Sock Monkeys

Ashley, one of the girls I watch in the mornings, is turning 5 next weekend. I knew I wanted to get her something but I didn't know what. Clothes are hard since her and her sister often match. Movies are hard because their dad gets tons of them so I don't know which they have already. So I was stuck with getting some sort of toy for her. I took the opportunity, with the help of my sister, to make her something special.

I present you with the "Sock Monkey Tutorial"

Supplies:

One pair of long/over the knee/dress socks of your choosing

Fluff (I had polyfill left over from my pillows)

Two buttons

Scissors

Needle & Thread

Sewing Machine

1. Here's the socks I used. She loves the color pink. (I apologize now for the poor picture quality but I swear the socks are pink and magenta striped) I found these for $3 at Walmart.

2. Turn both socks inside out. Lay one with the heal facing up. There is usually a seam/crease the will go down the middle of the sock. Line this fold up on both sides of the sock.

3. The socks I had were "over the knee" socks so they were very long. This specific sock will be the head (toe of sock), torso (from toe to heal) and legs (from heal down) of your monkey. It'll be easier to see this later on. I didn't want the monkeys legs to be way too long so I cut off part of the sock as seen in the picture. I suggest removing the elastic band on any sock you use, even if it's the right length. It just makes it easier.

4. If your sock has the center crease, or even if it doesn't, mark a line from the open end of the sock to the heal. Make sure you stay in the center of the sock. Now sew two parallel lines on each side of this center line. Make sure the lines don't get too close together or cross at any point. There should be at least 1/4 in between the two.

5. Using very sharp scissors cut along the center line. You're essentially separating the monkeys two legs at this point. Make sure to not cut either of the sown lines you've made. Don't cut too close to the heal of the sock. There will be a hole here that you'll stuff through so you want to make sure it's not too small. Once the legs are apart, stitch close the ends of the feet. (not shown)

6. Turn your monkey right-side-out through the hole I mentioned above. Now stuff your monkey's body and legs. Yes, it's sorta awkward that you're stuffing through the money's crotch. (Maybe that's just something I notice. Oops.) It helps to use smaller pieces of stuffing rather than trying to cram in larger pieces. It gives a more overall smooth look as opposed to lumpy. Once your monkey is stuffed to your liking, hand-stitch the hole closed.

Now you have this awkward monkey in the making. (You can sort of see the lumpy-ness I was talking about in the legs at this point. Just try to smooth it out as you go.) No face, no arms, no tail..... Kinda looks like an alien if you ask me. It'll get better I promise.

7. Using the other sock and what I cut off from the first sock, I made two similar sized pieces for the arms and tail. (Make sure not to cut too close to the other heal you haven't used. You'll need it later.) Turn the pieces inside out. I decided to pin them both down the center line since they weren't connected at the ends anymore and I wanted to make sure the stripes lined up perfectly.

8. To make the arms, use the same technique as before for making the legs. Draw a center line, sew two parallel lines next to the center, cut between the stitches, and sew the ends closed. I did the same thing for the tail because I wanted all the "appendages" to be the same width around. For the tail you would only use one half of the rectangle when stitching the end closed. Flip all three right-side-out.

9. And stuff. Depending on how stretchy your socks are, you might be able to get more or less stuffing into them than you think. I just compared my arms/tail to the legs I already made to make them the same amount of fullness.

10. To make the monkeys ears I cut two rectangles from the left over material I had. Just don't use the remaining heal piece. I decided to use the top elastic band from the socks that I removed in step #3. I liked that it was gray and wanted to incorporate this into the monkey more. But you can use whatever piece you want. The original rectangles I used were twice as long as those seen in the picture. There is a fold on the right side. Stitch the top and left sides of the rectangle, right sides together.

11. Flip the rectangles right-side-out and stuff with some fluff.

12. Hand sew a long, basting stitch along the open end. Pull tight to close opening.

13. Determine were on the monkey you want the ears to be. It's totally up to you at this point. Hand stitch the ears onto the head using any stitch that's easy for you.

14. Remember that other heal I've told you not to touch, this is why. Cut out the other heal from the sock and pin it in place to form the monkey's mouth. Using whatever stitch you want, begin to sew on the mouth. I used a few pins (on the top and bottom) to help hold it in place while I worked. Eventually this piece will be filled with stuffing too so make sure you don't sew it on too flat.

15. Fill the mouth with stuffing when you only have a small section left. Finish closing the mouth onto the face.

16. Choose two buttons for the monkey's eyes. The socks I bought actually had two buttons on each for decoration, how convenient. I used a contrasting thread to make them stand out a little more.

17. You're almost done! Attach the arms and tail to your monkey torso. It helped to pin the two arms on at the same time to make sure they ended up in the same position on both sides. Again, use any hand stitch you're comfortable with, just make sure those limbs are sewn on good. After I was done, I used a scrap piece of black felt to cut out a little smile. I'm not going to lie, I didn't want to sew this part on so I glued it. (Shhh, don't tell the sewing police on me.)

And there you have it,

your own hand-made Sock Monkey!

You can tell in this last picture that the legs are still really long in comparison to the rest of the monkey. I think they make it funny but could you imagine if I hadn't cut off a bunch in the beginning?

The best part about this project.... it cost me $3 and that's it. I luckily had everything besides the socks. Now she (of course the monkey's a girl, she's pink after all) just needs a little gift bag and she's ready to go.

Hopefully Ava isn't to jealous :-)