Knee Socks to Tights

Tracy / October 27, 2011

The weather is turning cooler.

We’ve been unpacking jackets and preparing for the winter.

I realized last week we needed to buy stockings for our little girls. These cold days can be harsh on a little girl wearing dresses to church.

I have seen several tutorials around the internet for making “baby legs”…basically, leg-warmers for littles.

I thought this would be nice for our little girls. so I stopped by Target to look for some cute, patterned socks.

I did find some and started working. I was so pleased with our results, I thought I would share the tutorial with all of you!

(I’m sorry if this is missing a few pictures. I didn’t really think about making this a tutorial when I started. If you have any questions, just email. I’ll be happy to help however I can.)

As you can tell, these aren’t baby leg-warmers, they are actually tights. After looking at the socks, we realized we would rather (and had enough sock), to make them into actual tights instead. I liked that idea much better for the baby.

So, here goes:

(We used a serger for our seams, but I’m sure you could use a sewing machine. I would, however, double stitch everything!)

1. Holding the sock to your little one’s foot with the heel of the sock even with the baby’s heel, measure the distance from the heel to end of toe.

*Remember that socks stretch. It’s O.K. if it’s not exactly perfect.

2. Cut off this end (this was hard to do…I mean, these are some really cute socks. Dare I risk ruining them??).

If you are making leggings instead of tights, cut off the sock just above the heel.

(I do have to figure out an idea to use the little toes from these socks. I hate to throw them out…they are really cute!)

3. With the sock inside-out, stitch across this new toe. We rounded our socks just a bit to give them a more natural toe.

If you are making leggings, you can just pull the end of the sock while you zig-zag around the edge. The knit fabric will naturally ruffle as you stitch to look like this:

4. Cut the sock about 4″ down from the top. I didn’t measure our cut. Just hold it up to your little one and guess on the length.

5. This step is much easier is you slide it onto your hand.

Placing one sock (right side out) onto your hand, pull the other sock, right side in, onto your hand. Remember to match the cut line and the heels.

6. Stitch from one edge of the cut line to the other. This should look a little like a big “c”. This is where you will really want to go back over the seam, if you are using a regular sewing machine.

The tighter end of the sock makes a great waistband.

Can you believe it, you are done!

Target has these socks for $2.50/pair! That is less expensive than most tights and soooo much nicer!


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