Winter has crept up on us again and I’ve been working on this new pattern. I wanted to have a version of the Hooded Baby Sleeping Bag Pattern that could be adapted to become a foot-muff (leg warmer for a pushchair if you’re not from the UK). This way I have something for the new-born babies up until they’re about 18 months old as this pattern will be suitable for a 12 – 18 month old baby.
As you may have noticed in the title of this pattern the actual foot-muff is lined with fleece to make it extra cosy. Now, although this stage is entirely optional, if you would like to complete the pattern with the fleece lining it will require a little bit of sewing. Don’t worry you don’t need to be a whizz at tailoring or anything fancy like that you just need to know how to sew one piece of fabric to another: simple!
Before you get on to actually making the foot-muff for the lucky little one I will run through what skills you will need plus the tools and materials to get the job done. There will also be further resources and videos to help you along if you don’t know how to do a certain technique. To get you started hop on over to my Etsy store and purchase the pattern real quick and then come back and we’ll talk about the rest.
Here is a link to the pattern for you to purchase:
Fleece Lined Knitted Baby Foot-Muff Pattern
Skills Required
This pattern is aimed at knitters with an intermediate level of understanding (although beginner knitters can follow along with the extra resources) and a basic level of sewing. Below you will find a list of the types of stitches you will need to know in order to work through this pattern:
- Basic stitches: knit and purl
- Shaping stitches(decrease & increase): knit two together (k2tog) and make one stitch
- Cable stitches: braided cable
- Button-holes
- Basic sewing: sewing on buttons, sewing fleece lining to knitted fabric
The couple of techniques that I know most newer knitters will struggle with will be the braided cable stitch and the button-holes. If you have done cables before then the braided cable is just a variation and the instructions in the digital download will do you just fine. However, if you have not come across cable at all just yet then I have a dedicated article all about How To Knit The Braided Cable Stitch and I will guide you through all that you need to know.
Button-holes are a different beast to tame as there are so many ways of doing them that it can see quite daunting. If you have your own method of making button-holes then you can easily substitute them into the pattern and then carry on as normal. If button-holes are completely new to you as well do not fret as I have a favourite video I like to share with my knitting students via YouTube from KnittingVortex. The video below explains how to do a two stitch button-hole however in the pattern we will actually be doing a larger button-hole. Once you know the theory and technique behind making a button-hole then the pattern will make sense and you’ll be absolutely great at making button-holes from now on.
Tools & Materials
You will need the standard knitting materials which I will list below but you may also need a sewing machine if you don’t want to sew the fleece lining together with the knitted fabric by hand. Just below you will be able to see a range of sewing machines if you don’t have one already (I used my trusty old Traditional Singer Sewing Machine to get the job done).
- 4 & 5 mm needles: I used my Addi Turbo Straight 14″ needles but circular needles work just as well
- Aran weight yarn:
- 6 – 8 buttons approximately 20 – 25 mm in diameter
- Fleece lining: order at least 17 x 47″ to allow for error
- Peripherals: tapestry needle, measuring tape, scissors
If you have any further questions then please contact me and I’d be more than happy to help. If you like this article then please share via social media so that others can see it too.