Thanks, Piperdbh. I'll look into the "three-step zigzag" stitches, though I only hand sew.

Just in case it wasn't clear, I was talking about cutting the leg tops off of one pair of socks, then using them for the cuffs on another, uncut pair of socks that were tall like soccer socks. Kind of sounds like we're thinking of it a little differently. That's ok, I don't explain things very well.