sew-your-own baby leg warmers

It seems that my baby boy is about to become mobile. He has been "circling" on the floor for a couple weeks now, pivoting on one knee and using his arms to spin round and round, rather than traveling forward or backward. It's totally cute, but he is starting to create little rug burns on his knees (especially the one that he pivots on).

In an effort to alleviate the problem, I found myself searching for reasonably priced baby leg warmers on the internet. You probably know them by other names: babylegs, huggalugs, or even knotty legs. While all three "brands" are incredibly cute, the least expensive among them are around $8.00 a pair ... Which adds up once you select the one(s) you like and have them shipped to you!

So, I did a little leg work (ha!) and thriftily created my own variation ...

On with the tutorial:

First, you need to locate some knee length socks. I found some really cute, colorful pairs at Target (in the women's section) ranging from $2.00 to $5.00 each. Walmart also carries knee length socks (although I did not find their selection to be as extensive or as cute) for comparable prices. They did have some men's socks (not knee length, but not crew either) in more masculine stripes that would be shorter on my little guy's legs and probably a tiny bit cooler for the summer months.

Once you get your socks home, lay them flat on a table and cut the "foot" off. Striped socks make this process really easy because they give you lines to work with!


Discard the foot and turn the upper part of the sock inside out, folding over about 1 in. of fabric to finish the edge. I pinned it in place, although you could probably get away with not pinning because the elasticity of the sock holds it pretty securely ...


Adjust your sewing machine to a zig-zag stitch in order to give the new seam a little bit of "give." Increase the seam length for the same reason. It is probably a good idea to play around with the settings and test them on some throwaway fabric ... Once you are satisfied with your settings, carefully sew your hem so that you don't seal off the sock's opening.


Trim off any excess fabric.


Turn the new leg warmer right side out and repeat the process with the second sock. Once you get going, it takes about 5-10 minutes to complete a set!


As you can see, I got a little carried away ...


Lastly, enjoy your new creation(s) and be prepared to take lots of photos of the cuteness that ensues!