DIY Sock Monkey Tutorial – Part 2 (Ears & Arms)

We are right in the middle of our week of sock monkey tutorials!  Monday we started turning a pair of crew cut socks into a really cute sock monkey!  If you missed the start of this tutorial, click here to learn how to cut up your socks and how to make the body and leg portions of your monkey!  Today we are going to continue making our sock monkeys and I am going to show you how to do the ears and arm pieces.

 

Click below for all the steps!

We ended Monday’s tutorial with one sock that we turned into the body and legs of the monkey.  We now have a second sock to turn into all the other body parts of the monkey.  You’ll want to rip the seam of the top part of this sock (as you did the first sock) to give you more room to make a longer tail and arms.  Cut the sock into the pieces as shown below:

 

How To Make Ears

1.   I made a quick little ear template that was basically an upside down U.  How big you make your ears can depend on a your preference, I tried to make best use of the pattern on my socks and kept half my ear on the orange and half the ear on the gray part of the sock.  Turn your ear section of your sock so the right sides are together (so the inside part of the sock is facing you).  Trace out your ear pattern two times (for two ears) and then sew along the pattern with a sewing machine.

2. Trim the edges and then turn your ears right side out.

3. Using a very small tuft of fiberfill, stuff each ear.  You don’t need a lot of filling and I have actually found that less is more for the ears!

4.  With a hand needle and thread, do a loose running stitch around the base of your ear.  This is what a running stitch looks like …

5. Once you have stitched all the way around the ear (do not tie off your thread), tuck the raw ends of the sock into the ear and pull your thread tight.  You’ll have a flat U pillow at this point!

6. Stitch the ear U closed.

7. Fold the U in half and match up the ends of the U to make your ear.

8. Stitch your U ends together so it holds its shape.

9. Sew your ears onto the side of the monkey’s head!

If you start with a rather long length of thread, you should be able to do all the sewing (including sewing the ear onto the head) with one piece of thread.  I found this is easiest over having to knot and start a new piece of thread each step!

How to Make Arms

1. Take the top portion of your sock and turn the right sides together (so the inside of the sock is facing you).

2. Sew along the cut edge of the sock (basically sew it back into a tube)

3. Flatten it out so your new seam is opposite to the middle of your sock and sew along the green
lines in the figure above.  You’ll want to round the ends- these will be your monkey’s hands).  You do not have to sew along the folded edge of the sock.  You can use a marker to draw on the lines if you wish!

4. Trim the arms apart making sure not to nick your seams.  Turn them right side out.  Stuff your arms with small tufts of fiberfill to prevent lumpy arms.

5. Sew a running stitch around the bottom of the arm.

6. Tuck your raw edges inside the arm.

7. Sew your arm closed (does this process sound familiar?).  You can just sew it closed flat.

8. Roll each arm between your hands to make them less lumpy.

9.  Stitch the arms onto the sides of the monkey’s body, under the ears.  You can decide where it looks best to put the arms, I followed the pattern on my socks!  Make sure to point your seam down when sewing the arm on.

You now have a body, legs, ears and arms for your monkey!  Can you see it starting to come together?  Come back on Friday when we finish up the monkey with a tail and face tutorial.

I hope you are enjoying the tutorial!  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!  A little blog love is always appreciated- leave a comment below!