Have you ever tried sewing socks? If you haven't, now is a perfect time!
With just a few scraps of jersey, sewing machine and free pattern from Ellie and Mac it's a breeze!
The Sew it Forward socks pattern is free and comes in sizes from kids to adults. The sizes are based on size of the sole. I've made size 9-10 for my 6yrs old daughter but she has rather small feet so always best to measure.
The pattern is only 4 pages so very quick to assemble.
I've decided to leave the printed version as a 'master' pattern and copy the size I need onto our Thermoadhesive Tracing Paper It works amazing on small pieces like the sock pattern pieces.
Here is our Thermoadhesive Tracing paper in action:
The best fabrics for this project are single jersey with at least 5% lycra.
You can find our selection here
The fabric needs to have a good stretch at least 50% - that means that 10cm piece should stretch to 15cm and bounce back easily after stretch.
I highly recommend using cotton based fabrics to have your socks super comfy and breathable.
Make sure you prewash your fabric as cotton tends to shrink about 5%.
I've picked two fabrics from our range Pink Leopard Jersey and Mermaids Scales Jersey
Here are all the pieces cut out
Let's get sewing!
You can make socks using overlocker or standard domestic machine. I made one pair entirely on overlocker and one pair using only sewing machine. I love my overlocker but this time I need to admit I got the better results with sewing machine. The process is the same just a different method. You can find the tips on sewing with machine further down
I've made the pink leopard socks entirely on overlocker:
- Align the back bottom and back top pieces right sides together and sew between the notches. It can be a bit tricky to go round the curve without stretching the fabric
- Open up this piece and place right sides together on the front piece. You may need to stretch the back a little to fit the front.
- Sew around leaving the straight edge open
- Fold the band in half wrong side together aligning long edges and iron. Open the fold.
- Fold again right sides together aligning the short edges and sew.
- Refold in half creating the tube
- Divide the tube in half marking the opposite edge with pin or small notch:
- The bands should be a little shorter than the sock opening:
- Put the band inside the sock align the edges and align the seam and mark on the band with side seam of the sock.
- It can be tricky to sew around the opening of small sock to take your time and stop often to readjust the band
Here is a wee trick how to secure the finished overlock thread:
Separate the 2 straight threads from the loopy ones and pull them out. Make a knot and all done:
Here is few things to know if you using sewing machine instead of overlocker:
- Choose the stretch stitch
- If you don't have a 'special stretch stitch the zigzag stitch is great if you decrease the stitch length and width. It's best to check on scrap first to see which settings will give you the most stretching stitch.
I've made the Mermaid Scale sock entirely on sewing machine
The process is the same as above apart from 2 extra steps:
- Clip the corner where the back top and side seam meet. The further you can cut without cutting the seam the better results:
- Trim the seam allowances - using pinking shears makes it super easy. If you don't have them just trim the edges but you will also need to clip all the curves.
- After sewing the side seam of the band make a small cut into the seam allowance in the middle and iron the both parts of seam allowance opposite ways. This will help to reduce the bulk of the seam:
- Refold the band and sew to the sock top
That's it, all done! Turn around and admire!
The pattern is very easily adjustable and if you feel your socks are too loose at toes just redo the curved seam a bit further down.
I found the band to be a little to tight so will make a next pair a bit wider at the top.
This project has been so much fun and I'm surprised how comfy the socks are. Even my usually fussy 6yrs old approved!
