You know the disappointment of pulling a cozy warm wool sweater out of the closet only to find it has got little tiny bites out of it from the clothes moths? Or, you realize that it actually always was a little too tight on the arms all along and you just can’t take the discomfort anymore!? Well, creative sparks come from the strangest places! It was a combination of these two things (yes! both of them!) that led me to this very exciting project for up-cycled sweater house slippers. I am thrilled to have designed a full-color step by step instruction booklet and an exclusive design for them so you can make them too.
My sweater disappointment combined with cold toes quickly led to an idea for sweater re-use. You know what they say about necessity as the mother of invention!
Right now, in the shop, you can get a full kit with felted wool sweater material. If you are already side-eyeing an old wool sweater, you can grab the kit with everything except the sweater material. Additionally, I have just the PDF of the pattern and instructions in the shop, in case you already have what you need and are ready to start making! I’m truly so excited to bring this project to life.
See, I believe in the grounding power of taking off your shoes inside the house. Slipping off your shoes brings with it the sensation of having arrived to a safe place that requires no pretenses. Never mind that it keeps the house much cleaner, of course.
At the same time, my feet are always cold! You might remember my knee-high patchwork sweater boots from here. Obviously, I’m a lover of foot warmth and have wanted to design a sustainable espadrille style house slipper that kept my toes cozy but didn’t feel like full-on shoes. It is this kind of pure serendipity that can only come from pulling on an always awkward sweater and discovering a moth bite, right?
To make the project as sustainable as possible, I put a call out to friends as well as my town-wide Buy Nothing group for 100% wool sweaters and got an overwhelming response. As an aside, have you read this article about art supplies and Buy Nothing groups? So interesting and intriguing!
Turns out, many of us hang onto lovely but unusable sweaters (the accidental shrinking of sweaters is quite the issue!). I got to work felting the sweaters and creating sustainable kits in six different varieties! Each kit has plenty of felted sweater material to allow for directionality options.
I did discover that the project works best with medium weight to lightweight wool sweaters. So, if you plan to make them with your own sweater just make sure it isn’t too bulky.
I hope you are as excited as I am about sweater house slippers. This project has a nice combination of machine and hand-stitching, which is somehow extra satisfying in cold weather. Enjoy!
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