Red & Black wool sleepsack

Here is my newest creation from re-purposed wool sweaters! This was a large red & black snowflake sweater that had been hanging around my sewing room for awhile (100% wool). The inside lining is made from a super soft and also very warm light red 70% angora 30% wool sweater. I used a zipper for the closure again (I'm really liking the zippers!). Oh, and the plastic snap caps glow-in-the-dark, I just thought that would be fun.

Llama Wool Sleep Sack

Another custom sleep sack! For this one, the buyer specified the measurements (14x32 inches), but left the design up to me. I used a very interesting sweater that I had been holding on to for quite some time. The tag said "100% Llama wool, hand knit in Bolivia". I also decided to try a zipper closure down the front on this sleep sack (reclaimed zipper from an eddie bauer sweater). I think it turned out pretty cute, here are the front and back views:





The inside lining was more of a challenge because I didn't have much in the way of a super huge very soft and thin wool sweater. Rather than spending weeks of daily thrift-store trips, hoping to get lucky (not much selection in this small town), I found the softest large scraps I had and pieced them together patchwork style for the lining. The yellow is a super-soft cashmere, and the black is a silk/cashmere blend (so luxurious to the touch!). All the rest of the pieces are merino wool, also very soft. These are the front & back inside out photos:

A custom skant - 2 choices!

I had a request for a wool skant that would fit a 12-18 month old. I came up with two options.

Number one: gray rib-knit 100% wool skirt & pants, with pinky-melon cable knit 100% cashmere for the full lining (oh so soft!) I had a problem with this one; after I cut it out I noticed a tiny hole in the wool right in the front of the skirt. I stitched it closed, but the stitching was too obvious for me. So I hid it with a little flower made from felted pink wool and a button. Just one flower looked weird, so I added seven more! The flowers are only on the front side.





Then I made another one. This was was a light blue cable-knit sweater (80% wool, 20% nylon). It is fully lined inside the pants with a soft cream colored 70% wool, 20% angora, 10% nylon sweater. Very cozy and warm.

Totally 80's Wool and Cashmere Sleep Sack

This is my latest custom sleep sack. The instructions I got were "bright & bold colors, we're tired of pastel pink." I grabbed a wool/angora black & white houndstooth sweater that was calling me and paired it with a purple cashmere cardigan to use as the lining. This combination inspired me to root out some bits of bright colored cashmere scraps that I had set aside for a special occasion (orange, hot pink, and lime green). I added some basic black to the mix (merino wool) and the color combination seemed perfect. The only problem was that the cashmere & merino pieces were so thin that they didn't work well with the houndstooth which was nice and thick. I decided to use another thin merino sweater to back all the thin pieces, and it worked! This is what I came up with:
(The camera didn't pick up the purple so well. What looks like blue is actually purple. Also: if the straps look too long, it's because they are! I don't how that happened, but I fixed them after I took the photos. They are the right length now.)





I tried a new design this time with the snaps up the front instead of horizontally accross the bottom (I might try a zipper next time instead of snaps). It still has the adjustable overall straps with three snap settings. The fabric for the binding and the straps was donated by a pair of black wool dress pants. After the sleep sack was finished, I decided I didn't like the look of the plastic snap caps that might irritate a baby's skin, so I hand-stitched a strip of black angora in place to cover the snaps on the inside.



I had several setbacks while making this one (which led to lots of ripping apart and replacing pieces), but I still love it and wish I could keep it! It's so soft and cuddly on the inside and out. Mmm, I love cashmere.