I accidentally felted one of my sweaters the other day, and it shrunk so much I think it would have been small on my 5 year old. Then it dawned on me. The sleeves were the perfect size for Hannah's legs. She loves to wear skirts, so now she can wear them during the winter and stay warm - yay! I ended up making a pair for myself too, and my goodness do they make a difference. I wear them under my jeans, so you'd never know they were there. If you have ever experienced cold jeans on bare legs - here's the fix...First find an old sweater. You don't have to felt it, but doing so will make them warmer (you can only felt sweaters that are at least 80% wool - acrylic will not felt). To felt a sweater, just put it in a pillowcase (so you don't end up clogging your machines with fuzzies), tie it closed and wash on hot for 1-2 cycles, then toss in the dryer (still in the pillowcase - trust me).
1) Lay your sweater flat and then cut off each arm like the photo below.
2) Snip off the slanted edge by the arm pit so that you have a straight edge, like the photo below.
3) Turn inside out and fold over half an inch on the cut end and stitch along the edge.
4) Turn right side out and you're done! The wrist end is already finished for you.
This may not be the prettiest leg warmer, but like I said, I wear them under my pants, so no one can see them anyway. My daughter's are a bit cuter...
Give it a try! The whole project takes about 10 minutes, start to finish. What have you up-cycled lately?
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