Transforming old sweaters into snuggly leggings

A friendly permie I know, mentioned to me at some point, that she had made leggings out of Charity Shop/Cast off Sweaters. This winter I was reading a book and it also mentioned the concept. If they can do it, I figured I could figure it out somehow....

First off, the book suggested you needed 2 sweaters to make one pair of leggings. My friend suggested you just need a *really* big sweater.

The factors are:
1. The size of the sweater - men's 3X is recommended, best if they don't have either inset or raglan sleeves.
2. The size of the human - luckily I'm on the small size!
3. The willingness of the seamstress to be creative with piecing bits together.
4. The stretchiness of the sweater in question.

The odds of me finding a 3X sweater are remote in my area - we just don't have many noticeably huge people around. A friend found me an extra large Acrylic/cotton waffle knit grey sweater which was used for my first attempt, but I'm going to post my second attempt first - reasons...

I found a lovely 100% cotton nearly new Extra Large Jersey knit shirt for $4 Canadian at my local Charity Shop. Deep red with grey and navy stripes. I am soooo... tired of boring coloured farm clothes, so I was determined to make it work!



Since this shirt was going to be only marginally large enough, I wanted to unpick the seams rather than cut them off. To do this quickly and efficiently, I really needed 3 hands. Voila - my spring clamp and a little spring clip with a hook on it became my third hand:


It allowed me to pull gently with my left hand, and slide my stitch ripper easily through the stitching.

I'm not a big leggings wearer. I don't like that they sit on my hips rather than at my waist, and the only pair I still own, is really just not the right shape. I do have patterns for pants, but most of my pants are on the baggy side - too baggy for leggings. I needed to do significant pattern adapting. Luckily, I have a friend who owns a construction company who's happy to give me the odd blueprint sheet for pattern making. Seriously a great resource for this purpose. I took some key measurements and was a little concerned. The "Front" width was an extra small child size. The "Back" width needed at least an extra large teen size. Mashing those two together was going to be interesting, but I was honestly not surprised. I'm just not your "average" sized human - as if there really is such a thing! Despite my best efforts, it ended up a bit high at the front, a bit low at the back, and still a little tight across the butt. I made some notes on my pattern pieces.

Aside: I have started notating on my patterns what I made, what year, and how successful it was. This is *really* helpful 4 years later when I decide to make another version of the same.

So here's the front. Two fronts fit just barely on the front of the shirt.



Two backs had no hope of fitting on the back of the shirt. I needed to piece. The ruler is marking the mid-point.


I hadn't made life easy on myself - some random design rather than stripes would have made this build a little less stressful. I absolutely was not going to be able to match the stripes in all locations, but I could at least try my best to make it look good. I used a mostly red piece to attach where the crotch of the back needed more fabric. I sewed the piece on first, then cut out the back from my pattern as I figured that would work the best over-all.



I didn't include a picture, but I also managed to squeeze out enough fabric for a single decent pocket inset in the side seam. It doesn't sit exactly right, so it will need a little trouble shooting, but I have a personal vendetta against pants without a functional pocket!

I stitched up the side seams and inside leg seams, then pinned the "arm" to each "leg" and stitched them together.


That part worked quite well. The length from the ex-sleeve cuff to the crotch is just about right. Jersey isn't as stretchy as some materials would are, so compromises had to be made.

Then I stitched up the front/crotch/back doing my best to keep those darn stripes lined up (yes, I'm my own worst enemy, but red is pretty!!!)



After a quick fitting, I decided to trim a tiny bit at the front seam, then I sewed a strip to the top all the way around, and folded it down to the inside to make a casing for a string. Yes, not very permie, but I just love those plastic spring toggles whatever they're called that allow me to adjust the string quickly and easily. They last a very long time, and most of the ones I use come to me second hand from friends whose coats wore out.


The bulge on my right side is the pocket - I'm sure I can fix the problem, but I'm better to think about it for a while.


The looseness visible around the knee area is essential for when I'm wearing these leggings under my farm wind pants and doing all the bending and kneeling and chicken catching that goes with the daily fun I get up to. The fit around my butt is a smidge tight, but not so bad that I'm worried I'll split seams. I will change the pattern just a little if I make another pair.

There was *no* way with the limited material I had, that I could have matched any part of the side seams. Patterns always tell you to buy extra material if you have to match a pattern. Too bad! I couldn't have matched the whole side anyway, due to my unique body ratio.

Of course, just as I got these finished, the weather flipped back to "cold", so these haven't had a full testing yet. The idea was to have something lighter but comfortable to wear under my wind pants, that would look fine to wear in the house in front of family when I come in for lunch. They could also be used under regular pants as "long underwear" if I need more warmth. They would be comfy enough to be pajama pants if I need a pair.

Overall, I consider this project a significant success. If I can score a seriously oversized soft wool sweater to make a woolen version, I'd do so in a heart beat, and having done this version already, I wouldn't be scared of making a mistake. So much of our Thrift shop/Charity shop clothing ends up being shipped overseas because no one buys it, that finding ways to upcycle and repurpose clothing close to home is one way to help the environment. I'd prefer that people didn't buy so much clothing and discard it so easily, but I can't change the world - yet.

What do you think, fellow permies? Could you make a pair and post your picture below?

Beautiful work Ms Jay!!! :D

It's possible I'm the friendly permie who Jay remembers making sweater pants!
As I type this right now I'm wearing these:


I have another set I'm working on, haven't had sewing time.
Will post it here when I do it!

I had another set I started, that I gave up on, raglan sleeves LOOK like they'd work well, but ooooh, that's a pain in the tail.


Edit: one of my previous posts mentioning the ones I'm wearing
https://permies.com/t/40/92062/ungarbage/Upcycling-clothes#1052831

These are great! I never get the chance anymore to go thrifting, so I've been shopping my own house. Not a terrible thing, because when I find goodies, they don't cost me anything, so transformations only cost, when I have to buy notions, like thread. My hubby is one of those 3x guys, and I'll occasionally abscond with one of his old shirts - but he's not a sweater guy. His are almost entirely dress shirts or t-shirts. I think next time we go out, I'm going to give him the stink eye, until he relents, and stops. Orrrr.... I have some really nice quality things that I never wear, and thought to take to the local charity shop! We HAVE to go! Muahahahahahaaa!!! Wish me luck!

I have four pairs of woolly leggings in various states of repair, all made from men's L or XL wool pullovers from charity shops.  Two of them are outer wear (I will wear them with skirts) and the others are pjs only (not to be shown in public!).  

I sort of improvise to make them:  the sleeves I detach and reattach to the shoulders the opposite way (as though the sweater is holding its arms above its head).  

Then I cut away the neck and into the body until the legs are long enough for me (with the arms-up sweater, it will now have a V shape going to about the middle of its chest).  

I fold over and sew down the sweater waistband and insert a wide piece of elastic for my waist.  

Then finally I add a gusset to that open V-shape in what is now the crotch.  The gussett will generally be diamondish shape, and will often--but not always--be made of a piece from a different sweater.  It's best to cut a generous gusset to allow freedom of movement and like the rest of the make, I just sort of wing it.

One note however, is they require regular maintenance!  They are subject to more wear and tear than sweaters are, and get runs and holes frequently;  I get sick of darning them.  So much that I am contemplating knitting myself a few pairs of leggings from commercial sock yarn instead, which is much harder wearing.  But maybe not as cosy

I'm giggling when I saw this tread; 5 years ago I sew 3 pairs of leggings for a class project in upcycling clothing.
I found the best sizes  are men's, for  Big & Tall  (purchased at second hand shops)  as sweaters/sweatshirts already have extra long sleeves, which helps in eliminating too many  uncomfortable seams when joining shorter pieces of fabric.

Jay, thank you so much for sharing this. I love leggings in cold weather, when I always wear them under skirts. But they are pricey (for me) so your idea is a brilliant alternative.

SWANTS!!!  I made my son who lives in Minneapolis  2 pairs a few years back and he loved them!  I used these guys directions and thrifty wool sweaters as large as I could find em.  I wish I had a pic of him in them!
https://laughingsquid.com/how-to-transform-woolly-sweaters-into-sassy-pants-called-swants/

It's a good idea. I'll think of it if I find an extra (extra) large sweater (in good condition) at the thrift store.
Until then I wear Dilling organic merino wool leggings. They are nice and warm, but expensive and not very sturdy ...

Oops ... Now I see we completely went off-topic in this thread! The subject was: making leggings out of sweaters!
I hope I'll find an extra-extra-large sweater soon, so I have something to show here

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:The subject was: making leggings out of sweaters!
I hope I'll find an extra-extra-large sweater soon, so I have something to show here

Yes - emphasis on the extra-extra or even extra-extra-extra, or 2 sweaters in complementary colours.

I only had access to "extra-Large". That meant that I had to do a lot of extra piecing. The striped one above, I based on a commercial pattern and practiced the skill of piecing the fabric to enable me to use the fabric efficiently. I barely got a fitting pair out, and I'm on the small size. However, I have been using them as intended this spring.

I had actually tried an earlier experiment with a sweater a friend got me.  That was when I was still experimenting with the gusset system, and lack of experience led to a bunch of alterations, one of which resulted in the back looking totally weird. However, they are actually comfortable and useful, so I'll show you some pictures:

Again, I was starting with "extra-large" which really means "not large enough"!


Despite shifting the shape of the gusset in a way that I *thought* would work, I was wrong, and trying to take things apart to fix the problem would have been a real struggle due to the material.



So the gusset concept is not wrong, but my body shape is atypical and I need to keep working on getting enough fabric from the center crotch to the center back above the pelvis. For my size, I need a lot of fabric length compared to other areas.



The results are not pretty, but they are functional. If I was wearing them under something like a skirt, no one would see any of the issues. The waist has a draw-string added, as the stretch of the material is not sufficient to keep the waist positioned where I want it on its own.

Jay, What a neat idea.  I'm going to pass this on to my better half (wife). As I've gotten older it's not easy to stay warm during Michigan's winter.  The long John's you buy seem to get cheaper made.  Getting sweaters here at our local Goodwill store is pretty easy and Renee sews and knits so ...  Jeff

Jeffrey Loucks wrote:... As I've gotten older it's not easy to stay warm during Michigan's winter.  The long John's you buy seem to get cheaper made.  Getting sweaters here at our local Goodwill store is pretty easy and Renee sews and knits so ...  

Excellent Jeff - if your wife enjoys knitting, it opens up more possibilities. If you need a bit of length added in key spots,  would she be able to knit "extensions" to the commercial sweater bits? Mechanical knitting seems to use finer wool generally, but it would be an interesting experiment?  If she decides to tackle this, please post pictures!

As a knitter I even think of knitting a pair of leggings, or 'sweat pants' for myself. That's the only way I can have it made of 100% wool.
Second hand sweaters here are very rarely made of wool. Most are cotton with polyester ...

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:As a knitter I even think of knitting a pair of leggings, or 'sweat pants' for myself. That's the only way I can have it made of 100% wool.
Second hand sweaters here are very rarely made of wool. Most are cotton with polyester ...

I agree, Inge! I'm not really a knitter (I have & can, but it's been so long I'd need a refresher), but it's one of the few forms I don't enjoy, and MUCH prefer natural fibers. In fact, I'm desperately trying to eliminate all incoming plastic, but would love some of these, in wool, or other natural fabrics. I wonder if anyone has any tips where to find resale/thrift/ charity places where the chances of finding natural fibers is higher... or, how to find out fiber content, on items without tags, before even buying them? I know there's the burn tests, but you can't just go around lighting other people's belongings on fire, and buying them before testing kind of defeats the purpose. But, I'd love to find sweaters in natural fibers, so I can make some, too.

Carla, these look fantastic to me.  I am also small and long-waisted. When I asked a friend who not only sews but makes her own patterns to turn a smartwool top into leggings to give me a "pattern", it turned out truly funky.  No extension to the sleeves left me with sweatpants with form-fitting lower legs, a crotch barely above the knees, and a baggy seat!.  
Please, could you provide more details on the pattern? Maybe just sketches of the pieces you cut and how they go together? I think those look rad!

Thank you,
Freyda

Freyda, did you mean "Jay"? And do you want the pattern for the red striped ones in the very first post, or the grey waffle knit ones in this post:
grey waffle

If you're interested in trying the grey waffle ones which use a gusset system, start by reading posts about the red and black pants I made over on the "clothing made out of rectangles" thread here: red plaid pants paying specific attention to how the pants and other posts in that thread, use triangular gussets to accommodate human shape and movement while using fabric that is predominantly rectangular.

There are problems with giving you a "pattern":
1. it will be different based on the sweater - both size and stretchiness. The red striped leggings are a cotton jersey and the arms were quite snug on my lower legs, but not sooo.. tight as to be uncomfortable. I added width to the area of the upper thigh. The waffle knit pretty much droops! But they both work!
2. second, this will have to be very specific to your body, so ultimately, you'd have to be willing to post some of your body measurements - particularly the inner thigh from the crotch to your ankle, and the measure from the center crotch to the base of the spine (natural waist)
3. you'd have to be prepared to "fit as you go". I had *really* thought I was allowing enough fabric from the crotch to the low back, but on all of the pants I've made using these new techniques, I've ended up having to use rhomboid waist bands that are wider at the center back and narrower at the front. The difference isn't particularly noticeable when I'm wearing them - just a couple of centimeters - but it allows me to kneel in the garden or grab a wayward duckling without feeling that the pants are binding.

There are websites that do "sew-alongs" and I am totally prepared to do a sew-along with you on this thread advising/showing each step as you go. I give no guarantees as to the final outcome, but I will give support and encouragement, as will many other permies, and at least I've successfully done this in the real world with functional results.

Freyda Black wrote:C When I asked a friend who not only sews but makes her own patterns to turn a smartwool top into leggings to give me a "pattern", it turned out truly funky.  No extension to the sleeves left me with sweatpants with form-fitting lower legs, a crotch barely above the knees, and a baggy seat!.  

Do you want to try to "repair" this existing pair? Do you have fabric you could use for a gusset under the crotch area that would compliment the existing material? If so, take a picture of them flat on the floor and give a measurement from the top of the sleeve portion to the center of your crotch. My brain is thinking they could be fixable, and there are others following this thread who could well pitch in with advice also. Teamwork is great!

Jay Angler wrote:

Freyda Black wrote:C When I asked a friend who not only sews but makes her own patterns to turn a smartwool top into leggings to give me a "pattern", it turned out truly funky.  No extension to the sleeves left me with sweatpants with form-fitting lower legs, a crotch barely above the knees, and a baggy seat!.  

Do you want to try to "repair" this existing pair? Do you have fabric you could use for a gusset under the crotch area that would compliment the existing material? If so, take a picture of them flat on the floor and give a measurement from the top of the sleeve portion to the center of your crotch. My brain is thinking they could be fixable, and there are others following this thread who could well pitch in with advice also. Teamwork is great!

Thank you for the kind offer but I don't think it is worth fixing them.  The wool is falling apart with holes and very thin.  They are good enough as is for sleeping in. I would much rather put my energy into making new ones with better sweaters!

This thread got sorted through, and it has two daughter threads now, one on how to DO nalbinding

How to get started in nålbinding projects

And one called What does the word nålbinding mean?

If your post is missing, you'll find it in one or the other of those threads!

We return you now to leggings made of sweaters!

Jay Angler wrote:
2. second, this will have to be very specific to your body, so ultimately, you'd have to be willing to post some of your body measurements - particularly the inner thigh from the crotch to your ankle, and the measure from the center crotch to the base of the spine (natural waist)
3. you'd have to be prepared to "fit as you go". I had *really* thought I was allowing enough fabric from the crotch to the low back, but on all of the pants I've made using these new techniques, I've ended up having to use rhomboid waist bands that are wider at the center back and narrower at the front. The difference isn't particularly noticeable when I'm wearing them - just a couple of centimeters - but it allows me to kneel in the garden or grab a wayward duckling without feeling that the pants are binding.

There are websites that do "sew-alongs" and I am totally prepared to do a sew-along with you on this thread advising/showing each step as you go. I give no guarantees as to the final outcome, but I will give support and encouragement, as will many other permies, and at least I've successfully done this in the real world with functional results.

Thank you so much for the offer to do a "sew-along" with me on Permies! You are very generous.
I'd love to do it, and I don't have any problem with sharing measurements, photos, fit as I go, etc.  But as you know, this is the busiest season on the farm, for both of us.  How about we reconvene in October when things are slowing down and it's the right weather to make this project?
I still haven't figured out how to find someone on the Purple Mooseage page, but I guess I can just post a request on this thread again if I haven't figured it out by then.

Freyda Black wrote:  How about we reconvene in October when things are slowing down and it's the right weather to make this project?

Excellent! Maybe by then, Carla Burke will have found a sweater/sweaters to use +/- other permies who've expressed an interest. No need to PM - just post to this thread, as my offer was intended to be done here on the thread so many people can learn from our time and effort.

And it's October, and it's getting cold here! I have a half made pair of leggings out of a dark blue cotton sweater that I need to get back to. But due to health stuff I have gained some weight, wonder if they still fit? One of these days I'll dig them out to find out, if not I have another sweater waiting it the wings to be sacrificed.
:D

Pearl Sutton wrote:And it's October, and it's getting cold here!

It's not sooo... cold here, but it's turned cloudy and rainy. I wore my waffle pair today under my rain pants. It wasn't too bad in the morning, but this afternoon after shoveling finished compost into buckets then rushing to the field to move our portable chicken shelters with Hubby, I was getting a bit warm.

In other words, it's nice to have a selection you can choose from of different weights and materials. I'm keeping my eyes out for wool! In this neighborhood, I won't hold my breath, but I'm due to travel to Ontario to help relatives in 1-2 months, and I may have better luck there.