Mushy Peas: Because some sweaters just look far better on little baby butts!

When it comes to thrift stores, I have a bad habit. I sometimes feel bad for the items there. It's hard to look at a wedding dress and not wonder about the circumstances that led it being donated to charity, or to wonder the reason why a pair of shoes that seem to have once been so well-loved ended up being given away. In the cases of things like wool sweaters and baby quilts, my empathy for them often makes me buy them. I've bought sweaters simply because they were too soft or such a bargain that I couldn't leave them behind, and I've never worn them. That's how my recycled sweater baby pants came about.

It all started with a sweater in three shades of blue- too big for me, but 100% Shetland wool. I bought it, took it home and washed it in hot water to felt it, then cut and sewed, cut and sewed until it became a cute pair of pants for Baby M. A few days later came the sweetest pants in baby blue and soft red stripes. Then came gray ones, and then brown ones for Baby M.'s cousin. And then I found the *perfect* sweater for Ally's youngest daughter, Baby S., so during one of our weekly craft nights, Ally and I made them into pants.

The best part about using 100% wool sweaters (or even wool sweaters with a little nylon, but no more than 10%) is once they're felted, they're pretty much waterproof against diaper leaks. If you lanolize them (a really easy process, as it turns out), they're totally waterproof, and extremely soft.

I can get just one or two pairs of baby pants from one sweater, so they're all unique! They come in sizes from newborn up to about 2T and are available at Gingersnap or directly through me.

Here's the sweetie-pie Baby S. modeling her pants. These are acrylic, so they're not felted. Can you picture these as a sweater? I think they're so much cuter as pants.