Sweater-covered Flowerpots tutorial
Katie
The Holidays were a lovely blur of knitting and I didn't photograph any of my projects- 4 cowls, 3 scarfs, 2 hats and a mitten (it was too small, back to the drawing board on that one.) We stayed close to home, made good food, lazed with family and got projects done around the house. Now that the holidays are past, I relish the work ahead of me- unpacking and getting settled in to my studio and making our house really feel like home.
January is one of my favorite months because it's the start of the gardening year too, and even though I have a large tin of seeds left over from last year, I still enjoy poring over the Fedco seed catalog. When February and March set in though, teasing days of warmer weather make the wintry days harder to bear, and wheatgrass planters, blooming amaryllis and paperwhites satisfy my longing for something green. This year I didn't have any terra cotta pots to plant the bulbs in so I used the tacky plastic pots they came with. Inspired by the knitted covered vases of Leigh Radford's, I made sweater-covered pots with the sleeves of a cast-off sweater of Laura's. (I feel like I've seen the idea of using felted sweaters to make a candle holder or vase as well, but after lot's of Googling, still can't find what I remember seeing, so apologies if I'm duplicating what someone else has done already- inevitable I guess now and then!)
Yes, the countertop in our new house is YELLOW!
It's really too simple to be a full-blown tutorial, but here's what I did:
1. Measured the pot height and cut a piece from the top of a partially-felted sweater sleeve that was about 2 inches longer than the pot.
2. Pulled the sweater piece up over the pot, leaving about a half inch on the bottom. It naturally folds under the base to make a clean edge on the bottom. Then folded the top raw edge- you can do this one of two ways. If the sweater piece fits loosely around the pot, you can tuck it outside the pot rim. The piece I had was really tight and kept sliding down, so I tucked it inside the pot rim and used-
3. gravel (from my driveway) to anchor the bulbs and hide the raw edge. I know that tucking the sweater over the edge wouldn't work for a flowerpot holding a long-lived plant, but as these plants are semi-disposable (compostable), I think the wool will hold up just fine.
That's it! Hope everyone is enjoying the new year, making lots of lists and settling in to some non-Christmas crafting.
Reader Comments (7)
these look great katie! so stylish and bright!
how cute are those!!!
right, I must keep a look out for cute sweater now...
love this -- have bookmarked for a fun winter project for our amaryllis plants next year!!
Sensacional! M'encanta! És molt bona idea!
Great Idea! just the thing to cover my new aloe plant! I have this same sweater! I made easter eggs out of mine. :) http://sewtheday.com/2012/03/07/upcycled-fair-isle-easter-egg/
I used an old Irish sweater. Made several covers for my candles that ate not real burning candles.
Great idea! Never thought of this. It's a sweater for my plants! Or at least, the pot.