May(de) Remix: Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve

Cardigan: Gap (remixed)

T-Shirt: Dorothy Perkins

Jeans: Levi Curve

Boots: Duo Boots

Hurrah! My first May(de) Remix project!

The moment I saw this project on Honestly WTF I knew I’d have to have a go at it. Hearts? Cardigans? Cardigans WITH hearts? Count me in!

Of course, I actually didn’t have ANY of the essential items I needed for the project (apart from the cardigan, of course. Got plenty of those), so I googled up “felting supplies” and found Fibre Fusion. From there I bought my wool roving and felting needles, though I should tell you that Lincraft is selling both, AND needle felting mats if you’re not comfortable with online shopping.

These are the supplies you’ll need:

A boring cardigan. Or some other wool item you want to apply your needle felting skillz to. I also replaced the buttons on this one, because my bridesmaid Bella told me the existing brown ones were ugly, and I tend to agree.

You’ll also need wool roving (it’s kind of like fairyfloss, but less yummy), felting needles (which are ultra-pointy and kind of rough on the shaft), some kind of shape for your applique. I chose a love heart cookie cutter to the complete non-surprise of The Sophisticate who, when I said “Guess what I’m doing”, replied “Sewing hearts to something?”. You can pretty much use anything for your needle felting mat; polystyrene, a scrubbing brush, a kitchen sponge. As long as it provides a flat surface for the project to sit on, but the needle can pass through it.

To be truthful, the project instructions on Honesty WTF are infinitely better explained and photographed than my own bodgy post, so I’d thoroughly recommend you check that out if you want to try this project. But anyhow: This is what I did.

First step, you have to figure out where you want your applique. I liked the elbow patches, so I put the cardigan on, then whacked a bit of sticky tape over the pointy bits of my elbows.

Now you know where inside the sleeve to position the bathroom spon… *ahem*, needle felting mat. Make sure there’s only one layer of fabric between the mat and the applique, or you’ll end up needle-felting both sides of your item together.

Put your “mould” into position…

…fill with wool roving…

…and start stabbing. This part’s quite therapeutic, actually.

Honestly WTF suggests that you start on the outside and move in. I just kind of had at it, but I had lots of tidying up to do around the edges after I’d taken the cookie cutter away. I think I also used way way too much wool roving, so I might try it again at a later date with a little bit more care.

Eventually you’ll end up with a pretty flat surface in the shape that you wanted. Peeeeeeel the felting mat away carefully and you’ll see that the wool will have come through the layer of fabric, attaching itself securely to the top. No sewing required!

Give it a squirt with some water, then iron right side out to flatten and set the felt.

And voila!

14 thoughts on “May(de) Remix: Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve

  1. If I didn’t have a massive huge phobia of cotton balls I would try this but even looking at this post makes me shudder at the thought of touching the stuff !!! Yeah, I’m weird….. Hehe

    Looks super pretty though!

  2. Apparently we’re soon to be twins. I have this t-shirt, and I just bought the supplies to make this cardigan. I couldn’t pass up the adorable giraffe when I saw it on Dotty P’s website, and a cardigan with heart shaped elbow patches? Forget about it!

    1. It’s SO cute, isn’t it, Kelsey? Let us know when you’ve made the cardi (or pop it up on the blog!) I’d love to see it. How’re the wedding plans coming?

      1. You know, the wedding plans are pretty much taken care of. We’re just going through a wedding coordinating company in Hawaii, so they just emailed me a list, and I checked off the boxes next to the things I want. lol! It’s been quick, and painless, so I’m a fan! =) How’s married life treating you?

  3. How cute! Yours looks really great! I thoroughly enjoy the Sophisticate’s nearly dead-on guessing at what you were doing 😛

  4. Hi Lily,

    Love the post, and the cardigan! Decided to try this myself and was wondering if you knew of any good sites to buy a grey cardi similar to the one you used?

    Cheers,
    Megan

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