Baby Legs

Disclaimer: I am NOT a sewing whiz (or even a sewing mini-whiz). I took Home Ec. in Middle School and earned a solid B. But ever since having our daughter I've got this crazy sewing-crochet-crafty itch.

So my husband & children got me this awesome sewing machine for Valentine's Day and I'm practicing away. Said daughter is now crawling around the house and her little knees are taking a beating (don't ask me why this didn't bother me with the boys!). These Baby Legs are everywhere and cost a LOT of money, so I did a little research and decided to make some of my own.

Now. There are many ways to make these. A lot of sites I viewed just cut off the foot part and sewed a simple hem either by hand or on their machine. Yeah. Didn't work for me! These socks roll up after you cut them! So I found this tutorial here...and like the idea of making cuffs. Either way...the Baby Legs turn out cute as can be and for a fraction of the cost when you make them yourself!

To start with you need a sewing machine (or thread & needle), scissors, woman's knee socks (the ones I used were on sale at Target), an adorable baby or toddler & some Johnny Cash on itunes (optional, but soothing & fun).

Here are the socks in their original state.

1) Cut the socks directly above and below the heels and above the toes.

2) Discard the heels & toes and you are left with two pieces like this:

3) Take the smaller piece (that would be around your foot) and fold it in on itself. Make sure that the nice part of the sock is on the outside of the fold. This will be the cuff.

4) Stretch out your newly folded cuff and insert the cut line of the other piece inside the cuff. You'll end up with three raw edges together. Note the crazy rolling! I pinned the three layers together in four spots.

5) I stretched the entire thing around the arm of my sewing machine to stitch. Use whatever method is easiest for you, but make sure you are only stitching three layers and not all six or you won't be able to pull these on your babies cute chubby legs!

6) Stitch all the way around the sock. I did one with a tight zig zag stitch and one with a straight stitch just to see the difference. I ended up liking the straight stitch a lot better. I'm not sure, but I think that with the material of the sock and my complete lack of knowledge on sewing matters, the zig zag got all bunchy for me!

7) Finally...fold your newly sewn cuff down and you have achieved Baby Legs! The top one is the zig zagged one and the bottom one is the straight stitched one.

Grab your Super-Speedy crawler and put on her new Baby Legs! The smile says it all! These make great knee protectors, leg warmers, they make diaper changing easier than tights do, a nice lightweight sock would be great for sun protection.

But mostly they make chubby Fred Flinstone feet HaPpY!