Shorts from Leggings

I remember when my daughter was little and most, if not all, of her little dresses came with little matching bloomers and even when one of the dresses didn't, I could always find a plain white or pink one from another dress and use that.

At a certain point, though, I guess dress makers decide enough is enough and moms are on their own.

I found this site that sells shorts specifically designed to be worn under dresses and thought that was a really neat idea, but wasn't ready to spend $16 a piece on them.

So I decided to put my sewing skills to good use and make my own.

I made the first pair this last winter out of a pair of black leggings and they worked so well that I just got finished making six more.

First, I gathered up leggings in her size. Some of the pairs were given to us as hand-me-downs and actually had a couple of holes in the knees so this was perfect. Others were worn this last winter and I decided to just go ahead and get maximum use out of them by cutting them up since she probably won't be in the same size next winter. The black and brown ones I actually went to a consignment store with the intent of buying cheap leggings to make into shorts because I have found that you can't have enough black or brown shorts.

Then I basically just cut the legs off of leggings and hemmed them. Except I don't really know how to hem so I just folded the bottoms, pinned, and sewed two lines. It works well enough for wearing under a dress.

And since every sewing project (at least for a beginner) should have a lesson learned, here's today's: Cheap thread. Not worth it.

So frustrating.

Oh, well, I made it through and we should be set for the summer into the fall.

And I did go ahead and keep the legs from the leggings and I'll let you know if I decide to make homemade babylegs and how that goes.