My latest recycling project. I've been planning on making hosen for my Landsknecht outfit and until recently haven't been sure how I would do it. I was thinking about bias cut linen, but they always sag and look funny. I like the look of knit hose, but I'm not proficient enough to knit hose in the time I have for this project. Solution... Thrift Store Junkie hits the road. I came across the following two women's shirts at Salvation Army. Made of 100% cotton and a similar pattern knit. I planned on slicing these into strips and assembling them into the hose. To see how they would look/feel I took the sleeve of one shirt and slipped it onto my calf. Not the way most people try on a shirt at the store I'm sure. I get a lot of strange looks from the women in the department wondering why I am even IN their area. Oh well. These looked pretty good so I got them.
Started by slicing them into even strips. Slow going process. Used small scissors to slice right along the knit line. Since these were both similar knit I was able to simply count the number of rows and follow that row all the way down. Each strip is about one inch wide.
Still nervous about spending a lot of time on something that may not work I stiched and stretched to see how it would look. After three strips attached I liked the look enough to charge ahead. Using a series of back stitches to ensure that the seam would hold, but still stretch a little vertically. Works pretty well.
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Assembled 10 strips together but before the final closure I pinned the opening closed to get an idea of the fit. The following pics are of the inside. I pinned them with the seam on the outside so it looks a little rough. Was just looking for a rough idea of the number of strips. Looks like 5 black and 5 green will do the trick. Wanted it tight enough around the calf but not too baggy at the ankle. I will have garters to hold the hose up as well. I will perhaps come back in and tighten the seam up a little bit around the ankle when these are done. Even if I don't the tightness around the ankle seems OK.
