For this project, make sure that you use a sweater with good stretch. I had an old one lying around that I used first but it just didn't stretch well, so the legwarmers I made for her didn't work. I had another sweater that I had used the sleeves of for my own legwarmers that I decided to use for hers as well. And now we can match, which is always fun.
Supplies:
old sweater
sewing machine
rotary cutter/scissors
measuring tape/ruler
Start with the sweater turned inside out. I measured and cut these so that the fold of the sweater was on one side and the seam would be on the other, that way I only had to sew one side. Measure the calf at the widest part or where you want the top of the legwarmer to reach to. I used the hem of the sweater for the top of the legwarmer and measured down to her ankle; for her, it was 5 inches. I didn't bother finishing a seam on the bottom part because the sweater I used won't fray and also no one will see it. I just sewed two straight stitches to make sure that it won't come undone and then had her try them on to make sure they fit.
My daughter's leg measured 7 inches around at the largest point on her calf, so I cut the sweater at 7 inches. Because the sweater had a lot of stretch in it, when she tried it on it was too big, so I ended up taking it in so that it measured at 6 inches when it was sewn, with about a 1/4 of an inch seam allowance. This will all depend on the amount of stretch in the sweater you use, so you'll just have to gauge it accordingly. And that was it, very quick and simple and her little legs will be kept nice and warm this winter.
