A few years ago someone taught me how to make sock monkeys so that we could do it as an activity on a summer youth camp. Since then I’ve done them with various groups and friends and they always go down well so I thought I’d have a go at my first tutorial. Here goes…
Disclaimer/excuses: I started writing this post a while ago waited until the weekend so that I could take nice photos in the daylight, but it was such a dull day when I took them that I still needed the flash so the images are less than perfect. Also I had a few monkeys at various stages of completion so I have used them to demonstrate the steps and therefore the colour/pattern changes. Hopefully it isn’t too confusing.
Materials/Equipment:

- 1 pair of ladies ankle socks (patterns are good but they need to be able to work upside down, so spots and stripes but not hearts)
- Toy stuffing
- Scissors
- Pins
- Sewing machine
- Needle and coordinating thread
Step 1: Cut 1st sock
Put one sock aside and lay the other out as shown.
Cut 1: Cut along the full length of the top of the sock approximately 2cm from the edge. (Ensure that you don’t cut through the heel part.) This is the tail piece.

Cut 1: The Tail
Cut 2: Cut the heel piece out approximately 0.5cm from where it changes colour. This is the snout.

Cut 2: The Snout
Cut 3: Cut the the ankle section in half lengthways to make two arms.

Cut 3: The Arms
Cut 4: With the remaining foot section cut off the toe and cut the remaining piece in half widthways. These will be the ears. The toe can be discarded.

Cut 4: The Ears
Put all of these pieces to one side being careful not to lose any.
Step 2: Cut 2nd sock
Take the second sock and arrange it so that it lays flat with the heel on the top.

Ensure top and bottom layers are even
Starting at the opening cut up the centre of the sock finishing approximately 2cm from the heel.


Stop 2cm from the heel
These are the legs.
Step 3: Turn inside out
Take each piece of sock and turn them inside out or put right sides together and pin ready to sew.

Tail, arms and ears pinned

Legs pinned
Step 4: Sew limbs and ears
Take both arm pieces and the tail. Machine sew (or hand sew using back stitch) along the long edge and one short edge, rounding the corners (for second arm sew both long edges). Reverse to secure stitches at either end.

Trim corners after sewing
Take the ear pieces and sew a ‘u’ shape in each piece to form the ear. Trim edges to follow stitches.

I roughly try to line up the stitching with the pattern
Sew each leg separately. Begin roughly 1cm from the top to allow a gap for turning.

Pins indicate the start of stitching
Step 5: Turn out and stuff
Trim all corners and turn right side out.

Starting to look more like a monkey!!
Next stuff the body with the toy stuffing until it is firm but not stretched. Ensure that there is enough stuffing at the top of the legs so they’re not too floppy. Using slip stitch, sew up the gap between the legs.

Slip stitch across the opening a couple of times to close the gap securely
Use a little bit of stuffing at a time to stuff the limbs. Using a pencil push the stuffing to the end.


All pieces stuffed and ready to attach!
Step 6: Attach Limbs
The tail, arms, and ears all then need to be attached using slip stitch. I like to tuck the ends in as I go round to make it neater but it doesn’t really matter. I tend to hold the part in position and sew round using fairly large stitches to begin with and then go round once or twice more with smaller stitched to firmly attach in the following places…

Tail in the centre at the bottom of the back. This helps him/her to sit up!

One arm on each side about half way up the body. Ears just below the toe section of the head.
The snout then needs to be attached. To do this first pin it in place in the centre at the front so that the edges come just below the ears.

Then begin to sew from one corner tucking the raw edges in as you go. If you have it use the colour change on the sock as a guide.

Again use slip stitch and remove the pins as you work round
When you have sewn three quarters of the way round stop and stuff the snout. Then continue stitching until complete.

Insert stuffing
Step 7: Add Eyes
Finally add eyes using one or two buttons, special toy eyes or felt if you’re worried about small parts. And your sock monkey is complete!…

You can make boy monkeys, girl monkeys and even baby monkeys using children’s socks. These are very cute!

Baby monkey
So there we are, a step by step guide to making a sock monkey. I hope it is useful. If you have any questions or need clarification on anything just let me know.
Happy sock monkey making!!
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