Sweater Boot Cuffs from Sleeves DIY in 15 minutes or less

I have a "thing" for upcycling clothes. I've mentioned it before, so I apologize if I sound like a broken record, but I LOVE it. I find it incredibly gratifying to change up an unused article of clothing into something better. I also find it fun to save the unused and discarded pieces for future projects. It's kind of like a game for me...or more like a challenge - "How many different things can I make from this ugly sweater?" The answer? Lots of things! Last week, I shared about how I converted an ugly sweater into an awesome, non-dorky vest...well, at least I think so. Anyway, I saved the sleeves from the sweater and decided to use them for something else - Boot Cuffs.

I know what you are thinking - "Wait a minute...didn't you make boot cuffs a couple of years ago?" Nope. It was leg warmers and mock boot socks. Here's the thing - the legwarmers and boot cuffs are awesome (and yes, I still wear them and still get compliments), BUT some of my boots fit so snugly, I'm not able to wear the leg warmers and zip up boots. Oh, the tragedy! (First world problems right here.)

Enter the boot cuffs - the perfect solution for snug fitting boots. Isn't the whole point of wearing leg warmers to show off the cute "socks" by allowing them to peek over the top of your boot anyway? (Well, aside from the fact that they provide extra warmth). Duh! Why didn't I think of this sooner? I'm going to blame it on the Mom Brain. Yeah. By the way, I forgot to mention this earlier, but this project was so easy, it only took 15 minutes to make. Sssssssssssscore!

So, it all started with the sweater. Sweet, wonderful, loud, hand-crafted sweater from Norway. It spoke to me that day in the second-hand store and said, "You know I'm wonderful. I just need a little work. Please buy me so I can reach my full potential." So, of course, I had to oblige.

Here's how I made the boot cuffs:

I started out with two leftover sweater sleeves.

Starting at the cuff (the portion of the sleeve that sits on your wrist), measure approximately 8 inches down and serge a line completely around the sleeve. Trim off the excess fabric below the serge.

Turn the serged sleeve cuff inside out, fold the fabric, and pin. Serge (or use a straight stitch on) the pinned portion of the fabric.

Almost done (believe it or not)! Turn the sewn cuff right-side out and slip it onto your leg, just below your knee. If the cuff fits snugly, breathe a sigh of relief and relish in the fact that you have completed this simple project with very little effort. However, if the cuff came with really baggy sleeves, like mine did, you have one more adjustment to make. Since the baggy sleeves fit loose around my calves, I had to taper the sleeve portion to create a snug fit. While wearing the cuff, get an approximate idea of how much fabric needs to be removed to achieve the desired fit around your calf. Turn the cuff inside-out again and mark the fabric. If you like to be precise, you can use a measuring tape and mark off the excess fabric. I'm impatient, so I estimated and marked about a "pinch" of fabric. Sew a line down the marked path and trim off excess fabric.

Turn right-side-out and wear! That's it, friends! Super quick and easy!

Hey, guess what? Did you like this little mini-upcycled project I did with the leftover scraps from last week's project? I made something else, too. Come back next week and see what it is. :)

The Upcycled Sweater Series Part 1 - Leg Warmers and Boot Socks Tutorial

I have a couple of sweaters that I've set aside for projects. I added a couple more to my collection when I went thrifting over the weekend. Today started out to be a windy day, so I decided this would be the perfect day for a project or two or three. I made several items from my sweater collections, but there were too many to put them all in one post. And I'm not finished. So I've decided to do a series on the up-cycled sweater items I made. I've seen leg warmers ALL OVER the internet, so of course, I had to make some too!! So today I'm going to start with a tutorial about making leg warmers and "boot socks." Check it out this DIY:

So fun, right? Below is the pile of sweaters I've acquired. So much potential

This was a thrifted sweater before up-cycling:

And this is how I made the leg warmers:

Start by cutting off the sleeves.

Turn the sleeves inside out and pin the end that you cut from the sweater.

Sew it...in a straight line. Easier said than done (At least for me). I'm not that good at sewing.

I've read several tutorials that tell you to wear the bottom of the sleeves (the part that sits at your wrists) at the top of your calves when wearing them as leg warmers. That didn't work well for me. Maybe I have big calves, but the "wrist" end of the sleeves were too small for my calves. So I wore them the opposite way - with the "upper arm" end at the top of my calves.

The finished product!

I also made some from this sweater (My father-in-law gave this one to me. I don't think he wanted it anymore) :

 And I used the same instructions from above.

 

Ta-Dah!!

And finally, the crazy sweater - my mom bought this for my dad several years ago, but he refused to wear it. My brother said it looked like the knitting machine blew up when it was being knit. It probably did. (I also think he got that line from the Princess Diaries movie. He is proabaly going to kill me for saying that on my blog now). Ha ha.

I also turned the sleeves inside out and hemmed the top, just like I did with the previous two sets, but the sleeves were huge near the shoulders. So when I turned these inside out to hem the ends, I also took in a couple inches along the side (the length, as in top to bottom) to get a better fit. 

I am definitely looking forward to wearing all these.  :)
Be sure you also check out these tutorials on how to make a Hat and Mittens, Arm Warmers and Fingerless Gloves, a Sweater Vest and Infinity Scarf, and turn a Sweater into a Skirt.

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