8 Upcycle Sweater Hacks We Love

As we take our winter sweaters out of storage, we may notice a moth hole here, pilling-overload there, and just some oldies that may have seen better days. We found some awesome ways to repurpose old sweaters. Before you put those old grannies out to pasture, get a hit of inspiration from some of these clever projects below.

Designer Tin

How fun is this coffee-tin covered crayon container made from a bright striped sweater? Carolyn of Carolyn’s Homework shows us how.

Photo: Carolyns Homework

Vase Cozy

A crocheted sweater gets a new life as a vase cozy. Love the bo-ho-vintage, retro vibe.

Photo: Carolyns Homework

Lampshade

Who would imagine this lampshade didn’t come like this? A simple grey cardigan reinvented as textured cashmere lampshade. Genius. We especially love how the material of the sweater is embraced with the gentle scrunching down and wrinkling of it, before it’s glued on.

Photo: Me & Alice

Christmas Stocking

The cardigan Christmas stocking by Hanna Ramos of Bead and Cord makes us extremely happy. How about each family member creates their own stocking from their favorite old sweater? This inspires us turn our kids’ favorite childhood sweater into a stocking for them to have forever. A little humor, a lot of nostalgia. We love it!

Photo: Bead and Cord

Hanging Planter

There is definitely something very green about up-cycling old sweaters into hanging planters.  Lark Crafts uses felt sweaters here. We love the little details too: the bold hand stitching, pop of flowered fabric lining and hanging button cord.

Planter pouches Photo: Lark Crafts

Throw Pillow Case

What makes these sweater pillow cases so great is the way the cable knit and stitching works in interesting ways on each pillow.  Making a pillow case out of a sweater encourages you to really think about how to create a whole new design with what you have. You can use the yolk around the neck and ribbing along the waist in interesting ways to create graphic patterns. And those rosettes made from cuffs? Cutest thing ever. The Brassy Apple has an amazing tutorial on how to make these beauties.

Sweater Pillows Photo: Brassy Apple

Shoulder Bag

This “Boyfriend Bag” made by Heather Hurzeler of Sew It Over has us kicking our repurposing chops up a notch, with the use of a vintage belt as the strap. This bag is so cool, it looks like it could be straight out of Urban Outfitters.

The Boyfriend Bag Photo: Sew It Over Blogspot

If you have any fun ways to upcycle your sweaters, please share with us on our Facebook page. We would love to see!!