anytime i can reuse or repurpose something from my “give-away” pile i get excited.  the last sweater i snipped apart and turned into a pillow turned out to be a hot mess.  however, the leg warmers my mom and i sewed from old sweaters and scarves last week turned out adorable.  the best part is that in the cold & damp seattle weather tilly is getting lots of use out of them!

the supply list is pretty simple…  if you are interested in making your own {and i recommend it}, you will need:  good scissors, ruler, elastic, old sweaters and scarves, a baby leg or leg warmer from you child’s closet, & a sewing machine.

 1. MEASURE & CUT: first you will want to decide what part of the garment you would like to use that includes a finished edge {i.e. cuff or bottom of sweater} to keep as the bottom of the leg warmer.  for this tutorial, we used the sleeve of a sweater.  then we laid one of tilly’s baby legs over the sweater and cut to the appropriate length.  if you don’t have an existing leg warmer to reference you can cut to desired size.  ours measured 7.5 inches wide and 11.5 inches long.

2.  MARK WIDTH:  next, we turned the sleeve inside out and marked the width where we wanted to sew.

3. SEW, using a zig-zag stitch along the line you marked.

4.  TRIM, the excess fabric.

5. CUT ELASTIC: measure your elastic so it’s the same length as the circumference of the top of your leg warmer.  it’s also a good idea to measure the width of your little one’s calf if it’s handy.

6. SEW: overlap the edges of your elastic just a bit and sew using a sig-zag stitch.

7, 8. TURN & SEW:  turn your leg warmer right side out and place the sewn elastic inside the top, fold the raw edge over the top of the elastic and sew all the way around the inside of the warmer using a zig-zag stitch.

9.  EMBELLISH: now, you can either leave things sweet and simple or do some embellishing.  for the white leg warmers we cut strips from the same scarf, sewed along the raw edges {to keep from unraveling}, placed one end on the inside of the warmer and the other end on the outside then sewed all three layers in place with buttons.  the blue pair incorporated a pocket from the sweater and jersey knit {stretchy t-shirtish fabric} ties.  to add ties to your legging, cut a strip to the desired length, stitch down the center of the strip to the leg warmer and then tie in a knot.

for the last pair we cut a strip of felt about 6 inches long, ruffled it and sewed to the top of the leg warmer along the hem.  the ruffle also looks darling along the bottom of the leg warmer.  to ruffle sew a running stitch along the center of the fabric, pull the thread so the material ruffles and tie a knot so it stays.

cheers to cozy legs!  be sure to let me know if you have any questions or appreciate the toot.

if you prefer pillows to leg warmers, check out emily’s helpful tutorial.

xo . rae

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 the only time of year i can get away with dressing our sweet boys in hearts is around valentine’s day.  this year i wanted to take full advantage {without going overboard} and settled on a simple line-drawn heart and arrow to paint on one of griffin’s onesies.  since getting over my fear that i might totally ruin a perfectly fine t-shirt, fabric ink has become one of my favorite crafting supplies.

to make the onesie, i gathered a few things:  two paint brushes {fine tip and really fine tip}, fabric paint {specifically, water-based screen printing paint}, heavy card stock {cardboard works too} + shirt to paint.

sketch your drawing on the card stock or cardboard or download my sketch here.  the drawing is small, but you can adjust the scale in your printer settings.

first, place your card stock or cardboard inside your t-shirt and position to your liking.  then start painting fallowing the outline of your template!

don’t nitpick over the little things….  you won’t even notice once the shirt is being worn.  also, be sure and read the instructions that come with your paint.  the one i used says to wait 24 hours to dry and then set with a warm iron before washing.

if you have any fun valentine tutorials to share {that you’ve done or seen}, please paste the link in the comments!

xo . rae

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We love our kids, but we also love our sanity!

Show ARMOMMY why YOU….. deserve a night out by uploading an image and sending your friends to vote for you!

Winner gets $200 to use for a night out to help buy their sanity back.  {i.e. retail therapy, mani-pedi, uninterrupted dinner, adult conversation, etc.}.

Contest  is open right NOW + closes the 12th. Visit our facebook page to sign up:facebook.com/ARMOMMY?sk=app_255558194495800

ARMOMMY will select a winner from the images submitted that have the most votes and announce the winner on or before the 28th on our blog.
{ armommy.com/blog }

good L U C K !

xo . jane, rae + mark {the man behind the camera + my kid’s totally rad uncle}

ps – some image idea: mountain of laundry, the kids in meltdown mode or sweet and energetic, the alarm clock at a ridiculous hour, …  you get the idea and probably already have something saved on your computer!

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