You may have read about the sad demise of my Must Have Cardigan. I made a pillow out  of it and I am enjoying seeing it on my bed.  There was quite a big of fabric available on the sleeves, so I decided to make a hot pad or trivet for a couple of hostess gifts.

So if you have a sweater that the man in the house accidentally felted or if you have a thrift shop find, go ahead and wash it! This sweater was only partially felted, but I knit it so it is special to me.
Since I used the sleeve, I cut it along the seam and removed it from the sweater at the shoulder.
1. Cut a square (or rectangle) and serge or zig zag around the edges.

2. Place a piece of fabric under your square – wrong sides together – with several inches of border. If you think you need extra insulation, add a layer of Insul-Brite under your sweater. (Thanks to Craft Gossip for suggesting this!)

3. Quilt the two layers together by stitching along some of the knit stitches. I stitched around the center design and along the chains.

4. Cut the fabric leaving a one-inch border around the knit square.

 

5. Trim the corners.

6. Square the corners. It’s not rocket science…it’s just upcycle sewing. So don’t worry if it’s not perfect! I fold up the corner first and pin it in place.

And then double fold the two sides to create a mitered corner.

 

7. Continue folding and pinning around the square.

8. Top stitch. I used a decorative stitch on this one.

 

 

Enjoy! This would make a lovely trivet and I think it would be a lovely hostess gift for Thanksgiving.

Share