Cupcakes for sure

and probably some baby booties

and maybe even a hedgehog.

If you haven't seen Warm Fuzzies: 30 Sweet Felted Projects by Betz White yet, you should definitely check it out.  You can see inside here.