Recycled Sweater Bag

First, my knitting skills do not include cable knitting, so while I might be able to convince some people that I actually knit this bag, I'll be honest with you, I just used an old sweater for this project. We had a fun craft night with the ladies in my church where people were showcasing fun "reuse and recycle" craft projects and this idea so just so fun I had to try it. The best part was that I already had all the stuff in the house!

Pick a sweater (large with interesting knit pattern or color. Mine had the cable knit on both front and back)


Cut off the sleeves and decide how big a bag you can make.


Pin and sew up the edges. I wanted to add a bit of gathering at the top so that the bag was narrower at the top than at the bottom, so I used elastic.

Use the sweater pieces to create a pattern for the lining fabric (I used leftover flannel). Sew on the cell phone and lipstick pockets BEFORE you do the side seams and get everything all attached.
Flip the lining inside out.

Stick the lining inside the bag with "wrong sides" together so that the nice, pretty lining is visible. Stitch it down.

I made the strap by using leftover bits of sweater and lining, but you could use a belt or ribbon.

I created a small loop using a bit of the sweater's collar to use as a buttonhole. I sewed on the toggle (.78 for 2 at WalMart) and ta-da, a cute new bag out of a sweater! This is the gift I'm giving to my sister-in-law for Christmas, so shhh. :)