The biggest retailer of these is Babylegs, and on their website (babylegs.com), one pair of leg warmers costs $12...!!! That seemed ridiculous to me, so I looked for patterns to make my own. I found one at http://everythingyourmamamade.com/2008/01/21/make-your-own-baby-leg-warmers/. Oh my gosh, it is so easy and quick and CHEAP. Here are some little ones I made from crew socks I got at the dollar store (this was my very first attempt, so keep in mind, they're pretty crappy!):
I don't know how clear these pictures will be once they're posted (they kind of suck in the preview), but the designs are a little argyle square, grey and black houndstooth (those turned out pretty bad- all bulky and bunched up at the top- which wasn't entirely my fault and was partly due to the knit of the sock itself), a little tree and yellow stars.
This picture has AWFUL quality! The colors/designs are cream (not too bad, but I obviously shouldn't have used black thread. I didn't have any other colors though), blue and green stripes, gray with little scotty dogs (you can't see them here, but they are cute!), and white hearts.
It took me a few tries to realize that I should probably be putting the label (they said "CHATTIES" on the sole) at the back. And the ones with appliques that are supposed to face a certain direction (e.g. the trees, the dogs, the hearts) will be upside down when worn as leggings. But whatever. It was good practice before I did some longer ones. Here's a picture of me wearing one on my arm:
If they're just too ugly to put on the baby, I'll see if I can cut out/serge a thumb hole and wear them as arm warmers myself.
Here are some better ones! I got a pack of these at Walmart for cheap and made these in like five minutes. I was glad I had practiced on the smaller ones first. The reason why most of the crew sock leggings were bulkier than the ones featured here is that I started out using a zigzag stitch for extra security. Only since I'm such a beginner at sewing, I didn't do a very good job at staying near the edge. I decided to switch to a straight stitch and went around twice, just in case, and the results were much better. I brought the blue pair ^^ to Texas with me last week and tried them on Jane. She pointed at them and said "Gock!" ("sock"), and when I put them on her, she lifted up her skirt to look at them. Then she went around and played, and didn't try to pull them off or anything- yay! I put one of the little pairs on her arms and she liked those, too.
I really liked the way the green ones turned out. (The pair next to it is brown, if you can't tell. Crappy lighting.) And they aren't as uneven in length as they look in the pictures, I swear.
The green argyle pair was given to me by Connie. She bought these at a kiosk in the mall before I was even pregnant!!! They're a little bit girly, so I'll probably save them for a daughter. the brown and green argyle pair were made by me- don't they look comparable? I'm so proud!!
The only real difference between my leggings and the "professionally made" ones are that the edges are serged. I don't even know what a serger looks like, let alone how to use one, and Connie doesn't own one, so that's pretty much out of the question for now. However, once I become more proficient at sewing, I'd love to learn how to serge and own a serger myself. They are REALLY useful. First things first, though. (aka, learn to sew, get a sewing machine, etc.)
And here's my non-serged edge. I trimmed off the extra fabric after I sewed them to make it neat. Even with a straight stitch, it was hard to stay near the edge. This has a lot to do with the fact that sock material likes to curl in when it's cut, and I had to hold three layers flat while sewing. Different layers were curling in different directions, so I gave myself a wider edge than I would have if it was all completely flat.
And here are the socks that I've cut and prepared to sew next! (See what I mean about the edges curling?) The pair at the end is actually a bright shade of pink, NOT red- the picture quality isn't THAT bad! It came with the pack, and I'm going to make it into a pair of leggings for Jane.
It's probably a good thing that I'm not having a girl. If I were, I'd probably spend way too much money buying her cute little outfits and end up with too many clothes for her to ever wear.
By the way, did I even post before now that I'm having a boy? Oops, I don't think I did! ...It's a boy! Here are some pictures (sorry that they're sideways, I was too lazy to change that):
Baby's foot! Five toes, count 'em.
Baby's profile- very handsome, like his father! (jk, too early to tell)
Baby's equipment! Not a very modest shot, haha! You can see his shins and knees pretty well here, too. Definitely a boy. Which is what we were planning, so that's good!
Yayyyyy!!!!! That's awesome, Sarah! Those leg warmers will be great on Rhubarb!
ReplyDelete