Hybrid Longies

When I was trying to sew diaper covers I came across this wonderful idea for making longies. You take a cheap consignment store sweater and shrink it in the wash. Then you cut off the arms, sew them together and put elastic in it. Voila! Longies for your baby.

Well... I did that once, before I ran out of time to really sew for long stretches (you know, when the baby arrived). Plus, the sweaters shrink in their own way and the arms that are left aren't always long enough to make legs and fold over the top for elastic.

So I got to thinking, why don't I just sew up the crotch seam on what I've got and then come back with a knitted waistband to backstitch on? And that is precisely what I did. (I mean, I could have picked up stitches from the shrunken sweater arms, but I figured it would have a stretchier waist if went top-down).


Here you can see most of the waist treatment.



I did make them a little bit long, but they're easy to fold up at the bottom.



It's the best of both worlds: fast sewing, quick knitting, and cuter than cute on top of it. Not all sweaters end up looking like tights (my boy's gonna be a dancer! hehe). But the variability is of course part of the fun.