Ok baby number 3 is due any day now and im getting very craft restless . VERY!! Ive got a terrible case of "startitis". For those not knowledgeable in "startitis" it means starting loads of projects and not finishing restlessness or itchy fingers. Ive spent 3 months getting my craft wips down and now its almsot back to wear it was..and i want to start more! Im going to have to learn how to craft whilst nursing! Anyway i wanted to make something from a jumper i felted on purpose i wanted to make at least one wool soaker, but i managed better than that! I managed a Newborn to size 1 old school wool soaker, an Adult pixie hood/hat and a pair of baby warmers , they took just 1hr to make and all i had left was a small handfull of fabric. If you wanted to make felted wool soakers id recommend purchasing a at has at second hand jumper that has at least 70% wool/animal fibre in it, i found one that was just £1.50. I washed it in with my other clothes on a 40 twice this seemed sufficent to shrink it down enough, ill lanolise the soaker also just to make sure. There my tut..for what i did to achieve the above amount of items.
Firstly hooded adult pixie hat and baby legwarmers.
My hooded cardi had a band down the v front of the jumper , so all i did was cut down along the length of the band either side of the v neck ..these where to become my ribbons, if you don't have a band on yours you could just cut 7 inch lengths or add some cute contrasting ribbon either side . I then cut out of one top portion of sleeve 3 diffrent sized flowers and added one of the butoons that came on the front of the jumper and sewed it on to the side of the hood..the leg warmers are just the bottom 7/8 inches of the jumper sleeves the ribbed cuff becomes the bottom end and the loser top part becomes the bit that sits on the thighs..hey presto 20 mins of work and 2 darn cute items made
Next The wooly soaker. Basically you can find patterns for free anywhere on the net or you can use one you own and trace around it leaving about 1/2 inch extra either side for allowence.Firstly cut out 2 peices of material the same size..my jumper had ribbing to the bottom of it so i turned the jumper upside down and used this to become the waist of the soaker. I then made a thick pad of material that was made from all the left over lengths of material this is for a central panel in the soaker to use as a booster. The central panel was sewn together all the way around then sewn onto one of the main nappy portions. Onto the same portion i then sewed some thin elastic to the top waist and leg portions. I then over laid the other main nappy section and hemmed all the way around leaving a gap of 2 inches so i could turn the whole nappy inside out hide all the hems. Once that was done i hemmed the open seam, and added two , 4 inch side ties to the top..you could add velcro or poppers to the top if you prefer. Emblish your nappy i you like..and all done!
