Once babies start to crawl those soft, chubby knees can become calloused, dirty, and scraped depending on the type of flooring you have. Knee pads are a great idea and there is no need to spend a lot of money on them, either.
You can use old socks and sweaters from the thrift shop to create cute, well-fitting knee protectors. It isn’t difficult at all and only takes a couple of minutes.
You will need:
- A sewing machine
- Thread
- Small wool sweater or socks
- Scissors
What you’ll do:
If you are using a wool sweater wash it in hot water and dry it in the dryer to shrink it. This is called felting. It makes the fibers in the wool clump together to create a thick, padded material. Once it is felted it will not unravel.
- Cut the sleeves off of the sweater.
- You’ll want the knee pads to generously cover the knee when it is bent so cut widths from the sleeve that are about 8 to 10 inches wide.
- If the band fits snugly over your child’s knee you are finished.
- If the band does not fit you will need to cut the sleeve open and adjust it larger or smaller by trimming or sewing on more felted wool. You could even add a wide elastic down the back of the pad, attached to each edge of the sleeve, to make it grow with your child.
If you are using socks:
Simply cut the foot off the socks and check the leg of the socks for size. Adjust as needed and sew the edges with a zig zag stitch to keep them from unraveling.
You may find that creating knee pads becomes an addiction.
photo credit: jessicafm
