Make a Wool Rose Pin from Recycled Wool Sweaters

Have you ever washed and dried a wool sweater, by accident, and it shrunk small enough to fit a child? Admit it, we have all done this at least once. Actually, if you are a crafty person, you realize you have created wool felt. The fibers in the yarn have meshed together to create a solid piece of fabric that does not fray or unravel. That is great incentive to hit the thrift stores or your weekend yard sales, and stock up on all the wool sweaters you can find.

Make a cute wool rose pin to accessorize hats, jackets, purses or any object that needs just a little something. I made this rose with a small amount of wool. The finished size is about 3 1/2-inches in diameter and has a depth of about an inch. I was not happy with standard pin backs from the craft store, though, so I recycled old political or "happy" buttons, by gluing them directly to the back of the rose. Yes, there is finally a use for these no longer used trinkets. The surface of the buttons create a wonderful base for securing the roses and they don't flop around like they do on the craft store pin backs.

Supplies for Making Wool Roses:

Wool sweater
Washer and dryer
Scissors
Ruler
Embroidery floss and needle
Hand sewing needle and thread
Recycled political button
Hot glue gun
Old sewing button

Instructions for Making Wool Roses:

Step 1
Wash your sweater in hot water and dry in the dryer.

Step 2
Cut a circle from the sweater, approximately 6-inches in diameter. It does not need to be a perfect circle or exactly 6-inches. Cut the circle into a spiral. Start on the edge of the circle and cut at an angle, continuing the spiral cut, with the spirals approximately 1 1/2-inches wide. End at the center of the circle. Stretch the outer edge of the spiral, all the way to the center, to give the wool a slight rippled edge.

Step 3
Choose the desired color of embroidery floss to edge the rose. Blanket stitch around the outer edge of the spiral, all the way to the center, using three strands of floss.

Step 4
Thread a sewing needle with thread that has been doubled to give it additional strength. Sew a running stitch along the inner edge of the spiral, beginning at the center of the circle and working your way out. At the end, pull the thread to gather the edge of the wool as tightly as possibly. This is why you need the doubled strength of the thread. Knot the thread and finish off.

Step 5
Starting at the center of the spiral, curl the spiral to form your rose. Turn the rose over and hand stitch the gathered edges to secure.

Step 6
Cut two 1 1/2-inch tear drops from the sweater, to create the leaves. Blanket stitch around their edges using green embroidery floss. Place the leaves under the edge of the rose, as desired, and stitch to the bottom of the rose.

Step 7
Apply hot glue over the entire surface of the political button and attach to the back of the rose. Hot glue or sew an old sewing button to the center front of the rose.