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You are here: Home / Crafts / How To Make A Christmas Garland with Repurposed Sweater Balls

How To Make A Christmas Garland with Repurposed Sweater Balls

12th November 2020 by Claire Armstrong 24 Comments

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sweater ornaments
DIY sweater balls

After denim, my second favourite fabric to upcycle is old sweaters. I made the cutest repurposed sweater balls from my wool scraps. I used the colourful balls to make both a Christmas garland and some Christmas ornaments.

This is my kind of craft, in that it cost almost nothing to make as you are repurposing what you already have. It doesn’t make much mess or require a lot of concentration. Which means I can do it whilst chilling with Netflix.

Most of these repurposed sweater balls where made whilst binge-watching the “Queens Gambit” on Netflix. I loved the series but what blew me away was all the stunning wallpaper featured.

I loved all that sixties styling and some of the interiors were just fabulous to look at. Not just in the home but also in the various hotels. Whilst everyone else was getting fixated on the chess I was swooning over the wallpaper and interiors.

If you love colour and pattern and mid-century interiors then I recommend watching this series. Also, if you’re a chess fan you’ll love it too, but for totally different reasons.

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What You Need To Make Sweater Balls

The Sweater Scraps

I used old wool sweater scraps I had leftover from other repurposed Christmas sweater projects.

Scraps in a variety of colours and patterns will make a more festive Christmas garland. As long as you can cut the scrap into a circle of 6 cm in diameter then it is big enough to make the wool balls.

(Don’t throw away the smaller wool scraps, you can still use them to make a different kind of funky felt garland.)

If using old sweaters for the first time and not scraps, felt them in the washing machine. That is put the sweaters on a hot wash with some washing powder in the machine (like with my mountain pillows).

The agitation and hot water will make the fibers tighter in the wool sweater and they will shrink. Tumble drying the sweaters will also help with the shrinking process. This felting of the wool sweaters will make sure that the fabric can be cut and won’t fray, which makes it great for crafting with.

However, only sweaters with a high percentage of pure wool, 70% plus will actually shrink and felt. But don’t worry, that doesn’t mean you can’t use them for this craft. Also, some wools like cashmere are notoriously hard to felt but still can be used to make sweater balls.

Many sweaters are made on knitting machines and don’t unravel or fray when cut. Test your sweater and if you can cut it without it fraying or unraveling then you can use it for this craft.

Sweater scraps for making repurposed sweater balls
  • Thick paper and paper compass cutter, to make templates.
  • Strong thread
  • Upholstery needles
  • Coloured twine
  • Mini craft bells
  • Fiberfill – the filling from old pillows will work just as well.

How to Make Wool Sweater Balls

1.. The first thing is to make the circular templates. I made them in various sizes from 6cm – 9cm in diameter using a paper compass cutter. If you don’t have one of these tools you can just draw around cups and glasses.

paper circle cut outs

2. Place the circle template onto a scrap of sweater wool, draw around it and then cut out the shape.

cutting out  felt circles

3. Carry on drawing around the templates and cutting out wool circles until you have a collection in various colours and sizes.

For each Christmas ornament, you will need 3 sweater balls in three different sizes and colours. The number of wool balls needed for the Christmas garland depends on how long you want it. I recommend making 20-30 balls for each garland.

Felted wool rounds

4. These sweater balls are basically stuffed fabric yoyo’s. As wool is a stretchy fabric, the sweaters will form a better ball shape than cotton fabric. Which is traditionally used for yoyos.

Take one wool circle and threaded needle. Tie a knot at the end of the thread so that it will not pass through the wool. Then stitch a running stitch around the edge of the circle (about 3mm from the edge). Pulling and gathering the fabric as you go.

When you are back to the stitch start point, pull the thread so that the circle closes up to form a bowl shape. Before pulling the thread to close the hole totally, use your thumb to stuff it with some fiberfill.

How to make sweater balls

5. Next, pull the thread even tighter so that the hole closes. Then stitch around the edge of the circle again to close the hole tight, pull the thread after every stitch. Carry on until the hole is completely closed.

Cut the thread and then roll the sweater ball between your palms to help shape it even more into a round ball.

making repurposed sweater balls

Once the wool circles had been cut, I found these sweater balls surprisingly quick to make.

It took me about 2 minutes to make each ball. Before I knew it after a couple of episodes of “The Queens Gambit“, I had a whole bowl of repurposed sweater balls.

If like me you like to do something with your hands while watching TV this is a perfect craft for that, as it doesn’t require much concentration.

bowl of repurposed sweater balls

The sweater balls look fabulous as they are in a bowl, and perhaps you could leave them like that as a decoration. Especially, if you soaked the fiberfill in essential oils before stuffing the balls. Then, they would make a lovely scented decoration for the table.

I decided to turn my repurposed sweater balls into some Christmas ornaments and a Christmas garland

How To Make The Sweater Christmas Ornament

For each ornament, you will need three balls of different sizes and a craft bell.

Thread some thin twine onto an upholstery needle. Tie one end to a small craft bell. Then, thread the twine through the smallest ball. Then, the middle ball, finish with the largest ball. Next, tie the twine into a hanging loop.

making sweater ornament
upcycled sweater ornament

These sweater ball Christmas ornaments were so simple and fun to make. I loved playing around with different combination of ball colours.

sweater Christmas ornaments

How To Make A Christmas Garland

This is made in a similar way to the ornament above. Thread an upholstery needle with twine.

Tie a craft bell to one end of the twine. Next, thread the twine through the top of a repurposed sweater ball, at the gathered end of the ball.

Then, thread the next ball onto the twine leaving a gap of about 4 to 5cm between each ball. My garland was about 20 balls long, finish off with another craft bell.

If you find that the balls are slipping around on the twine then, tie a knot in the twine before and after threading the balls. This will stop them from sliding along the twine and all bunching together at one end.

Making a Christmas garland
Making a Christmas garland
upcycled Christmas garlands
repurposed scrap Christmas garland
upcycled sweater Christmas ball decorations

I love repurposing sweaters into things for my home such as blankets, fun shaped pillows and even colourful rugs.

I save the smaller scraps from these larger projects for fun decorations and crafts such as these sweater balls. In the past I’ve used the scraps to make felt Christmas trees, Scandi felt baubles, felt roses, and sweater felt tassel decorations.

I have even made a super cute felt succulent garden from the scraps.

If you liked these repurposed sweater scraps Christmas decorations then you might want to check out these denim Christmas decorations made from jeans scraps.

For more affordable craft ideas visit favecrafts.

Sweater ball Christmas garland

Filed Under: christmas, Crafts, Sweaters Tagged With: ball, christmas, felt, garland, ornament, repurposed sweaters, sweater, Sweater ball, sweaters, upcycled sweaters, wool

Previous Post: « Easy Cookie Cutter Sweater Upcycled Christmas Ornaments
Next Post: The Best DIY Scandinavian Christmas Decorations »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. angelast

    19th December 2020 at 2:09 am

    How absolutely wonderful! Such great ideas are an inspiration!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      19th December 2020 at 7:33 pm

      Thank you so much 😊

      Reply
  2. Leanna

    24th November 2020 at 4:48 am

    These sweater balls are wonderful I love having something to keep my hands busy watching a movie, and I would add cinnamon oil to them for hanging on an artificial Christmas tree.

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      25th November 2020 at 10:27 am

      I love the idea of cinnamon oil, thank you.

      Reply
  3. kristie

    23rd November 2020 at 1:43 pm

    Your garland is amazing. It is one of my features on the Little Cottage Link Party today!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      25th November 2020 at 10:28 am

      Thank you, that’s awesome, I look forward to seeing them.

      Reply
  4. Rita C at Panoply

    21st November 2020 at 2:15 pm

    Great sweater crafting – pinned! Saw your feature on Saturday Sparks and had to come visit and show some love. I do love these!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      21st November 2020 at 3:27 pm

      Thank you, Rita. They are fun to make and quite addictive, you can get a lot of balls out of just a few scraps.

      Reply
  5. Michelle Leslie

    21st November 2020 at 1:42 pm

    These little sweater balls are sooooooooooooooooo cute Claire. I can just imagine how special they would be made from a treasured sweater of a lost loved one or even a little sweater that the kids have outgrown. When my kids immigrated to Canada, they left a whole bunch of their old clothes behind, and I’ve been meaning to donate them, but the Mom in me wants to keep them too. You, know so I can still sniff them when I miss them so terribly much 🙂 This would be such a beautiful way to repurpose /save some of those clothes. I just call them my cuddles balls 😀

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      21st November 2020 at 3:29 pm

      Thank you. They would be lovely made from treasured sweaters and keepsakes that you can use as decoration at a special time of year.

      Reply
  6. Julie

    18th November 2020 at 12:38 pm

    These are fabulous, I love the garland and ornament ideas. I think all my felted jumper scraps are boring dull colours at the moment, they are all my husbands (he has a bad habit of talking on the phone all day with his elbows on the desk wearing holes in his warm but boring navy or grey jumpers) As soon as the charity shops reopen I might have to go on a recce mission!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      18th November 2020 at 8:20 pm

      Thank you, Julie. As these balls are made with the smallest of wool scraps you can use old socks and scarves too instead of jumpers which may help you find brighter colours.

      Reply
  7. Jennifer Dynys

    17th November 2020 at 10:55 pm

    These are so adorable! Colorful and Festive! Thank you for sharing with us at Embracing Home and Family!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      18th November 2020 at 8:20 pm

      Thank you so much, they are very relaxing to make.

      Reply
  8. Danielle

    16th November 2020 at 12:12 pm

    This is so cool!! Next time I go to the thrift store I will have to look for some sweaters to do this with!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      17th November 2020 at 12:18 pm

      Thank you, hopefully, you will find some nice patterned ones as these work well with this craft.

      Reply
  9. Julie

    15th November 2020 at 8:54 pm

    Love this idea! Thanks for sharing
    I have a bin of wool scraps awaiting this project:)
    Also loved Queens Gambit!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      17th November 2020 at 12:19 pm

      Hopefully, you’ll have fun making them. I’ve now moved on to the Crown and enjoying it so far.

      Reply
  10. Kippi Ohern

    15th November 2020 at 3:13 pm

    This is a wonderful idea for a no-cost gorgeous garland.
    Have a great week,
    Kippi

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      15th November 2020 at 5:38 pm

      Thank you so much Kippi. They are relaxing to make too.

      Reply
  11. creativejewishmomcom

    15th November 2020 at 8:29 am

    Love it Claire, maybe you could throw in a few made from jeans? I may have to make a Chanukah garland using fleece, as no wool sweaters around here……thanks for sharing on craft schooling sunday!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      15th November 2020 at 5:39 pm

      Thank you Sara, I think fleece would work but I don’t think denim is stretch enough but I might give it ago.

      Reply
  12. Michele Michael

    14th November 2020 at 9:25 am

    Love these with the garland. If anyone asks I will tell them you are my spirit animal. Thanks for posting at Funtastic Friday.

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      14th November 2020 at 1:40 pm

      Ha Ha, thank you for your kind words. Have a great day.

      Reply

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