Rock, Paper, Scissors - Sock Monkey

June 11, 2009

I also have this deep, driving need to do something with everything that has exceeded its regular life, like socks. But socks are a problem here in beautiful Santa Barbara because we don’t usually wear them. In fact, wearing socks has become somewhat de rigeur. I have friends who don’t even wear socks under their boots - wouldn’t want to whiff that closet.

Anyway, I tire of my sock drawer laying unloved and unused, so here’s how to make a sock monkey and give an old pair a new lease on life.

Note: If you have wool socks, wash them in hot water and shrink them. Shrunk socks make great sock monkeys. If you have white athletic socks, use them to clean your windows, because they make sick looking albino sock monkeys.

1. Flatten one sock so the heel faces up (no bends), see “Sock 1 Figure A.”
2. Cut from the rib to 1” from the heel. See “Sock 1 Figure B.” These are the legs.
3. Take the other sock “Sock 2 Figure A” and
•    cut down the rib to the heel to make arms. I like long arms
•    cut off the toe to make the nose
•    cut out a tail, ears, a hat, anything else you want your monkey to have

4. Turn the body inside out. Sew the leg seams. Leave a hole in the crotch. Turn right side out and stuff the body. You can stuff the legs or not. Sew the crotch closed.

5. Figure out where the neck will be. Tie a string around it. This defines the head.

6. Fold arm pieces right sides together and sew them. Stuff or not. Attach to body at shoulders (unless you want the arms somewhere else).

7. Stuff and sew on the nose, ears, and tail embroider a mouth (or use fabric paint).

8. Sew buttons for eyes.

9. You’re done.

10. WHEW!

Recent Comments [2]

Yup... "I meant what I said. I said what I meant." Thank you so much for checking out this post! Happy Friday. Great article, but your use of "de rigeur" is exactly backwards - unless you meant to say "not wearing socks is de rigeur."

Crusade Against the Mundane