suggestion for blankets?

[Man of Tanith]

Wandering home from work this morning i spotted some blankets that had been dumped in a rough patch, my womble instincts kicked in and i thought i'll have them. didn't pick them up as i was dog tired but made a mental note to liberate them this evening on my way into work.

so i did and now have three wool blankets i didn't have this morning. they are currently having a good wash in the work washing machine that has an otex sterilising treatment and then will be tumble dried to be ready to be packed to take home in the morning.

i was wondering if anyone has any DIY suggestions of things i could make with them? as they are freebies i am not too adverse to cutting them up and making something out of them but don't have any inspiration

any suggestions? perhaps with photos?

 

[Samon]

I saw a thread where blankets were cut into jackets/shirts in a woodsman style and looked very nice!

Or something like a sleeping bag/system?

It does depend on the colour of them but you could make a hooded cape like what red riding hood had! Something different

 

[Man of Tanith]

two are white with a blue stripe
one is a rather erm interesting multicoloured pattern
maybe i shuld add i am not a very good sewer so nothing too taxing
perhaps i could dye the white ones and combine with some canvas to make a heavy weight poncho/jumper thingy

 

[Samon]

Sounds good!

Ask john fenna for advice on pattern pieces as he's made some fantastic gear and I'm sure won't mind inspiring you to do something great!

Let us know how you get on!

 

[Man of Tanith]

more i think about it more i am tempted with canvas and wool poncho combo
time for some research now

 

[bilmo-p5]

Half the makings of a bedroll there.

 

[Ogri the trog]

I thought Tombear's Hunting Shirt was good enough to have a go at - great around the campfire on a chilly evening!

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51677&highlight=coat

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Man of Tanith]

Half the makings of a bedroll there.

got a suitable bedroll on the cheap recently so thats off the making cards for a while

Ogri thats not a bad plan
hmmmm

 

[Pandabean]

Wool mittens for the coming cold or felting into something like a jacket.....just been felting and sewing all weekend.

 

[Chris the Cat]

Wool mittens for the coming cold or felting into something like a jacket.....just been felting and sewing all weekend.

Whatcha been making mate ?

( Hope this is not seen as a highjack m of t ! I am interested and it may give you ideas sir ! )
my best.
Chris.

 

[Pandabean]

I was down at Woodsmoke's Mittens and Mukluks course, it was alot to cover in one weekend. But I managed to make 2 wool felted boots (all out of one piece...ie no sewing on each boot), 1 complete mukluk and 1 half finsihed but these are out of leather and canvas.

As for the mittens only the pattern was cut out, but the idea is to cut the shapes out and sew them together, this gives the inner mitts and the outer mitts are made of canvas (or windproof material like ventile). I will hopefully post pictures once I am done but that may not be for a few weeks yet.

But from what we were shown you can felt any wool and make it into what you need. Willow (the instructor) had made a waistcoat style jacket out of wool leftovers and felted it together. Although this was made from loose wool rather than blankets but I guess the same principle applies. All you need is warm water, soap and give it a damn good rubbing to get it to felt....or stick it in the washing machine if you want the easy way .

The mittens are similar to:

The outer mittens would be similar to and made of canvas.

Wool felt boots, we made ours out of one piece. But I am sure you can do it out of blanket as well, just need to sew it together.

Or how about a wool felted hat?

 

[spandit]

Monkey_boy made a great smock from a blanket that he was wearing at the Sussex meet

 

[benjy]

Think I've posted this before, but I've make a few ponchos from wool blankets, all hand stitched.

Design is pretty simple if anyone wants it, I'll try and write it up and post it.

 

[Man of Tanith]

like the look of the poncho could i have a pattern?
thats one blanket dealt with like the looks of the mittens too

 

[Mesquite]

I made a simple poncho out of one of the mothball blankets I got at the moot

All I did was fold it in to a quater to find the middle.

Then I marked a 12 inch line across its length centred on the middle.

From the middle down the length I then marked a 6 inch line to make a T.

Then I cut the lines out and did a blanket stitch to seal the ends.

That was it, ready to go and nice simple and easy to do. Took me about an hour in total

I'm thinking of doing some leather trimming along the edges just to give it a bit more character

 

[Man of Tanith]

sounds easy enough
wonder if i can mess it up
perhaps put a small amount of canvas on shoulder and hood area to make it a bit more robust

how easy do wool blankets take dyes? and whats the best dye to use anyone? the white ones aren't daz white but they would soon pick up grubby colours

 

[Mesquite]

sounds easy enough
wonder if i can mess it up
perhaps put a small amount of canvas on shoulder and hood area to make it a bit more robust

how easy do wool blankets take dyes? and whats the best dye to use anyone? the white ones aren't daz white but they would soon pick up grubby colours

Toddy is your person to ask about dyes and dying

 

[Man of Tanith]

i have some od green canvas or dark drown so i might try and find something that complements it