Home-made arm/leg warmers

[kygrrlinco]

Well, winter is definitely setting in here in Colorado, and it's time for warmer cycling clothing.
I knit and sew, and am wondering if anyone has ever made their own arm and leg warmers. I was thinking about knitting some nice lambswool armwarmers, and I have some windstopper fleece I could do leg warmers with, including ankle zippers. This came to mind as a way to save some money 'cuz I'm broke, but it seems like it may be a fun project.
Any thoughts?

[madscot13]

an old roommate knit armwarmers that go halfway up your palm and there are thumb holes. super comfy. they were snow proof with mittens over them.If she weren't in school I would commission her to make me a pair. they were perfect in the winter because

[skhill]

I've been thinking along the same lines here... The yarn for the legwarmers (or maybe stockings; I haven't decided yet) I'm planning on knitting should be here any day now! Turquoise and midnight blue stripes are what I'm planning...

I've also been thinking of cutting up an old sweat shirt from the days I was 50pounds heavier to make arm-warmers. Or maybe a bolero. We'll see... The thing is, these days I'm spending so much time on my bike that I don't sit down at the sewing machine very often.

Let me know how your experiments go!

[PamNY]

I'm definitely going to try to make arm warmers. I have tons of fleece, or I may use some old sweaters. I accidentally shrank some merino sweaters from the thrift shop and could use the sleeves from those.

I'll probably order gripper elastic online. Will report back results, even if they are comical in nature. You just never know with my sewing projects.

pam

[Red Rock]

Good luck on your kniting adventure. I have been thinking about doing the same thing. It will be neat to see your creations. If you saw the thread on my pumpkin, I had a few disasters before I was able to get it going correctly.

Red Rock

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I accidentally shrank some merino sweaters from the thrift shop...

AAGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

[MomOnBike]

I made a couple of pair of arm warmers. It was comically simple:

1) Go to cloth store and buy material. Knit, synthetic, warmish is what I got, though fuzzy would work, as well. I got (I think) 1 1/4 yards

2) Measure upper arm, wrist, and length of arm around a bent elbow. Add about an inch to the length measurement. You might consider writing these numbers down.

3) Draw a rectangle to those measurements directly on the fabric & cut out. Because the material is stretchy, you don't need to add ease.

4) Sew the long seam. (Serger, just shave the edges.)

5) Hem as pleases your fancy. You can slap some sport elastic on the top at this point, too. I did one pair with and one without, and they both work - but I ride a recumbent and my arms are up so gravity isn't pulling them down.

6) Pull 'em on and go for a ride. (Hey! They fit ME!)

Try it, you'll surprise yourself.

[DebW]

I cut the toes out of a pair of long socks and used them as arm warmers.

[newfsmith]

I cut the toes out of a pair of long socks and used them as arm warmers.

Me too.

[Cataboo]

My Mom rules.

I've been reading this thread and thinking about it and my Mom frequents the local thrift store, so I asked her to buy me a few wool sweaters if she saw them.

And she promptly gave me a lecture all about how I buy too much and don't need any more clothes.

So I say "No, I wanna cut them up and make arm warmers!"

And she's going "arm warmers???? " and I'm explaining they're leg warmers for the arm...

So she rushes off to the thrift store and buys... 4 wool sweaters for me!

And gets her arm & leg warmer production facility under way... She cut the arms off to make me arm warmers, and cut up the bodies to make me leg warmers.

So, they're kinda cute and they'll definitely work... My bf said "You're not seriously going to wear those are you???" And I said "My Mommy made them, of course I will... Are you not going to be seen with me?" So it looks like I'm cycling alone this winter...

But here they are in all their glory - and you should notice that she also made me a little cap & a scarf! I might tighten up some of the leg & arm warmers by sewing them closer together, but they will work. She sewed elastic in around the tops of them - but I can still take them in further.

I'm just pretty thrilled my Mom went out and did that for me.

[snapdragen]

Those are awesome Catriona!

[malkin]

Mom likes you!!!

[withm]

Wow! I really really like the red ones!

How about a close up photo of the inside so we can see how she did it?

You are very lucky to have a mother who looks out for you like that.

[SouthernBelle]

NIfty. When she cut those up, how did she stave off raveling?

[Cataboo]

I'll take pics tonight - she did a tight zig zag stitch on the edges with the sewing machine.