SOCK MONSTERS

Be Our Guest - Brenda Noble, aka BOBS.

My name is Bobs and I'm 52 years old.  

I have two grown-up daughters, one of whom is married and has given me four grandchildren.  I live in Aberdeenshire and have been dabbling in crafts almost all my life.    I love papercrafts and have a real passion for stamping and altered art.   I also love photography and keep trying to improve my skills.

 

Sock Monsters!

 

These funny creatures are surprisingly quick and easy to make and everyone seems to love them.    For a basic monster, you will need:

 

One sock

Needle and thread

Two buttons (either a matching pair, or random, the choice is yours)

Scissors

Toy stuffing

 

Lay the sock flat out, with the heel sticking up.

Shape the heel into a pair of lips by manipulating with your hands until you have a shape you like.

Sew around the mouth using a backstitch.  

I try not to be too precise about this, as I prefer the lips to be different every time.

  It gives them character and you’re never quite sure what sort of expression their face will have in the end!

Sew on the buttons for eyes.

I have made some monsters with matching eyes, but mostly I use random buttons for a funnier look.

    It’s also best to sew the eyes quite close together because they will naturally grow further apart as you stuff your monster.

Turn your sock inside out and lay flat.   Cut straight across roughly two inches from the toe.

Cut each end down the middle, with the legs being at the ‘toe’ end of the sock and the horns being at the ‘ankle’ end.

Cut the toe piece in half too.

Again using a backstitch, sew up the long side of each toe piece and set aside.

Sew all the edges of the horns and legs,

leaving a small gap in the middle of either the legs or the horns.

  

Turn the monster the right way out again, using a chopstick or knitting needle to make sure the corners of the legs and horns are completely out.   Turn the arms the right way out too.

Now it’s time to stuff your monster.   You can put in as much or as little stuffing as you like, but try to make sure it is evenly stuffed, with no obvious lumps and bumps.  Once again, use a chopstick or knitting needle to make sure the stuffing is pushed up into the legs and horns.

Remember to stuff the arms too!

Close the arms neatly, trying to get all the raw edges inside.  This makes it much easier to sew them onto the body.

Close the gap neatly in the monster’s body, using small stitches.

Finally, sew the arms in position and there you are!

 

 

These are just the basic instructions, but once you have made a couple, you can begin to create your own variations.  They are great fun to make and seem to be very popular because most of mine have been claimed and re-homed as soon as they’re finished!

 

They are also the perfect way to use up those odd socks that the REAL sock monster leaves behind in your tumble dryer!

Thank you Bobs, these are a simple but characterful soft toy to make for, and be made by, children and adults alike.
We'd love to see any sock monsters our readers or their children make, just leave us a link and we'll drop by for a peep.

Comments

[donna]

I love your sock monsters i've become a bit addicted to making them , there some on my blog if you want to look, not sure if you'll need to search for sock monsters or sock creatures but they are lurking there somewhere!
www.amoregreenandsimplelife.blog.spot.com

[jo]

Meet Bernard - http://mrsbeee.blogspot.com/2009/04/project-365-day-116-and-hsmshs.html

[GlitteryKatie]

Ha-ha they are cooL!

[colleen]

I love this and I think my pups will too! I can make them all sorts of puppy toys this was (being extremely careful about the button eyes, of course!)
Thanks for sharing! :-)