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Oh my goodness! This is one of those times when I just wanted to pull my own hair out. These little leg warmers are SO easy to put together. They took no time at all but trying to do a tutorial that actually shows the steps so you can see how easy it is was IMPOSSIBLE.
I’m going to try but I want to say up front if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask, email me or comment and I’ll answer them as fast as I can 🙂
Before we get started I want to show you what I’m working with and the awesome deal I got.
See this tank ^? It was for sale for $10. It went on clearance for $1. It is a cute stretch lace and they had it in black, white, and cream. There were a whole lot of them. I was thinking my daughter might like it to wear over her little cap sleeve shirts to dress them up a little bit and for $1 why not? As we were leaving the store (like in the parking lot) the idea for these leg warmers popped into my head and I told Nate I had to go back in. I wanted to try them so he gave me some cash he had and I ran inside. Since I was going to be cutting them up I wanted to find the biggest sizes they had. Luckily they had some xxl, I grabbed a bunch of them and went to check out. Imagine my surprise when they rang up at $.39. I was so excited I bought a bunch more. Lace seems to be very in style right now so I knew I’d have future projects for them.
*Warning* – I am not including measurements, all the measurements will depend on the size child you’re making them for.
To start the leg warmers I used one we had on hand and laid it on top of the tank.
I figured out how long I needed the leg warmer to be and then cut off the bottom (I cut off the bottom so I could use the hem of the shirt for the hem of the leg warmer).
I then cut the top of the tank off just below the arm opening.
It gave me that nice tube ^
It is hard to tell but I then picked up the tube and laid it out so that the side seams are down the middle. I did this so that I could cut on the fold and only have 1 seam for the leg warmers.
I again laid out my pattern leg warmer to see how wide I wanted the leg warmer to be. Since I am using stretch elastic I was able to cut it just a little wider than the pattern piece (allowing for seam allowance).
Now I have my 2 leg warmers all cut out. They are currently laying wrong sides together (there isn’t really a right and wrong side to this fabric but when it comes to the assembly it does matter so we’re calling this wrong sides together.)
The stretch lace doesn’t fray and I didn’t want to change the thread in my surger so I used a straight stitch and a 1/4″ seam allowance to create my tube. (You can also use a surger for this step.)
Here is the leg warmer piece 1. I have turned it so it is now right sides together and the seam is inside. (It’s so hard to see since we’re using black on black on black)
Now I am going over the seam again at 1/4 inch. This is taking that open seam and enclosing it so it won’t be seen.
Very hard to see but if you look closely right at the 3 you can see where the stitching is. Remember at this point it is right sides together (so inside out).
Once you flip it right side out again you have this nice clean seam.
Now grab the bottom of your tank and lay it out nice and flat (this is still the whole bottom so there are 2 layers here).
Next I trimmed up all the sides (except the bottom hem) to make it a nice rectangle (and it cuts them into 2 nice pieces).
We’re going to do same thing we did with the upper leg piece for the bottom ruffle piece.
Now we have our 2 pieces.
I used a long straight stitch and pulled the bobbin thread to gather the ruffle piece. I made it the same size as the upper leg piece.
Somehow I am missing a picture. Once you have your ruffle the right size you’re going to put it upside down/inside out matching up your raw edges and seams and then I used a zigzag stitch to attach them (you can also use a surger).
Once you have the 2 pieces together the last step is to create a small casing at the top for your elastic. Again the size of your casing will depend on the size of your elastic.
Again hard to see but that is my casing.
The black elastic I used (I am really hoping my white elastic will match closely enough with my cream top because I don’t really need cream elastic).
Using a safety pin feed the elastic through the casing and then stitch it together and then close up your casing opening and you’re done!!!
They’re darling under a little skirt.
And DARLING with little bloomers.
I love them as leg warmers rather than full leggings because the snags on the bum will be significantly less (since there is no bum area) AND there is just something incredibly cute about leg warmers.
Again, PLEASE feel free to ask if you have any questions, I know the pictures don’t explain very well.
I also LOVE that you can make them as big/small as you need. The black ones are a bit more fitted than the cream ones and it gives a different look. SO fun.
I hope if you make a pair you’ll come back and share them with us.
Have a wonderful day!
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[…] is so hard to see the right/wrong side of the fabric. (The tutorial is finished and can be found here! […]