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Simple to Make Repurposed Sweater Felt Garland

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How to Make A Colourful Repurposed Felt Garland

Making a repurposed Christmas felt garland is such an addictive festive craft. The other week when making Christmas felt letters I suggested that you might want to keep the scraps to make a felt decoration (felt tinsel).

These felt garlands are fantastically colourful and can be used in loads of ways. You can wrap the felt garlands around your tree, use it to hang things from, treat it like a ribbon. Or just drape it over your pictures for that fun festive feel. I love to hang mine from my Christmas mantle.

Even though what happens in craft club should stay in craft club, I can tell you that last night we got into the festive mood by turning mini felt garlands into adorable felt Christmas baubles, whilst sipping sloe gin.

This is an addictive and easy upcycle, making a gorgeous felt garland recycling old sweaters. It can be used like Christmas tinsel or ribbon.

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What You Need to make a Christmas Felt Garland

  • Felted Sweaters or felt scraps – I keep mine from projects throughout the year. Felted sweaters are the best as they are nice and thick. I posted how to felt an old sweater on my Mountain Cushion tutorial.
  • Pinking shears
  • Tapestry needle (large needle), elastic thread or waxed jewelry thread. Any thread would do as long as it is thick and strong with a bit of give.
  • Buttons or small craft bell.
  • If making a felt decoration bauble you will need craft wire.
Felted sweaters

How to Make Upcycled Christmas Felt Garlands

1. First, using the pinking shears cut your felted sweaters/scraps into small squares. I tend to cut my felt into 2cm squares and don’t worry about them being to even. How many squares you cut depend on how long you want you felt decoration garland to be.

The pinking shears are only for decorative purposes as it gives a better effect than with straight scissors.

cutting the felt

2. Next, thread a button or a craft bell onto the end of the jewelry thread, this will stop the felt squares falling off the end.

Next using the tapestry needle thread your felt squares in the colour order of your choice. Red and cream alternate make a lovely festive garland.
I also love a Christmas felt garland of many colours.

Threading bells for felt garland
threading the felt

3. When your felt garland is the length you want, finish as you started with either a button or craft bell.

Finishing off the upcycled felt garland
Finished upcycled felt garland from old sweaters

How to make Felt Decoration Baubles

The Christmas felt baubles are made the same way as the upcycled felt garlands. The main difference is in the use of craft wire instead of thread. That is because of the wire holding its shape.

Loop the wire at one end before you start to stop the felt falling off. When you have finished adding felt squares thread the end of your wire through the loop to create a circle and tie off.

Again you can make these as upcycled felt baubles as big or as small as you want.

Felt bauble pillarboxblue.com

These felt baubles are almost like mini Christmas felt wreaths. If you use larger sweater felt squares you could easily make a lovely Christmas wreath for your door.

Felt bauble Pillarboxblue.com
Christmas felt garland

This is a very addictive craft once you start, you’ll find that one felt garland won’t be enough! I sometimes call these Christmas felt garlands, felt tinsel. That is because I like to wrap them around my Christmas tree as you would with tinsel.

Make funky felt garlands to brighten up your Christmas decorations.

The simplicity of this craft makes it a great one for kids. Believe you me they will love it. I’ve found that kids love crafts that grow as you go; especially boys. It’s like when I get my Beavers to make paper chains they never want to stop.

Upcycled felt garlands three different colour combinations
Upcycled Sweater Felt garland

Happy felting, and remember once you start it’s hard to stop. If you’re like me you will be on the lookout for old colourful woolen sweaters to turn into this fabulously festive felt tinsel. It’s a great way to add colour to your Christmas decorations and costs next to nothing to make.

Yield: Christmas Felt Garland and felt wreath, felt tinsle

How To Make An Upcycled Felt Garland

Felt Garland Pillarboxblue

These gorgeous upcycled Christmas felt garlands are so simple to make the kids could do it. The garlands are very versatile and can be used like tinsel, ribbon or even made into wreaths and Christmas ornaments.

Prep Time 30 minutes
Active Time 10 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost $1

Materials

  • Old wool sweaters and felt scraps
  • Elasticate Jewelry thread
  • Tapestry needle
  • Christmas bells

Tools

  • Tapestry needle
  • Pinking Shears

Instructions

  1. Felt your wool sweaters by putting them in a hot wash,
  2. Using pinking shears cut the sweaters into 2cm squares
  3. Tie a Christmas bell onto the thread.
  4. Thread the felt squares one by one, until you reach the length you want.
  5. Finish off the garland by tieing another bell to the end.

Notes

To make a felt Christmas bauble, thread the felt onto craft wire and shape into a round.

© Pillarboxblue
Project Type: Upcycle / Category: christmas

I save my old wool sweaters for crafting, here are some more ideas.

For other fabulous upcycled Christmas crafts visit allfreechristmascrafts.
 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Marie

    Words cannot express how much I seriously love these garlands! These are so pretty and so smart. Thanks for sharing your awesome tutorial with us at Merry Monday this week!

    Reply

  4. Sheree Thomas

    Thank you for sharing this post on the Simply Sweet Homemade Linky Party. You were my choice to be featured this week. What a super fun and novel way to make Christmas decorating your own. Stop by and check out the feature. Happy Holidays.

    Reply

  12. madalyn

    Such a cute idea!! I’m thinking I’ll stay home and do a lot of Christmas crafts this weekend, maybe even get our tree! Thanks for sharing at the Peaches+Salt Link party!

    Reply

  15. Julie

    This looks like a great “do whilst watching tv” kind of craft, I can imagine cutting a great pile of pieces and hardly noticing the time passing! I always keep felted jumpers but I’m now thinking I need more colourful ones. I would never deliberately shrink a jumper just so I can cut it up of course so I’ll have to keep my eyes open in charity shops for something suitable.

    Reply

    • Claire Armstrong

      It is kind of addictive once you start, my family give me all their old jumpers and my Mother and aunt like to wear bright colours, so I have a plentiful supply. I also would never deliberately shrink a jumper, but I’m not as upset as I used to be if I accidently do. As I start thinking of all the things I can make with it.

      Reply

  16. Katrin

    Claire, these look like so much fun and so so nice for the season! I love to decorate with felt, its great for crafting and I would have never gotten this idea, you’re so clever!

    Reply

    • Claire Armstrong

      Thanks ! I warn you once you start you can’t stop, I’ve got loads of the garlands. As well as decorating the house I do use them as ribbon on gifts.

      Reply

  23. creativejewishmom/sara

    Love it! So cozy and fun…..and you could alternate all kinds of fabric really, like some jeans squares and such, and maybe throw in a few felt balls here and there….thanks so much for sharing on craft schooling Sunday!

    Reply

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