So Here's My Life

The things we make,
the food we eat and
the shenanigans in between.

A blog about making things by
MICHELLE SEXTON

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The Upcycled Sweater Series Part 1 - Leg Warmers and Boot Socks Tutorial

I have a couple of sweaters that I've set aside for projects. I added a couple more to my collection when I went thrifting over the weekend. Today started out to be a windy day, so I decided this would be the perfect day for a project or two or three. I made several items from my sweater collections, but there were too many to put them all in one post. And I'm not finished. So I've decided to do a series on the up-cycled sweater items I made. I've seen leg warmers ALL OVER the internet, so of course, I had to make some too!! So today I'm going to start with a tutorial about making leg warmers and "boot socks." Check it out this DIY:

Leg Warmers DIY

So fun, right? Below is the pile of sweaters I've acquired. So much potential

pile of sweaters

This was a thrifted sweater before up-cycling:

pink sweater to be up-cycled

And this is how I made the leg warmers:

cut sweater sleeves off

Start by cutting off the sleeves.

pin cut side down

Turn the sleeves inside out and pin the end that you cut from the sweater.

sew trimmed side

Sew it...in a straight line. Easier said than done (At least for me). I'm not that good at sewing.

close-up of leg warmers


finished leg warmers

I've read several tutorials that tell you to wear the bottom of the sleeves (the part that sits at your wrists) at the top of your calves when wearing them as leg warmers. That didn't work well for me. Maybe I have big calves, but the "wrist" end of the sleeves were too small for my calves. So I wore them the opposite way - with the "upper arm" end at the top of my calves.

wearing DIY leg warmers
The finished product!

I also made some from this sweater (My father-in-law gave this one to me. I don't think he wanted it anymore) :

striped sweater to be up-cycled

 And I used the same instructions from above.

finished leg warmers / boot socks

 wearing boot socks / leg warmers with stripes
Ta-Dah!!

And finally, the crazy sweater - my mom bought this for my dad several years ago, but he refused to wear it. My brother said it looked like the knitting machine blew up when it was being knit. It probably did. (I also think he got that line from the Princess Diaries movie. He is proabaly going to kill me for saying that on my blog now). Ha ha.

colorful sweater to be up-cycled


I also turned the sleeves inside out and hemmed the top, just like I did with the previous two sets, but the sleeves were huge near the shoulders. So when I turned these inside out to hem the ends, I also took in a couple inches along the side (the length, as in top to bottom) to get a better fit. 

finished up-cycled sweater leg warmers/boot socks

wearing colorful boot socks / leg warmers
I am definitely looking forward to wearing all these.  :)
Be sure you also check out these tutorials on how to make a Hat and Mittens, Arm Warmers and Fingerless Gloves, a Sweater Vest and Infinity Scarf, and turn a Sweater into a Skirt.

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14 comments:

rebekah said...

Ahhhhh! They look amazing. Boot socks are so expensive. I want to try this!

April said...

Oh my I wanna make these now! Love boot warmers! I hope you will linkup with me here:
http://www.thegingerbreadblog.com/2012/01/sweet-saturday-link-party-v23.html

Angie said...

I've seen the project before, but never with such great styling. Great choices. Great styling. :-)

Angie said...

I love your styling!

Unknown said...

Thanks, Angie! I've seen them all over the internet, but I definitely had to give these a try!

Kadie & April - I'd love to link up at your parties!!!

Blissful & Domestic said...

I love these! So fun and you did so many! What a simple fun project! I am having a Homemade Year on my blog Blissful and Domestic and would love for you to link this up to my Homemade Year linky party. It is so great!

http://blissfulanddomestic.blogspot.com/p/my-homemade-year-linky-party.html

Vicky @ Mess For Less said...

These are so cute and easy to do. Pinning it! I am a new pinterest follower visiting from House of Hepworths. Vicky from Mess For Less

Stephanie said...

All I can say is WOW!!! I can't believe how cute those sweaters look as leg warmers!!!! (especially that last one!!!) amazing!! Where are your boots from? They are super cute!!
gatheredinthekitchen.com

mum4305 said...

I like all three leg warmers but the last pair from the crazy sweater with the chunky boots is my favorite look. I never would have thought about making something out of that sweater but the warmers turned out wonderfully.

Beverly {Flamingo Toes} said...

These are so cute Michelle!! I love the legwarmers and they look adorable with your boots!! I featured you! http://www.flamingotoes.com/2012/01/crush-of-the-week-think-pink-features-37/

Megan said...

Those are so cute!! I love them! And so simple to make too. I can't wait to make some!

Heaven's Walk said...

I hear your sewing pains, Michelle! lol! BUT you did a fabulous job, girl! Love these leg warmers! I saw some on Etsy for $35!!! :)

xoxo laurie

Nicole@Thrifty Decorating said...

Adorable! Put you on my FB page tonight! :) Thanks for linking!

srpprcrftr said...

I have no excuse now not to make some of these great little goodies. I've been wanting to have some when I wear boots with a skirt, my old chubby calves get cold. You did such a great job of showing us how to make these. I've seen several posts about them this winter. I have fat calves so will do as you did, turn them upside down to wear. Your calves in photos certainly don't look heavy enuf to need wider socks. Need to go to thrift stores now to find sweaters to massacre for my leg warmers/boot socks. I haven't seen any boot socks in stores (haven't looked either) so have no idea how expensive they are, don't want to find out either. Why bother when a clever blogger like yourself has shown us all how to make our own for very little? Great post. Happy days.