Wool Shrinks in the Washer?

Hello Readers. I am not the only one that gets careless with the laundry right? Somebody out there has accidentally shrunk a sweater. What can you do with it? Well, here is an idea.

This wool sweater was tragically put in the washer and dryer. Wool usually doesn't like that. This wool is now about half it's original size. I found it at a clothes swap and I could see why they gave it away. When wool shrinks it gets thicker and you can cut it with no fraying. It is very easy to work with. Sometimes people shrink sweaters on purpose to make different projects.

This little tank top was also from a clothes swap. I liked the floral pattern, but that's it. It is way to skimpy and sheer to actually wear. It wouldn't really cover the things I like to cover. ( I have 3 kids. I breastfed all of them. I'm 46. Y'know what I'm sayin'?)

 I have been saving it for the right project. And here we are!

I wanted to make a travel cosmetic bag. I cut the sweater up. It was like a science class dissection. (I remember dissecting big worms in school.) I wanted the chest of the sweater with the zipper attached and the little front pockets for this project.

 I folded the chest piece of the sweater in half, with the zipper along the top. I pinned the little pockets on the front. I used my sewing machine to attach the pockets to the piece of sweater. You can see how the wool material doesn't fray at all.

My next step was to sew my little bag shut. I made little seams at the corners to make the bag more box shaped.  I didn't want it to be flat like a clutch bag.

 I also used it as a size guide to cut lining from that floral tank top.

Here is a look at my lining. I am using the hem of the shirt at the top of the lining.

Here you an see I was sewing the lining into the bag by hand. The lining will cover the interior seams and look nice when I open the bag. It was easy to attach the lining to the opening of the bag by hand.

 I put a bunch of stuff in the bag so you could see how it looked. This was totally staged, I am not planning to travel anytime soon. But if I win a trip around the world, I am ready!

 I had some sweater pieces left and I thought the sleeves would make a good eyeglass case. The material is thick and squishy. The cuffs of the sleeves had a nice finished edge that would look good on the case.

There were 2 sleeves so I made 2 cases. I adjusted the size based on the size of the glasses.

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

 *Year end update-I just used this bag on a trip. It is still a winner.