I'm kicking off Make a Sweater Better event with....
Leg Warmers!
They say if you wait long enough, long ago trends eventually come back into style. I'm so glad this one is coming back with a vengeance.
Simply made out of the arms of an old sweater, this is a fast project to whip up, and can be made with a light weight sweater for a softer look, or a heavy weight sweater (like me) for an in your face, bold fashion statement. (ok, that might be a little extreme, but my husband thinks these are a little over the top)
Materials:
1 sweater
1/4 elastic
basic sewing supplies
Grab your sweater and lay it out flat (unlike mine, go figure)
Cut the arms off the sweater. LEAVE ENOUGH ON THE SWEATER TO MAKE A SHORT SLEEVE!! We are going to use the rest of this sweater next time!
Use a serger, or if your like me and don't own one (yet) use an overcasting stitch on the cut edge. Make sure your stitch is wide enough to catch onto the unraveled part of the sweater.
This is what you should be going for.
If your sleeve isn't already turned inside out, do so now. Fold over the top edge, and pin.
Sew your fold edge closed using a zig zag stitch, leaving a small opening to thread your elastic.
Measure the circumference of the leg right above the knee. Cut your elastic from this measurement.
Thread your elastic through the channel of your leg warmer and pull the ends out. Sew the ends together approx. 1/4 inch away from the elastic ends.
Sew the hole closed and enjoy rocking your new leg warmers!
I'll be sharing this tutorial with the awesome links at the bottom of this page. You can also find their buttons in my navi bar "linked to"
22 comments:
I am hoping you have some ideas with felted sweaters. I felted a bunch of my old wool sweaters then realized I had no idea what to do with them! :)
These are so awesome! I can't wait to see what comes next. I have a whole stack of thrifted sweaters just waiting to be made fabulous.
I linked to your tutorial over at Craft Gossip Sewing:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-make-a-pair-of-leg-warmers-from-an-old-sweater/2010/09/08/
--Anne
oh my goodness I love this idea will def. be good willing some sweaters!
What a great idea! Very cute...and warm! Thanks! ♥
ah... I did this last year and wore them under baggy jeans with just the bottoms hanging out over my boots... lol...
my girls were shocked and dismayed...
momma ROCKS!
Precious!
Ps…Love the name of your blog. Off to see what I’ve missed!
Kendra aka “Domestic Princess in Training”
I love your leg warmers, just wondering if I could get my girls to wear them ;) Can't wait to see what you do with the rest of the sweater.
Visiting from www.lifeisaparty.ca
Aww....cute!
I cant belive legwearmers are coming back....all I can think of is the movie Physical with olivia newton john.
I love this idea. I have tons of sweaters that don't fit. Great idea. I am going to try and make a vest out of the rest of the sweater.
AWW! how cute! I would love a pair of these for myself. =) I would also love to link to these if you didn't mind.
Hi Nicole! Kymmie here... LOVE the repurposing sweaters! I am with half these women on here and cannot believe legwarmers are back... I was a ballet dancer for a long time and HAD to wear them! hahaha I might make this my new project! I worked on 2 aprons this past week and put it on the blog! xoxox Hope you're doing well!!
husbands. our 5 year old has some killer red leg warmers and he didn't want to let her wear them! i think yours are hard core cool. :)
Those are great! I love the print too. Thanks for sharing ... I've posted a link.
Too cute. Thanks for the idea! I will try.
Great Tutorial! I made a pair from an old sweater and featured it on my blog: http://blackgardeniadesign.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/before-after-leg-warmers/
That looks so cool! I just picked up a sweater from the thrift store today that I wanted to turn into legwarmers. So glad I cam across your tutorial!
Great tutorial, so cute!! I tried it out here
http://mariellamadeit.blogspot.com/2010/10/back-to-sewing.html
LOVE!!!
I absolutely love love love this tutorial! Thanks for posting!
Great, I was thinking of making some out of some old sweaters as my legs stay cold in the winter. Also, we can probably makes scarves and hats out of old sweaters. Thanks to my Mom and Grandma, I can be very creative...
I am sooo going to make a matching hat with the sweater body for my ballerina!!! Thank you SOOOO much for posting this!
I like using the sweater sleeves for sleeves on no sleeved dresses- much less bulky than wearing a sweater underneath
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