You can recycle an unused sweater into long underwear.
If you have old, unused sweaters in your closet or dresser, consider using them to make long underwear. If you are just making a long underwear top, one sweater will do; you will need three sweaters to make a full set of long underwear. The first sweater, the one used to make the top portion, can fit either snugly or loosely. At least one of the sweaters will need loose arms to form the legs for the bottoms. The third sweater provides extra fabric.
Instructions
Making a Sweater Into a Long Underwear Top
1. Turn the sweater inside out.
2. Put the inside-out sweater on. If it fits snugly you do not need to do anything else. If it fits loosely, proceed to the next step.
3. Hold your arms out and pinch the excess fabric away from your arms and sides.
4. Secure the desired seam line with safety pins. Remove the sweater.
5. Replace the safety pins with straight pins, placing the pins close enough to form a line.
6. Set the sewing machine to make a tight zigzag or other finishing stitch as you sew slowly along the pinned line. Remove the pins as you sew, and do not stretch the sweater fabric.
7. Cut off the excess fabric 1/8 inch past the new seam line. If the top is too short, cut a strip out of the body of the spare sweater to sew along the bottom of the long underwear top.
Making Sweaters Into Long Underwear Bottoms
8. Turn the loose armed sweater inside out and pull it on as if you were pulling on a pair of long underwear. It will look odd, so ignore the neck hole while you are putting it on.
9. Pinch the excess fabric from the neckline out of the way and secure the crotch area with safety pins. It will still look unusual, so just focus on fitting the part against your skin and getting the excess sweater fabric out of the way.
10. Remove the sweater and replace the safety pins with straight pins.
11. Sew a line of zigzag or any other type of finishing stitches, following the line created by the straight pins and removing the pins as you sew.
12. Cut the excess fabric off, using the scissors, 1/8 inch beyond the seam line.
13. Cut a piece of underwear elastic to fit your waist. Sew the ends together and use a zigzag stitch on the sewing machine to join it to the waistband of the long underwear.
14. Add length to the long underwear legs by cutting the sleeves off of the spare sweater. Position the loose sleeves at the bottom of the long underwear legs to add the needed length. Sew the cutoff sleeves onto the ends of the legs using a zigzag stitch on the sewing machine. Cut off the excess fabric at the seam line, using the scissors.
Tags: excess fabric, long underwear, safety pins, seam line, sewing machine, straight pins, zigzag stitch sewing