Homemade Comforts: Sock Monkey Sew-Down

Recently, I decided to make a sock monkey for my little one at the urging of my husband. I thought I'd let you know how I did it.

You will need a pair of dress socks or tube socks in a solid or a pattern (I chose stripes), stuffing, a sewing machine, matching thread, thread in a complimenting color, a hand sewing needle, and 2 buttons (I'm sorry...I only show the first 2).

First, I looked up a pattern. I couldn't find one I really liked, so I took parts of 2 and combined them.

Then, I pinned my socks after I turned them inside out. In the first picture, the blue pins show the legs. I pinned straight across the top so I would remember to stop sewing there. In the second picture, the blue shows the tail, the yellow shows the arms and the purple shows the ears (this picture is a little bad and you can't really see the purple). I did not mark the mouth (heel), since there is no need to sew it. I simply marked where I would sew. If that doesn't work for you, take a fabric pencil and mark it off so you have sewing lines to follow. Again, I pinned straight across the arms to remind me to stop sewing there.

I sewed these pieces on the sewing machine. After that, it's all hand-stitching.

After this, I cut the pieces apart. I cut the first sock straight between the legs and stopped at the pins. Then I cut the second sock apart. You don't have to sew the mouth, so I cut the heel out. Then, I cut the arms apart and the tail and ears apart. On the feet, arms and tail, You will want to cut the square edges off so they are rounded.

Turn the pieces inside out. Stuff the body and legs. Then, sew the hole between the legs shut.

Stuff the arms, ears, and tail. Sew these pieces onto the body.

You can either sew the mouth and nose (using your complimentary thread) onto the mouth first, or you can sew the mouth on the body and then put the mouth and nose on. I stuffed the mouth after sewing it on the body and then I sewed the mouth and nose. Add your button eyes, and you're done!

If you are experienced, it should only take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I took a little longer because I felt the need to reinforce the stitches of the body pieces to the body. Something about the idea of a toddler carrying it around...