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:

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

This was a thrifted sweater before up-cycling:

And this is how I made the leg warmers:

Start by cutting off the sleeves.

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

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

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.

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) :

 And I used the same instructions from above.

 

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.

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. 

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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