Some of our footed baby tights got too small, with the crotch creaping down to the knees, so I decided to cut the toe off, add stretch lace to the ankle and have tights for spring!

I remember having the stirrup leggings in the 80s as a kid, but unfortunately the pants were never long enough, but I would still try to wear the cool stirrup with two pairs of neon socks on top.  I would spend the day babysitting my leggings as they were too short and the crotch would keep working their way to mid-thigh.  My mom cut off the stirrups and then the leggings were floods.  So I remember her sewing lace on the ankles and loving them once they were sort of long enough.  So these are inspired by my 80s childhood and the fashion dilemmas of girls with stork legs.

MATERIALS:

tights that are too small

10" stretch lace (found in trim section)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cut off the toe of the tights and cut the stretch lace in two 5" pieces. 

Fold lace in half and sew raw edge together with scant 1/8" seam allowance.

Use a baby zig-zag (.5 length and 1.0 width) or a stretch stitch.

Mark half point opposite side seam and pin to half marks on tights.  

Overlap the lace 1/4" on top of the right side of the tights.

Sewing on the inside of the tights, carefully work your way around the opening.

Use the same zig-zag/ stretch stitch as this seam will have to stretch around the heel of the foot.

Repeat on other leg!