Fleece Navidad: Crafting Old Sweaters
Author:Shoshana Berger
Looking out my kitchen window this morning, I saw something glistening on my neighbor’s roof. Frost? Could it be? Berkeley doesn’t often show visible signs of winter. Maybe she’d climbed up there on a ladder the night before with a box of powdered sugar?
Then I went outside. Sweater weather has arrived! I check my closet for something to wear. Half my sweaters look like they’ve seen better days: holey wool, balled-up cashmere, cardigans that add an unfortunate poof at the belly. Many seem ready to retire to that great heap of yarn in the sky.
But I don’t just cast things off. Noooo! I am resourceful! A fixer! The God of ratty, overlooked things! These sweaters are still soft and warm, no? Still worthy of being spun into something useful. I will turn them into holiday gifts! There’s a vault of sweater-reuse ideas online (how many felted owls does one person really need?). I settled on this patchwork pillowcase project (via Apartment Therapy). It’s fairly easy if you know how to sew (by hand or machine).
This version was made for a lucky hound, but I’m making mine for humans. Too fussy for you? Here’s a simpler, though no less luxuriant version, courtesy of the Budget Fashionista. Fleece Navidad.
YOU WILL NEED:
• old sweaters (half in animal fibers such as wool, alpaca, cashmere, etc.)
• an old pillow
• scrap paper and tape
• ruler
• scissors or rotary cutter
• pins
• washer/dryer
Follow the step-by-step instructions here.
Find a whole host of other ideas in this book:
Last-Minute Fabric Gifts: 30 Hand-Sew, Machine-Sew, and No-Sew Projects
And for those who prefer the “Make it for me” route, here are a few other items on my list: 
Domestic Trophies by Rachel Denny
Log pillows by Eve’s Little Earthlings
And the huge variety of felted rocks on Etsy
