Tutorial: How To Make a Sock Monkey

This is the little monkey I made this week. He looks just like the one I made for my daughter. I purposely placed the eyes and ears in the same spot to give him the same look.

First of all, I suggest that you watch the how-to video by Professor PinCushion as you go. It will help show the details of sewing and cutting that I cannot show in a written post. The video is about 37 minutes. Depending on how fast you sew, the monkey could take anywhere from 3-8 hours from start to finish.

How to Make a Sock Monkey:

Materials You Will Need to Make a Sock Monkey:

1. Size Large Socks with Red Heel (Fox River sells two pairs for around $14.)
2. Fabric Scissors
3. Pins
4. Ruler 
5. Fabric Pen or Black Pen
6. Sewing Machine with Matching Thread (Cream color works well)
7. Stuffing (I got mine at Michael’s)
8. Black Embroidery Thread
9. Two Black Buttons for Eyes
10. Red Yarn for Pom-Poms on Hat and Legs
11. Ribbon to Tie Around the Monkey’s Neck

Sock 1: Body and Legs

Draw Lines for Legs
Turn the socks inside out. The first sock will become the monkey’s head, body and legs. To mark where the legs will be, turn the sock inside out and fold so the heel is centered on top. Measure and mark a center point on the brown (2 in. from edge) and a center point on the cream (1.5 inches from edge). Draw a line through the points, horizontally, straight through the center of the sock, from heel to end. Then measure 1/4 inch above and 1/4 inch below that center line and draw two more horizontal lines. Draw another line 1/4 inch from the end of the sock. Draw a vertical line 3 inches from the heel. So you should have three horizontal lines and two vertical lines.

Sew on Machine
Starting at one edge of the cream end of the sock, stitch along the line and pivot at the 1/4 inch line. Continue to stitch, stopping at the 3-inch line. Backstitch both ends. Repeat on the other side. Do not stitch on the center line because that is the line you will cut to separate the two legs.

Cut
Using fabric scissors, cut along the center line up to the 3-inch line. Snip about 1 inch past the 3-inch line. You have a sock monkey body with a hole in the crotch.

Stuff
Turn the sock right-side out again. Stuff the head, body, and legs with stuffing.

Hand-Sew
Slip stitch the hole closed, adding stuffing as needed.

Sock 2: Hat, Face, Arms, Tail, Ears

Hat
Turn sock inside out. Cut off the toe of the 2nd sock, leaving about 1/2 inch of brown on the end of the cream.

Tail
Measure a line for the tail 1-inch down from the top (shown above). Draw a line across the length of the sock. Round the white tip of the tail by drawing a curved line.

Arms
Draw a vertical line down the middle of the sock, about 1/4 inch away from the cream heel. Draw another horizontal line to mark two equal-sized arms. Curve the edges of the arms, leaving a seam allowance at the end of the sock.

Face
Leave about 1/4 inch of brown along the edge of the heel for the face.

Ears
The leftover brown rectangle is for the ears. Fold in half and pin the edge to hold in place. Draw two ears, a bit larger than you think they should be, because you will use 1/4-inch seam allowance.

Cut and Pin
Cut and pin tail, arms, and ears. The second arm will need to be the same as the first, so cut the second side that was folded and pin it. (Ears not shown).

Sew on Machine
Leaving the brown end open, stitch around the pinned sides of arms and tail, using 1/4 inch seam allowance and removing pins as you get to them. Backstitch both ends. Sew around the individual ears, using 1/4 inch seam allowance and leaving one side open for stuffing.

Stuff, Pin, and Hand-Sew
Tie the ribbon around the neck of the sock monkey to help you see where to pin the arms. Turn arms and tail right-side out. Stuff, using small pieces of stuffing. If necessary, use a clean chopstick or unsharpened pencil to push the stuffing into the tail and arms. When they are stuffed, pin them to the sock monkey body in their proper places and use a whip stitch to attach each piece to the sock monkey body. Whip stitch twice all the way around.

Ears can be the last thing you stuff and sew, after you attach the face. That way you can see where you want to place the ears.

Some people place the tail above the red, and some people place it in the middle of the red. I chose to attach it to the middle.

Embroider and Sew Face
Using a backstitch and black embroidery thread, stitch a line straight across the red mouth for the sock monkey. For the nostrils, make a mark where you want them to go and make 5-6 stitches in a horizontal stack.

Pin the sock monkey face to the head, tucking the brown seam under the cream line. Whip stitch the face to the head, leaving the top open. Stuff with stuffing and continue to stitch all the way around. 

Eyes
I used black buttons for the sock monkey eyes, attaching them above the face. You can also choose to embroider the eyes the same way you did the nostrils.

Ears
I pinned the ears to the sock monkey head and stitched them last.

Red Pom-Poms
Pom-poms are really easy. Wrap red yarn around two fingers about twenty times. Remove from fingers. Tie another piece of yarn around the middle of the loops. Snip the loops and you have a cute pom pom! These red pom-poms inspired the decorations for my daughter’s 9th birthday: a sock monkey theme (shown in my last post). I used the pom-poms on the favor bags, centerpieces and birthday banner.

Tack one pom pom to the sock monkey hat and tie two more around the legs.

Isn’t he cute? I love him! Enjoy your new sock monkey friend!