DIY: Embroidered arm warmers

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These cashmere arm warmers are one of three projects I created out of a thrifted sweater. When I found this light grey knit treasure, I noticed it was super soft and beautiful but far too small for me. However, it was the perfect candidate for a DIY I had been planning so I bought it right up at that 50% sale (we usually go thrifting only on sale days). Since it was the heat of summer (honestly the perfect time to buy wool goods if you can bear touching them), I washed my new purchase and hid it away in my crafting bag until the temperatures became colder.

This cashmere sweater is small and has a single uniform colour with some minor cabling. However, this project would work for any sort of beautiful angora, wool, or alpaca piece you find while thrifting. The options are endless. I loved the results of this project so much that I intend to make another in black once I find the right candidate.

If you are using a thrifted sweater, hand wash it first with a lanolin-based cleanser such as Eucalan, which does not require rinsing. I use this gentle wash on all my wooly items and love it. Another great no-rinse cleanser you could use is called Soak, but I usually use that on my other delicates such as silks and undergarments because it does not have lanolin.

Apart from the arm warmers, I also created two other projects, which will appear soon here on Kiku Corner: a neck warmer with felted details and a cozy cowl.

Embroidered Arm Warmers

Supplies

• Cashmere sweater
• Thread in matching colour to sweater
• Metallic thread in contrasting colour

Tools

• Embroidery needle
• Sewing machine
• Pinking shears

Directions

1. Lay sweater on large flat surface. Using pinking shears, cut across arms near shoulder. Save remaining piece for other upcoming projects.
2. The arms should be very snug. If they are not, use sewing machine to sew a seam to tighten arms. Afterwards, sew a 1cm zigzag seam on freshly cut end of sleeves to secure the raw edge. Try not to stretch fabric while sewing, which will warp the top ends of the warmers.
3. Thread needle with metallic thread and make approximately ten five-point stars on wrist area of warmer. The stars should be randomly spaced and about the same size, but they do not need to be perfect. We are going for a whimsical appearance. If your thread is very fine, like mine was, go over the stars with stitches one more time to make them more pronounced. Repeat on other arm warmer.