Sock Animals

I have a group of girls that I get together with and we do a little craft. We just started trading off who's going to host it and basically they come up with the craft that we are going to do and then let all of us know what we need to bring. This last week we were getting together to make sock monkeys. I decided to give it a try before going and as I was making one out of a green pair of socks I decided I wanted to try and turn it into a sock frog instead. So here he is:

Basically I just followed this sock monkey tutorial here on Craftbits.com, except after creating the legs I did this: (Sorry I didn’t take any pictures so you’ll have to settle for my beautiful drawing)

I then used DMC floss and an outline embroidery stitch to create the mouth and attach the felt tongue. For the eyes I embroidered white felt circles and then I just made a few loops from top to bottom near the center of the circles.

After I finished the frog which was for my son, I asked my daughter what animal she would like and she said giraffe. So I went searching online for ideas and I found this one here and used it for my inspiration. Here’s how I made him:

Create the legs just like in the Sock Monkey tutorialThen find some yarn, thread it onto a needle, with the yarn doubled tie a knot in the end and insert it through the hole between the legs. I followed the crease line that was already in the sock and near the top of his head I pulled the yarn through. Then I cut the yarn about 1 inch from the sock. Now tie a knot in the yarn that is still attached to your needle and do it again. I created 2 rows one on each side of the crease line.Then on the other sock I made the tail similar to the monkey tail only shorter and I gathered about 6 yarn strands that were about 4 inches and tied a knot in the end. I then inserted the strings in the bottom of the sock so the know was sticking out. Then I stitched it. Here’s a close-up of the knot sticking out. What the tail looks like after you turn it inside out. After cutting the tail out of the sock this is how you will cut the remaining pieces. Follow the sock monkey tutorial for creating his arms. We are not using the heel for his nose instead we are using to toe portion of the sock. This makes for a larger snout.I created a half circle out of felt to go above his nose. I used DMC floss and did a quick embroidery stitch to hold it in place. Then I pinned his nose in place. *Pinning the items in place really helps keep them where you want them as you hand stitch them down. **I also hand stitch around all of my pieces twice. It makes for a more finished look and also holds them on better.** Here’s the ear. You make these out of the same section of sock as you would make the ears for the sock monkey. I can’t seem to find my template, so I’ll draw up a new one and post it. Tim the excess off. I didn’t put any stuffing in the ears. I liked the more floppy look. Pin them in place and hand stitch. Attach the arms and tail. I made little horns out of two pieces of felt sewn together. I then stuffed them a little and then stitched them on. I just used the same stitching method to create his eyes as I did for the frog. You can also use buttons but I prefer to embroider them on so there’s no choking hazard.

I am currently working on creating an elephant, but his trunk isn’t looking quite like I want. I also have planned to make a zebra, horse, dinosaur, pig, and a dog.

I’ll be posting pictures of my other creations later.

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