Make Hats & Mittens from old sweaters - choosetothrive.blogspot.com

Remember this little sweater that became a cardigan?Make mittens & hats out of old sweaters - choosetothrive.blogspot.com

Well it’s too small for kid #6 and has a few stains here and there which makes passing it down to younger kids a no-go.

Time to trash that striped number, right?

Wait! Don’t toss that!


With a little Edward Scissorhands love, that sweater or cardigan can yield mittens and hats —even with those pesky stains.

(Good thing, too, since winter in Utah this year has been a little like living on the ice planet Hoth. Add to that six kids who keep jumping head-first into snow drifts and I’m having a hard time keeping enough dry hats and mittens around.)

*Cue the back ups.*

Chop off the sleeves and nix any trim or zippers. Open plain sweaters up along a side seam.

sweaters to hats

Use a hat for your guide  and make sure you have enough material to cut twice the length of your hat + side seam allowance.

Make mittens & hats out of old sweaters - choosetothrive.blogspot.com

Cut the extra fabric away and fold in half with right sides together.

Cut around hat leaving room for a seam allowance.

Make mittens & hats out of old sweaters - choosetothrive.blogspot.com

Stitch around the top and serge or zig zag the raw edges.

Make mittens & hats from old sweaters - choosetothrive.blogspot.com

And those stains? Yeah, totally covered them with some scrap t-shirt fabric. Just stitched in place.

Make mittens & hats from old sweaters - choosetothrive.blogspot.com

I got one kids size hat out of this 5T sweater. Adult sizes would easily yield a hat from both the front and back pieces.

So don’t stop there!

What about those sleeves? Or any extra sweater material?

When I opened up the sleeves, I realized I had enough material for another hat.

SONY DSC

Trim up the arm and scrap pieces to even rectangles.  Measure from the border and trim pieces 1/2” longer than the height of your finished hat.

Make mittens & hats out of old sweaters - choosetothrive.blogspot.com

Fold each piece in half and round the raw edge at the top to match the curve of your hat piece …

Make mittens & hats from old sweaters - choosetothrive.blogspot.com

… so that it looks like this.

SONY DSC

Then just pin and stitch together. Serge or zig zag edges.

Make Mittens and hats from old sweaters.16

Done and done, right?

Nope.

There’s still left over material from the tops of the sleeves. What about that?

SONY DSC

Mittens!

SONY DSC

That same t-shirt scrap kicked out two more little hearts while the folded sleeve edge made some quick and easy seam binding for the cuffs.

Make mittens & hats from old sweaters - choosetothrive.blogspot.com

So …

Trash-bound sweater?

Make mittens & hats from old sweaters - choosetothrive.blogspot.com

It’s What-Not-To-Toss This Weekend!

Oh … and one more thing.

On behalf of all Utah residents:

Make mittens out of old sweaters - choosetothrive.blogspot.com

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9 Comments

  1. michelle@somedaycrafts

    This a great idea. I am featuring this at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com.

  2. Nike, you are so creative! That is a fantastic idea, and the hats & mittens turned out soooo cute!

  3. Wow! I would never had thought of getting a hat from the sleeves. You did a great job, thank you for posting the tutorial. I'm headed to my garage sale pile; its yucky in MI too.

  4. Christie Morgan South

    Another great project! Love 'em, Nike!

  5. Susan@Organized31

    Like you, I hate to throw anything away. I started with 2 sweaters to make 2 pillows, but couldn't just throw the sleeves away. I turned the sleeves from one sweater into mittens and the sleeves from the other sweater into gift bags. Here's my sweater sleeve mittens: http://organized31.blogspot.com/2013/01/repurposed-sweater-valentines-pillow.html

  6. I seriously love your rock-what-ya-got approach to life. Thank you for all the inspiration (and I'm not just talking about craft ideas). You really are inspiring. PS, I love your note to winter – made me smile!!