Boot Socks From Old Sweater

I'm really not a fan of winter!  I'm a born and raised California girl and I LOVE the warm weather of summer.  I mentally work to keep my spirits up during the cold dreary days of winter.  So this year I'm trying to do better by looking for the small things I DO like about winter and I was just telling a friend the other day that the best part of winter is getting to wear all my cute boots!  But this year there is another bonus....Boot Socks!  All the cute boot socks that have recently popped up everywhere are another thing I'm loving about winter.  I've seen them on Pinterest, I've seen DIY tutorials in many blogs, and planned on making a few pairs when I found time.  But yesterday I saw the cutest DIY pair on http://paisleyboulevard.com/2011/11/diy-boot-snuggies-and-a-cowl/  Check hers out.  So I went digging through old sweaters that I never wear and found a white cashmere sweater that would work perfect, so I thought.....

My sweaters sleeves were too tight to fit up over my calf ( never thought I had big calves, but I'm sure I'll obsess over them now)  Because I wanted to make these boot socks SOOOO bad, I came up with a new plan on how to make them with this particular sweater....I made one leg out of the front of the sweater and the other leg out of the back of the sweater.  Here's how I did it (in case you have big calves too)

I cut the (dumb stupid sleeves that wouldn't fit over my not too big calves)off and I cut the turtleneck part off and then I separated the front from the back along the side seams and shoulder seams so I could use the ribbing at the bottom of the sweater as the ribbing to be the top of my boot socks.

I then pinned them around my legs with the bottom of the sweater up.  (see my calves aren't huge...are they?)  Leave the pins in and GENTLY slide them off your leg.

Lay them out flat and fix any pins that may have come loose.

Trim the excess fabric, cutting approx 1/4"-3/8" from your pins.  This will be your seam allowance.

Line up the still pinned leg on top of the other sweater piece and use this as your pattern to cut the 2nd boot sock. 

Pin both boot socks right sides together, I pinned an inch or so away from the where I was gonna stitch because my serger foot is wide and I cant sew over pins with it.  Serge starting at the top of your boot sock so you keep the tops lined up.  If you don't have an over lock machine, You can use a wide zig zag stitch.  Whenever you sew on stretch fabrics you either want to use a serger/over lock machine or a zig zag stitch, otherwise your stitches will pop when you go to stretch these over your leg.  DON'T cut the thread tail at the top of your socks.

Thread a VERY large needle with your serger thread tail and thread it back down the over lock stitches, this gives you a nice string free finish and helps keep the seam strong at the top of your boot socks.
I then serged along the bottom edge of these just to keep the knit from unravelling over time (sorry, I forgot to take a picture of that step)
Turn right side out and make SMALL vertical slits to thread your ribbon through.  I made my slits a little too big on the first sock and had to go back and hand stitch them up a little, so start small 3/8" or so and then you can always go bigger.
Another key note- make sure you plan out an even amount of slits or your ribbon will end wrong.  I had 10 slits in my boot socks approx 1 1/8" apart. (you'll understand what I'm talking about when you get to this step)
Weave the ribbon in and out of the holes and tie your bow.  I think next time I will leave the ribbon tails longer.

Hope you love Boot Socks as much as I do and I hope they help to make your winter a little brighter too!  Now go dig through your old sweaters!! Pin It