NEW! 'Sweet Sweater Nest' for Spring

springtime is time for a NEW 'Sweet Sweater' Original creation!

 i've created various versions of nests over the years

from all different kinds of material (posts linked below) - 

this year, i hatched an idea for one made from sweater scraps!

(does that surprise anyone at all? i bet not!)

i love the more natural, rustic look that resulted from my new method,

and have created a tutorial to help you get the same results...

...continue reading for my 'Sweet Sweater Nest' tutorial

dwk

these nests are essentially a container,

made from sweater scraps and strips glued around a form

that is removed when the nest is complete.

TUTORIAL

materials:

twine . scissors . rubber bands . hot glue . safety pins . sheet of printer paper

small glass or plastic bowl(s) to use as forms (they get removed)

varied colors and textures of yarn and sweater scraps

i used scraps of green, ivory, and brown sweaters, and some olive green wool yarn.

i made two different sized nests, using two different sized bowls as the form,

both made in exactly the same way.

from left:

cover the outside of a bowl with a sheet of paper, folding the paper into the 'bowl'
then slide on a rubber band to hold the paper in place.

now to cover the paper/bowl 'form':
i cut two pieces of thick ribbing/edging from a green sweater scrap,
and wrapped one of them around the outside of each bowl form.
safety pins hold it tightly in place.

this layer will be seen as the 'inside' of the finished nest - 
what you see in the photos above will be covered with sweater scraps.

from left:

cut a circle of sweater fabric to cover the bottom of the bowl form,
and hot glue the edges of it to the top of the strip wrapped around the bowl form.
you don't want the glue to adhere to the paper.

prepare the sweater scraps for the next step:
cut thin strips of sweater fabric (mine are green, dark brown, and ivory)
and some thick yarn (mine is wool) into strips.
these will be used to create a new 'yarn' to use on the outside of the nest.

from left:

lay the strips out in groups, and begin tying the strips together.
i created a pattern (brown,green yarn,ivory,green sweater,green ribbon)
but you can grab pieces randomly, as well.

simply tie each successive piece to the former one with a simple knot.

after mine were all attached to one another, i wound them up like a skein of yarn.

from left:

grab the end of your 'yarn' and tie it to the safety pin to secure it.
i tied mine to the bottom safety pin, as i would start wrapping from the bottom of the form.

grab a skein of twine and attach one end of it to the safety pin, as well.

you're going to wrap BOTH of those around the form at the same time...
as i did, i twisted the yarn and twine together to create more of a 'woven' texture,
as birds do when building a nest.

from left:

begin wrapping the yarn and twine around the form from the bottom,
pulling it tightly and adding a drop of hot glue on each layer to keep it from sliding off the form.

i worked my way all the way up to the top of the form,
then continued wrapping back down to the bottom, making the 'nest' thicker.

when i reached the end of my yarn, i cut the twine and glued both ends in place.

remove the bowl form from the nest carefully - watch for glued spots!

i filled my completed nests with some of my eyelash yarn 'moss' as a finishing touch.

i popped the larger nest onto a plate, under a darling wire cagelet

(inspired two decades ago by sweet Miss Alicia Paulsen's of Posie Gets Cozy blog)

then remembered the ceramic white bird i bought last spring at Dollar Tree,

and added her to the scene. she's so cozy i might name her Posie!

i perched the smaller nest in the moss wreath shared in my last post

 but i decided she needed a bit more contrast to stand out...

some branches from my backyard tree fit nicely in a milk glass vase,

and the nest sits quite securely in the midst of them!

i love the way they all look together in my studio.

oh, and those branches i used as props? the leaves aren't real!

the trees in our yard haven't begun putting on spring leaves yet,

so i made my own out of something i already had on hand.

would you have guessed?! the result is more realistic than i had expected! 

stay tuned for my next post for the truly easy method i used.

related content:

tiny thread nests

tiny wire nest charm

wire nest

'spring in a jar' nest

beachy summer nest

found foliage nest

shared online:

funky junk interiors | new upcycle ideas #717

thank you for including my project in your feature, Donna!

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