Recycled Crafts

Creative DIY Projects That Turn Trash Into Treasure

Win a copy of Sweater Surgery: How to Make New Things from Old Sweaters

by

You get to benefit from a tiny bit of self promotion! Yup, this is my book. And my publisher, the wonderful Quayside Publishing Group has offered a copy to you my loving Recycled Crafts at Craft Gossip readers. All you need to do is leave a comment in today’s post by Midnight Wed 26th, 2010 and you are entered to win. Here is a bit about it and want to see more projects made with recycled sweaters pop on over to these posts at Craftside and these posts at Sweater Surgery.

Sweater Surgery:
How to Make New Things from Old Sweaters

By yours truly,

Stefanie Girard

“Contemporary crafters are thriving on personalizing, modifying, and altering fashion as not only hobbies but as a lifestyle.

Why repurpose your sweaters? Because you can’t buy sweater fabric by the yard. Sweaters get damaged or go out of style but we still love the prints, colors, and textures. You don’t have time to knit it from scratch. It’s ecologically correct. And most of all–it’s fun!

Sweater Surgery shows you how to upcycle all your slightly worn, slightly damaged, or plain old out-of-style sweaters into fabulous new items for your wardrobe and your home. Readers learn how to choose, cut, restitch, felt, and embellish old sweater fabric, transforming it into beautiful handbags, mittens, scarves, hats, hoodies, skirts, jewelry, soft toys, pillows, and more!

Complete instructions for 27 projects, plus a huge gallery of exciting ideas for further inspiration.”

[tags] Sweater Surgery by Stefanie Girard[/tags]

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Comments

  6. I am always chopping up old shirts and sweaters, this is so up my alley. I would love to win this book!
    jessehassenrik at gmail dot com

  10. Perfect! I just returned all those felted-sweater project books to the library, and it’d be great to have one on my own shelf!

  12. Your book looks like so much fun! I love going to the thrift stores to see what I can use!

  18. i soo wanna this book!!! I’m all about crafting right now, this book would be perfect for my blog project! I hope i win!!

  24. I’ve wanted this book for a while but I just can’t buy every craft book I want, or else I’d go broke. Please pick me!

  26. This would be great to have, I have a whole chest of sweaters for just this purpose!

  31. WOW …. I would LOVE this book! so CUTE, so FUN! This would be awesome to share with friends and family! OXOXOX Pick ME… PICK ME !!!! OXOXOX with joy and love – Cindy

  32. This would be a great book for my craft collection. With eight people in the house I have all sorts of lovely things to up-cycle these days.

  36. I would love to get some more ideas. Recently I made a quilt for my son out of all my old sweaters. It turned out great, soft and so warm.

  39. I’d love to win acopy of your book. My husband used to have asweater busiiness so I’ve got lots of old sweaters ust waiting to be reinvented.

  41. I have a ton of sweaters that no longer fit after 3 babies. Teach me how to upcycle them so I don’t have to look at my “skinny” sweaters anymore. Thanks for the giveaway!!!

  42. My ideal day is upcycling anything and this looks like a great book to polish off some of my projects and give me inspiration for others.

  43. What a great, creative way to recycle sweaters. I hope I win this book, then I’ll be headed to Goodwill for some fun colored old sweaters to start creating with:)

  44. I would love to win this book! I have many sweaters that really need a surgery 🙂

  48. Keep looking at it online but would love to see all the projects inside. Thanks!

Have you read?

I Found a Table Made from Mannequin Legs—and I’m Still Not Over It

 

manequin table recycled

Okay, I have to tell you about one of the most bizarre-yet-brilliant DIYs I’ve come across in a while. While scrolling through google (as one does when deep into a late-night upcycling rabbit hole), I stumbled on a video tutorial for a table made out of mannequin legs. And honestly? I couldn’t look away.

This project is peak creative chaos—in the best way. The concept is exactly what it sounds like: four mannequin legs, flipped and fixed in place, supporting a standard tabletop. It’s got this quirky, surreal vibe that makes it feel part high fashion, part modern art installation. Think: Tim Burton meets IKEA.

What I loved most about this video is how surprisingly accessible it is. The creator breaks the process down clearly—so even though the end result looks totally wild, the steps are manageable. You’ll need a few tools and a decent amount of glue or screws (depending on how permanent you want this table to be), but nothing too technical.

Design-wise, this piece is an absolute conversation starter. It would look amazing in a creative studio, a funky coffee shop, or even as a statement piece in a minimalist home—anywhere you want to break the “normal furniture” mold. The contrast between the realistic mannequin legs and a basic tabletop is just the right kind of weird.

If you’re into recycled home decor, eco-conscious DIY projects, or just love adding some unexpected personality to your space, this one’s worth bookmarking. Whether or not you ever make it yourself, it’s guaranteed to make you see mannequins—and furniture—in a whole new way.

Catch the full tutorial and see the visual magic for yourself on Recyclart. Just be prepared to say, “Wait, is that a leg?” every time someone visits your house.