Cloth-Quick Project-Leprechaun Table Legs

Last year around Halloween I came across a witch leg version of these table socks at a local store.  I immediately thought to myself “I could make those”…so I did.  But why stop at witches?  Elves have legs…Leprechauns have legs!   I decorate for St. Patrick’s Day even less than I decorate for Valentine’s Day but I couldn’t pass these up.  As you can see from the picture I chose to only “feet” the front legs of my table but if you are feeling extra festive or your table is observed from multiple sides...go crazy. 


On a side note…it kind of stinks that I have an odd number front table legs on my hall table (a Pottery Barn inspired Wood creation).  If anyone needs an extra leg…


Project Ranking
Difficulty - Easy
Frustration - Low
Makeability - 100% Worth It


Materials
*Knee-high socks, tights, or nylons
NOTE:  You will need to figure out how tall/wide your table legs are to make sure that whatever you choose is going to work.  I found my socks at JoAnn's but I used children's tights for my witch version and those worked just as great. 
*Felt
*Polyfill


The pattern pieces are in pdf form and can be found by clicking on the pattern link.  They should be to size so no resizing is necessary. There are 2 copies of the shoe pattern one may print out better than the other depending on your printer.  In all you should have 4 pattern pieces. 
Table Leg Pattern


Pattern Pieces (cut numbers below are for a single leg/shoe)
*Shoe Pattern - Cut 2 pieces
*Buckle Pattern - Cut 1 piece
*Sole Pattern - Cut 1 piece
*Heel Pattern - Cut 1 piece


Step 1: This step will depend on what kind of sock/tight you purchased.  If you have knee-high socks you will need to cut off the foot part before the heel.  Measure your table leg to see exactly how much to cut off.  If you purchased nylons or tights you will need to cut the tights in half, stitch the sides so you have a tube, and then cut off the toe part so you end up with a tube open at both ends.

  

Step 2: Cut out your felt pieces.  Remember you will need 2 of the shoe piece and 2 of the heel piece.  



Step 3: Pin one of the heel pieces as shown in the pictures below.  You will have a bit of bunching around the curve at the top of the heel.  That is fine as you will just trim off any excess later.  Line up things as best you can but don't freak-out if it is not perfect.  There is a ton a wiggle room here and things will still look great!  Sew the pieces together using a 1/8 inch seam allowance.  Trim off any over hang from the heel piece.

Step 4: Repeat with the other shoe and heel piece.  You will need to flip your shoe and heel piece so that when you put the 2 shoe/heel pieces together the shoe looks correct.  If you sew both sets exactly the same you will have 2 of the same, not a right and a left side like you need.
  
Step 5: This step is pretty difficult to describe in words.  It is not hard but I honestly think it is easier to just start pinning verses reading the instructions.  The take home message is that you will be turning the shoe inside out so you want to pin everything on the "right" sides so when you turn the right sides are out.
 
Take the 2 shoe/heel pieces and pin the black part of the heels together with the "right" sides facing each other.  Once the shoe pieces are pinned at the black part of the heel pin the sole piece onto the right sides of the shoe piece lining the round part of the sole up with the back end of the green heel parts.  The pointy part of the sole should line up where the 2 shoe/heel pieces also come together in a point. 

Pin all of the edges to each other with the exception of the top part of the shoe where the sock will go.  Leave that open!  Sew all pinned areas using a 1/8 inch seam allowance.  DO NOT turn your shoe right side out at this point.  It needs to remain inside out for the next step.

Step 6:  With the right side of your sock or tight facing out (DO NOT turn your sock inside out) stuff your sock top part down into the shoe.  Notice in the picture that the buckle design on the top of my sock is not visible, it is tucked into the shoe. Pin the bottom part of your sock to the inside top part of the shoe opening.  Sew around with a 1/8 seam allowance.

Step 7: Now for the fun part!  Reach in and pull the sock up and out of the shoe.  Reach into the sock and pull the shoe out through the sock.  You should now have a Leprechaun leg!  Using a bamboo chopstick or something else pointy push the pointy toe out.  Stuff to desired puff with Polyfill.  You will want to start with a very small amount of Polyfill and push it into the pointy toe.  If you shove a big ball of filling in it will be hard to get it into the pointy part.  You do not need to stuff the sock part.

Step 8:  Last step is to hot glue on your felt buckles.

If your table legs are really skinny and your sock seems to fall down you can always use a rubber band or a hair twindie to keep it from falling down.

Now if only we could magically make real pots of gold appear......