Leg Warmers and Mittens: Another Tutorial

A few days before our family photo shoot it became clear to me that the forecast called for COLD.

I scrambled to come up with warm outfits.

Mitts, scarves and leg warmers came to mind as cute accessories but my trip to the mall proved to be unsuccessful.

I don't like NO for an answer so I became determined to find/make/borrow matching knits.

First stop?

Thrift stores.

I bought 4 old sweaters that fit my color scheme.

To make these orange leg warmers, I simply cut the arms off an orange sweater.

It was a boys size7.

I did the same for the turquoise leg warmers.

This sweater was a girls size 4

{Cuteness alert!}

I didn't even finish the cut edges.

I originally planned for these leg warmers to be worn tucked into boots but they look pretty cute this way too!!

See my high tech, well-planned crafting?

I laid the sweater out flat and cut the arms off.

It's that simple!

Snip your way to cuteness!

If you want to finish your leg warmers properly, I just found THIS great tutorial over at Made By Lex.

The mitten project was not as successful.

I used my "wing-it" approach and cut around each kids' hand.

{I used the body portions of the sweaters}

I did not leave enough room for sewing and I did not give any thought to the thumb placement.

Look how funny they turned out up close!

If I were to make mittens again, I would use a tutorial by someone else.

I found THIS fabulous one today at Five Green Acres.

This black and white sweater was purchased to be made into mittens as well.

It came with shoulder pads.

rad.

 Mikayla tried it on and it was no longer an option to cut it up!

{we did pull the shoulder pads out}

I gotta say, some of my projects don't quite go as planned, but they are always opportunities to learn something for next time.

In the end, the mittens helped to keep my kiddos' hands warm and they looked fantastic in the photos.

They went in the "garbagio"(as we call it at home) after the photo shoot.

 We kept the leg warmers and have gotten a lot of use out of them.

Such a great pop of color!

I hope my randomness inspires some new creativity for you:)