What to do with your old tights...

I made this amazing discovery. I guess I should have known for a while, considering how many pairs of tights I have! But here it is:

Me wearing my gorgeous creation (it's the black shrug I'm talking about.)

This is a pair of black tights I loved. They were so soft and the waistband isn't the harsh elastic, it's a nice stretchy mesh. When I was pulling them on one time, my thumb went right through the leg. The hole started running down the leg. I recently sealed the hole with clear nail polish (tip! clear nail polish will stop runs in your tights!), but I couldn't keep wearing them!

I Googled "what to do with old tights" and came to this ballet blog, where dancers were asking the same question. Many came back to the same thing - make a ballet warm up shirt

How To: Wash your tights first. Now take your tights, cut a small slit about 5-6 inches long through the crotch area (or if your tights have the little extra padded area in the crotch, just cut that out), cut off the seams of the feet (or the whole foot, if your tights have built in heels, or use footless tights!), and if your tights have one of those tight, uncomfortable waistbands, you can snip that off too. Then seal the seam in the crotch area where you cut it off and the tips of the two "shoulders" with clear nail polish. You're done! Stick your head through both the waistband and the now-open crotch, put your arms through the legs (sleeves), and you have yourself a lovely ballet warm-up!

I'm now thinking of doing this same thing with a pair of hot pink or green tights...how cute would that be over a plain black leotard and tights? Have fun!