Thrifted Cozy Candle Sweater Tutorial

There are so many things that I love about the arrival of fall. It signifies the start of a solid three months of holidays and fun. The weather is warm enough to still enjoy the outdoors but cool enough to wear cute sweaters and hoodies. There’s nothing better than fall colors. And most importantly…

I picked up a few American Home™ by Yankee Candle® candles at Walmart, they smelled too amazing to resist. Especially the Homemade Pumpkin Pie 🙂 You know they’re good when you have to keep excusing yourself because you’re bumping into all the other people sniffing and shopping for candles themselves! I wanted to make my candles a little more cozy and festive. I’ve seen tutorials for knitted candle sleeves before. But why knit a sleeve when you can just use a previously loved sweater instead?

STEP ONE | Slide the sleeve of your thrifted (or previously loved) sweater over the bottom of the jar of the candle. Most candles are large enough that this works perfectly and the candle will fit snugly into the sleeve. I had one smaller candle that I ended up cutting a slit down the side doing a quick whip stitch up the seam to tighten it. It worked just as well 🙂

STEP TWO | Pull the sleeve tight at the end and cut it off leaving plenty of room.

STEP THREE | Turn the sleeve inside out, gather the bottom of the sleeve, and pull it together (making sure that you aren’t pulling the sleeve down off of the jar of the candle). Stick a needle and thread through the center of the bunch a few times and then wrap the thread around the bunch pulling tight. Fasten off.

STEP FOUR | Trim off the excess sweater as close to the sewing you just did as possible. If you leave too much, there will be too much fabric on the bottom of the candle for it to sit level.

Slip the sleeve over the bottom of the jar of the candle and enjoy 😉 If you’re afraid of a candle burning on any of your surfaces, this is a great way to give some extra heat protection. Make sure that you follow user instructions to a tee for American Home™ by Yankee Candle® brand products. This includes: always burning your candle on a heat resistant surface, keeping it out of drafts and NEVER leaving it unattended while lit, and please make sure the candle wicks are cut 1/8 of an inch to ensure the flame isn’t too large

I made three candle sweaters in some pretty autumn colors to fit the three American Home™ by Yankee Candle® candles that I picked up at Walmart. I had a hard time not bringing all of the different fragrances home with me, they all smell so good! The best way to get the biggest, boldest fragrance possible from these candles is to burn it long enough to allow the entire top layer to become a fragrant pool of liquid wax. When only 1/2″ of the wax remains, it’s time to let your candle go.

Swing on by your local Walmart to pick up some candles from the American Home™ by Yankee Candle® line. I bet you won’t buy just one 😉