Sunday, January 29, 2012

Wool Sweater Makeover

Handbag made from wool sweater.

Cute as a sweater, but oh so much better as a bag.

I spent a lot of time sewing embroidery floss in all the grooves. 

I love the bright colors with the cream wool.

I whip stitched in a canvas lining to give it more body. 

I cut open one sleeve and used it for the bottom.The other one was used for the handles.

I love me some sari silk flowers.

My favorite source for sari silk. http://store.darngoodyarn.com/
Every now and then you finish a project that leaves a big fat smile on your face. Well this is one of those times for me. I found this great wool sweater last December at the thrift store my brother and his family own. Ya you heard me, I have a thrift store in my family. Lucky me, I just wish we lived in the same town so we could hangout and work with them more often. Every time we go for a visit, we take them a bunch of our stuff, and I always find a few treasures that I can't live without. Well this sweater was my favorite find from the last visit. Any second hand wool sweater is a joy to behold to most mixed media or quilt artists. But this one was better than most because of it's unique bell shape. As soon as I got it out of the dryer, I knew it was destined to be a handbag. I simply cut the sleeves off and turned the body of the sweater into the bag. I hand stitched embroidery floss in all of the grooves of the wool. This was the longest part of the project.  I used one sleeve for the bottom and the other for the two handles. Next I whip stitched in a canvas lining. The cherry on top of the cake came when I sewed on the handmade sari silk flowers. I make and sell them as pins, but this is one of those times when more is better, so I put every last one I had around the top of the bag. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.  What is your favorite thrift store find?

14 comments:

  1. How creative you are and so much time doing all those embroidery stitches. Very pretty.
    Cindy

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  2. adorable tote! The silk flower embellishments just send it over the top - great job :)

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  3. How cool! I love the handmade wool bag with the flowers. That's so cool. It must of took alot of work to come up with that idea. Great job. and its very unique.

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  4. Wow! Very creative! Super cute ~ love the pops of color in the flowers and floss!

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  5. Beautiful bag ~ I love the flowers, thanks for sharing...

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  6. It's Beautiful! and bursting with color! Thrift stores sell some of the best supplies :)

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  7. This should definitely leave a smile on your face!! I LOVE the embroidery with all the colors in the grooves - so pretty!

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  8. oh my word - this is really, really gorgeous!!! such a good move to use every last flower, too...sometimes more is better! ;)

    I'm visiting from "in the studio" today.
    Alesha

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  9. Well, I just said I love to re-purpose things - This is nicely done and I love how bright and "happy" it looks! Blessings!

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  10. This bag is beautiful, very colorful. I come from "In the studio"
    Flo
    http://lartenciel.blogspot.com/

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  11. Thank you for my post pinned Cindy and I'm ok for you to try the rolled paper : Between artists we inspire each other and this is normal!
    I gladly added to the list of your members
    (I hope my english is good!!!)
    ;)

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  12. I love, love, love the colors in all the groves. Such a great idea! SO pretty! :)

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