Mismatched Socks? Sew a Sock Snake!

May 24, 2013

Are you like me? Do you have a bag full of missing socks that you refuse to throw away? Or do you have a pile of socks that your children have now outgrown and it’s too sad to donate all of them. It’s hard to imagine when they’re feet were that small, right?! If so, this project will fit the bill!
I don’t know about you but my kids hate throwing anything away that they’ve used for any amount of time. Yes, that includes stinky socks! Kids will love this project because it it’s not only fun to sew but it repurposes something that would have gone in the trash bin. It’s a great way to memorialize their childhood with something they can cuddle up to at night and pass down to their children when they’re grown. 

Another neat idea would be to add new socks to the snake when your kids have children of their own. You could make a mini snake out of their old baby socks and keep adding new chains as the generations go by. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a sock snake made from the baby stockings of you, your mother, your grandmother and your great grandmother?! 

Just remember to use the clean ones! 

Materials Needed: 
at least 10 clean socks (You can make your snake as short or as long as you like. I recommend using at least 10 socks.) 
sewing machine 
thread 
scissors 
buttons 
5" of red ribbon 
pillow stuffing 
sewing needle 

Instructions: 1. Lay your socks out so that you can see all of them. Choose at least ten socks that have similar width.

2.       If you have many varying widths you can also choose to arrange them from smallest to largest then back to smallest.

3.       Cut your socks widthwise into 3”-4” strips. Discard the leftovers.

4.       Cut each of your pieces on the side (lengthwise) so that it is no longer a circle.

5.       Sew each of your pieces together along the top and bottom sides. When you are sewing, the fronts of each of the sock strips should be facing each other. The wrong sides of the strips should be facing outwards.

6.       Once all the strips are sewn together you want to make a mark where your snake’s tongue will be. To do this, fold your strip in half lengthwise. Fold in half lengthwise once more and make a mark at the top of one layer where the crease lies.

7.       Take your red ribbon and cut an inverted “v” in the tip.

8.       Sew the flat side of the ribbon to the top of your sock strip on the front side (the side with no raw seams) ¼” to the left of where you made your mark in step 5. You must move over ¼” because you will have to make room for the seam allowances.

9.       Take your two buttons and either hand sew or machine sew them just below your ribbon in a horizontal line. These will be your snake’s eyes.

10.   Fold your sock strip lengthwise, with the red ribbon on the inside, raw seams on outside. Sew along the top and the side of your strip with a ¼” seam allowance.

11.   Turn your snake right side out. Your red ribbon and button eyes should be on the outside now.

12.   Fill your snake with the pillow stuffing until it is full. If you have a very long snake you will probably need a long wide stick to push the stuffing down to the head.

13.   Once you’ve filled your snake completely. Use a needle and thread to hand stitch the opening on the end of the snake closed. You can also choose to machine stitch the opening shut.

14.   Snuggle up with and enjoy!



25 {comments}:

LisaM said... Best Blogger Tips

haha! except yours looks great because there are matching socks in there! :-)

i'm making one!!

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

This is such a great idea! I pinned it and hopefully will find the time to make one too...
Thanks!

Tal @ The Crafeteria

Becky said... Best Blogger Tips

What a fabulous idea. I'll have to start collecting our mismatched socks to put one of these cool little snakes together! My girls would love it. Thanks for the post! Pinned it!

rebecca at
http://thisfineday.com

CarlaKH said... Best Blogger Tips

You could add some weight in there with rice or beans (dried of course) and use as a draft stopper by the door or window.

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

This is so fun, cute and creative! My kindergartner says it's a "worm"... to each her own! :-)
Just incase you didn't know; your images are being used at:
http://www.repiny.com/pin-1712.html
with no source. :-( Not cool.
So using google image search I traced the image to your site. (Thank you google image search!)
I pinned it to Pinterest, linking to your page and giving you due credit. I hope this brings you some good traffic. Thank you for sharing this great project!

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Great project. Super cute!
In case you were not aware... your images are being used without credit to you or link to your page, here:
http://www.repiny.com/pin-1712.html

I did pin it to my Pinterest craft board directly from your blog. My pin links to you and gives you the credit you deserve for such a creative project. Best Wishes!

Khris said... Best Blogger Tips

Fantastic..I have linked to you over at www.freebiesforcrafters.blogspot.com
Thanks for sharing. Khris

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

The link for the PDF doesn't work. I really like this snake idea. Very clever.

SandyQuilts said... Best Blogger Tips

darling

Andreansyah Dwiwibowo said... Best Blogger Tips

Would you mind if I copy this good article to my blog?

Cathy C said... Best Blogger Tips

I hope you don't mind that I shared this link on my blog. I linked it back to yours. Check it out at www.crosson5.blogspot.com. Thanks for sharing!

Frank John said... Best Blogger Tips

great idea loving it

Frank John said... Best Blogger Tips

amazing socks like snake.....



children socks for sale

Frank John said... Best Blogger Tips

Wow Amazing effort. I would love to try it.
socks for baby | baby socks for sale

midnight hysteria said... Best Blogger Tips

OMGosh ... darling ...

darlene

midnight hysteria said... Best Blogger Tips

OMGosh ... darling ...

darlene

Melissa H-K said... Best Blogger Tips

Very cute! I just have one question. I don't quite see why you have to cut the socks so that they are no longer cylinders. If you just sew one round sock piece to the next, you'll have a nice long snake and you won't even have to do the long seam. What do you think?

Grosgrain said... Best Blogger Tips

@Melissa Hunter-KilmerThat's true! You would get a neater finish doing it that way. I just find it slightly more difficult to sew in a cylinder. It's just a convenience issue for me.

Colorful Canary said... Best Blogger Tips

Love this! Thanks for the great tutorial, I featured it on my blog! :) http://www.colorfulcanary.com/2015/03/14-great-ways-to-recycle-old-socks.html

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

This sock snake is sooo adorable! I'm in love! I featured it in my blog because it's super awesome ! http://www.plushiepatterns.com/mismatched-socks-sew-sock-snake/ thank you for sharing!

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

I love this idea of snake softie using socks! I also love that it's easy and fun to do! I featured this in my blog: http://www.plushiepatterns.com/mismatched-socks-sew-sock-snake/ Thank you so much for sharing!

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

My daughter and I found this idea today and immediately started to make one for her brother for his 4th Birthday that is coming up. It will be finished tonight after the hubby gets home with the pillow stuffing. We sewed everything by hand as I couldn't find my sewing machine. You recommended at least 10 socks, we used 15.

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

You are a pro! I found your project on Pinterest and it inspired me so much! I'm a begginer in sewing, but I'm determined to learn :) Here's my version of mismatched snake. It's on Serbian, but it's google-translateble. PS - I shared your link if you don't mind. If you do, I'll put it away.

Maja Radulovic said... Best Blogger Tips

Awww.that's a good n sweet idea 😃!!!

 
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