Upcycling Merino Wool Thermals into a breathable natural Kids' Balaclava

Beginner Friendly & Free!

I'm so excited about this merino wool balaclava for our toddler for many reasons, but one of them is that this is the first item of clothing that I have ever sewn. Which is why I can confidently say this is very much beginner friendly.

Some fun back story

As a (self-labeled) crunchy expat living in Canada parent I've been on a new mission - which is spending more time outside and having nature and outdoors be a normal everyday part of our lives. This in South Africa was easy, but since having moved to Calgary, Canada it's been a real challenge to spend time outside regularly and consistently during the very long winters. This is our 3rd winter in Canada and I was much better prepared for it (I made a Youtube vlog about it), but it is still a challenge for me to brave the cold with my toddler.

I am currently reading "There's no such thing as bad weather" by Linda McGurk for some inspiration. And it's working.

If you're a regular to my blog (or my Instagram @sustainabilityC) you may have seen how excited I was that I crocheted our toddler a neck warmer / cowl.

With my new inspiration from the book, and Elba's new neck warmer we took a short walk in the cold. It was -18C with a windchill of -24C (-11.2F). Elba was warm everywhere except her face and as you can see in the picture her cheeks were a bit pink after the walk. We didn't think much of it until it looked worse the next day! I asked about it on the 1000 hours outside group and wise parents shared that it is probably windburn or some mild frostnip. They advised I put a barrier moisturizer on before going out in that cold weather, but also to use some kind of face cover.

P.s. Elba's cheeks are still on the mend 6 days later. She was not in pain from it at all and hasn't even seemed to notice it.

It's been on my list to crochet Elba a face cover and I am currently waiting on Merino Wool I ordered to make it (stay tuned and I will share when it is done). Doing this might take some time, and I would like my kiddo to spend time outside and be well protected from the cold wind. While I wait for the wool to arrive - a wonderful opportunity presented itself in the form of Ian wanting to throw out a pair of his merino wool thermals that tore in a way that isn't nice to fix.

Since I much a beginner sewer (that sounds weird - is that a word?) it definitely did not cross my mind to buy fabric and make a balaclava. But when Ian said he was going throw out these thermals I thought - hmmm why not try sewing them into a balaclava for Elba? What do I have to lose?

They are 100% Merino wool and the part that isn't torn is still in good condition. I understand working with stretchy material is a bit challenging given my lack of sewing skills, but I figured let's try anyways. They don't need to be perfect - just practical.

I set off in search of some online tutorials. It was pretty easy to find something actually - apparently a few years ago there was a big trend of making balaclavas. Who knew? (Probably lots of people, but I am not in with the trends here living my crunchy natural earthy vibes with zero interest in trending clothing #wearthesameorganicthingseveryday).

I found a free beginner friendly pattern with a Youtube tutorial (link provided below).

I printed it out and taped the pages together and cut out the size I wanted. The smallest size was age 3 years. I made that one and (spoiler) it fits our almost 2-year-old kiddo.

While I am super grateful to creators who put out free patterns and tutorials! Thank you! I do want to mention that printing this pattern out did not work perfectly for me. It could be me or it could be the pattern.

Only one of the elements did not line up the way it was supposed to. All other pages did. I followed the printing instructions to a T. I tried different printing settings just in case and printed it 6 or 7 times, but nothing resulted in it lining up properly. I then just settled for the best line up I could and used that.

Materials I used:

1. Printer

2. Paper

3. Normal scissors

4. Fabric scissors

5. Merino wool thermals to be thrown out

6. Pins

7. Sewing machine - Singer Stylist. I have linked the one I have, but I did buy mine 2nd hand still in its box and barely used. I love it. As a beginner it is very forgiving and easy to work with.

   
   

Tips

Printing the pattern: Even though the printing it did not work out perfectly for me, my tip to printing PDF patterns is check that your paper size and the paper size of the pattern matches and put the printing settings on "actual size".

Pin and cut neater than I did. It was late and I was in a bit of a rush. I recommend taking it slower and pinning and cutting neatly - it does make a difference to the final product.

Since I used to upcycle merino wool that is stretchy - make sure not to stretch the fabric when pinning or cutting.

When learning to sew check if your machine can change the speed and sew slower.

Always do a test strip to get a feel for the material and check the thread.

Pin in one direction only - this may be obvious... but I didn't and then stabbed myself with a pin. See picture below of what not to do.

Always check where the bottom is so that you don't by accidently sew parts that aren't meant to be sewn. This is especially true for the face cover to the head part.

I like that this pattern just did a manual fold over seam since I haven't yet learnt how to use a particular foot on my sewing machine for this.

For the parts that go inside and aren't visible I did a normal straight stitch. For the visible parts I did a zigzag stitch.

Not the neatest sewing job ever, but look it worked!

Credit for the pattern and tutorial goes to Heather Handmade.

Free pattern & tutorial

Please note: To receive the free pattern, you need to sign up to the Heather Handmade site. It doesn't cost anything, just adds a few steps. You'll then receive the pattern via email and mine landed in my promotions folder.

Some notes on toddler safety below.

Safety considerations

Since Elba is not yet 2 it was very important to me that the fabric that covers her face is very breathable. In this case it is, and the face cover is also very easy for her to pull down and wear as only a head warmer. The face cover is also made in such a way that it sticks out a bit and therefore isn't against face. Which is safer. Of course, I will be observant when she wears anything like this, but I do consider this safer than for example a scarf.

For safety things always check in with your parental intuition and do your own information collection to ensure that something is safe for your child.

Overall, I am so proud of how this turned out and I am happy for Elba to have something to keep her face more protected. I am super happy that it didn't cost me anything to make and that it is 100% merino wool (so not as scratchy as normal wool).

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If you end up making this - please share some pictures and let me know how it went!

Carmen