Saint Salvage

Here's how to upcycle a sweater's sleeves into boot socks. I chose this sweater because the ruffles don't sit correctly on me when I wear it as a cardigan, but the sleeve ruffle will be great for the top of a boot sock. This is a project that needs few supplies. Gather: 1. The donor sweater 2. Coordinating thread 3. Seam ripper 4. Hand sewing needle 5. Straight pins or safety pins 6. Material of your choice for the soles of the socks ( I used small men's socks folded over.) Turn the sweater inside out and locate the seam where the sleeve is joined with the rest of the sweater.  Take the seam ripper, and carefully use it to cut the seam open. Use care during this step, because one false move, and you get unraveling!  Try on the sleeve (soon to be sock) to see how it fits. This is also very important, because you need to see how the bottom (was the arm/shoulder seam area) suits your foot. This is where you decide if you want to...

This is another cashmere sweater I love.  Of course, when I wanted to wear it... Holes!!!!! I hate sweater holes!!!! Instead of throwing out the sweater, I bought some iron on butterfly patches. I just placed them over the holes... and ironed them on. Here's the front, with the holes covered. Here's the back. The moth holes are now covered with butterfly patches. My nice cozy sweater is done.

Ah, cooler weather... time to change up the wardrobe. Well, I discovered something when unpacking my sweaters. One of my favorites is a "cheapie" I bought a couple years ago at the Atlantic City NJ Old Navy Outlet. It is 100% cashmere, and I bought it on sale for under $10.  To my great disappointment, it came out with holes! Arrrgggh!  What to do???? I set it aside, and found more sweaters that had small holes. So... inspiration time! I went onto my  Sweater Surgery board on Pinterest  and my  Sweet Home Alabama Chanin  board on Pinterest. Brain blast!!!!! Reverse applique coming up!!! I prowled the internet, and found this  pattern  for a Classic Play Wand by Katie Lewis, of   The Red Kitchen . She made a guest post on  U Create With Kids . I thought that star pattern would be a perfect template for my sweater hole problem. I printed out that pattern and gathered my supplies. I cut out the s...