Making your own boot covers

I have no idea if I have this in the right section...

Has anyone done this? I've struck on the idea of making my own boot covers from socks (to protect skates from scratches and such, not for warmth). I've heard of it being done plenty of times, but have never found instructions (mostly I'm wondering how to keep the slit in the bottom of the sock from unraveling/fraying, and also any tips from anyone who's done it). I hate the lycra boot covers (plus why would i pay for boot covers when I have a zillion socks floating around? Maybe I could even use up those slightly-mismatched single socks because who would notice from far away, or the old ones that are stretched out enough at the tops to look funny on my feet but would still be tight around boot tops?) and OTB tights would be redundant (I wear regular socks and yoga pants over heavy footless tights to skate, so it'd be ridiculous to add a whole extra set of tights just to protect my boots).

Or, just for fun, has anyone made their own boot covers in other ways? I've heard of a lot of knitted and crocheted boot covers, though I'm not willing to put that much effort into it.


x-posted to skatingforums

Why don't you just switch the tights you are wearing for over the boot tights?

I converted a pair of dancer's fishnet tights into over-the-boot tights for my daughter for a show number once, but didn't have to finish the raw edges of the slit on the bottom because of the way the tights were originally constructed. If I were using regular socks, I guess I would zigzag elastic along the raw edge (slightly smaller than the opening so it would hold the boot cover down), turn the elastic over to the inside and zigzag again. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. I've made my own lycra boot covers plenty of times - I just traced around my boot on a piece of newsprint to make a pattern, cut the pattern 4 times out of lycra, stitched two pieces together with the stretch stitch on my machine, and added elastic around the bottom. I don't usually put elastic around the ankle, but you could. When you trace the boot, you should add some length at the top and bottom to allow for the hemming. I run the stretch heel-to-toe. I've also taken an old pair of boot covers apart and used that as a pattern to make more lycra ones - that lays out a little differently on the fabric.

I don't wear skating tights to skate, as I said; I wear regular socks in my skates, then a pair of heavy footless (non-skating) tights under yoga pants. So wearing OTB tights as well would be really redundant. Plus, why would I spend a bunch of money on OTB tights when I have a bunch of socks I could use for free and that would be more durable?

Well you didn't say they were non skating tights in your original post. Just trying to help....

Hey there,

Some time ago I wanted to do exactly the same thing, so I posted a message on a LiveJournal knitting community! Hope this is helpful.

For the record, I didn't end up knitting them in the end; I didn't have enough time, so I just bought my own nylon ones. But because I love adding a bit of my personality to my gear, I definitely will try one day

Stella, I didn't see an actual pattern in the knitting link you posted. Did you get one, and if so would you please share? If I'm bored this winter maybe I'll give it a try.

Okay, so I did it. It was actually pretty easy....a slit in the bottom of the sock, large amounts of Fray-chek to the edges, a couple pieces of elastic with hooks and eyes in the proper places, and voila. I decided not to finish the cut edges; I'll keep an eye on them and if they start to look fray-ish, I'll do it then.

They seem to work so far. Hopefully I'll have pics at some point in future*...

*"Some point in future" being synonymous with "whenever I get up off my lazy butt and take some"