Tutorial Tuesday: Baby leg-warmers

Hello--it is Tutorial Tuesday!  First off--I want to thank my friend over at monkey's on the bed for being so kind and adding my blog to the tutorial button above.  I love making these tutorials and am so excited to be a part of it!

Today, in honor of Lincoln getting ready to crawl, we are making baby leg-warmers.  Perfect for protecting those knees from carpet burn (they are also really great for quick diaper changes!).

Step 1:  Select a pair of knee high socks.  One of the hardest parts of the process is finding knee highs that aren't super girly (obviously not a problem if you have a girl...).  Solid colors  are generally a good bet, and when it is Halloween, you can find skull and bat prints....

Step 2:  Cut the tube part of the sock off just above the heel (see pic 1 below)

Step 3:  Cut off the heel and toe (see pic 2 below).  Discard the heel and toe pieces.

You should now have a tube and a small rectangle piece cut from the foot of the sock (see pic 3)
Step 4:  Cut off one side of the small rectangle, about one fingers width.  You should now be able to unfold the piece flat. (see pic 1 below)

Step 5:  Fold the flat piece you made so right sides are together and sew the open side closed using a straight stitch.   (why did you cut it if you are just going to sew it back together, you ask?  Good question.  Because this is going to be the cuff of the leg warmer, it needs to be a bit smaller than the width of the tube part of the sock--so we had to remove that finger width piece to make it smaller.) (see pic 2)

Step 6:  Fold down top of rectangle piece to form a cuff.  Line up the edges so they are even. (see pic 1 below)

Step 7:  Feed bottom of tube into the newly created cuff.  Right sides of everything should be out.  (see pic 2 below)

Step 8:  Line up all 3 layers at the bottom (the tube and the 2 layers from the cuff).  You can pin if you like.  I found pinning to be more frustrating than not pinning, so I don't pin. (see pic 3 below)

Step 9:  Stitch the 3 layers together using a straight stitch and 1/4-1/2" seam allowance.  Go slow and make sure you are catching all 3 layers!! (see pics 1-2 below)

Step 10:  Double check to make sure you caught all 3 layers--if you didn't, go back and fix it.  If you miss any layers, there will be a gap when you fold down the cuff. (see pic 3 below)

Step 11:  If you have a serger, here would be a great opportunity to put it to use.  We want to finish the edges so the don't fray and unravel.  I don't have a serger, so what I do is go once around with the overlock stitch on my machine, then do one more time around with the zigzag stitch.  When finished, the edges will look like the pic on the left above.  I have never had a problem with unraveling.

Step 12:  Roll down the cuff and you're done!  See how easy?  Baby leg-warmers on the cheap. 

 Lincoln showing off his leg warmers--look at him threatening to crawl.  So close!!!

Yay, made it to my block!  So happy my knees aren't rug burned =]

So, if you made it this far, I have a treat for you!  I got a little carried away buying knee high socks during a sale last fall, and have way more than Lincoln will use.  So, I would love to give 2 of you readers a pair of homemade baby leg-warmers!  Your choice from my stash below:

I have been tiring a bit lately with having so many entry methods for online giveaways, so I am going back to basics here.  To enter this giveaway, just leave me ONE comment below--I'd love to hear what you are currently working on creating!  What's in your sewing machine, or on your needles, or on your sketch pad, or in your oven, etc.  If you aren't currently creating anything, just let me know what you'd like to create!  Let's inspire each other!

So, just to be clear, the above method is the only entry method for this giveaway.  Nice and simple!  Just a comment!  I will draw the winners on Friday, June 12, 2009 at 9:00 am, CST.

Enjoy!  And have a wonderful Tuesday!  

PS:  Don't forget to check out these other awesome tutorials today:

Natural Cleaners at monkeys on the bed

Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day at Sailing the Hudson