what to do with old socks?

Athos · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

so i have a strong sentimental attachment to many of my socks. in some cases, my mom and my sister have matching pairs and it's a fun silly thing we do. what can i do when they get huge holes in them? is there any kind of craft i could use the little remaining fabric for? is the fact that they're elastic too much to overcome when trying to cut and sew pieces for quilts, etc?

sewing stars · Joined: 27 Apr 2004 Posts: 112 Location: Little Rhody

Ooo! Ooo! go look at this guy's site:

stupidcreatures.com

It is like giving your socks another incarnation!

_________________
never forget how to fly...

lizzymahoney · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 804

Hey, they *are* pretty stupid in a cute way!

How about making drink cozies with the socks? A friend uses a plain old army sock for a water bottle insulator. I'd bet a cute argyle or a holiday themed sock would be great. She uses the foot too, but a lot of cozies are just a sleeve with no bottom. You could cut the bottom off if that's where the holes are.

And then, with bottom cut off, how about stitching the ends of a bunch of socks together so you have one very long tube? Maybe like a scarf? Or stuff it with wood chips or batting for a draft dodger

sun bear · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 443

you could learn french darning and fix them :)

jt

deborahthecraft · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 364 Location: California

You actually could quilt them,maybe using them in an applique would be more practiacal?Or sew the good parts of the tubes togatehr and make sock animals.

sewing stars · Joined: 27 Apr 2004 Posts: 112 Location: Little Rhody

You could probably quilt them and avoid the elastic thing by backing them interfacing. (I recently re-discovered how amazing fusable interfacing is.)

I like the drink cozy idea....I have some socks with holes too....
_________________
never forget how to fly...

Athos · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

great ideas - the interfacing might be perfect. there's also an iron on fleece stuff i could use that would make it really sturdy. and i love the idea of making a draft protector. god knows the houses in san francisco have no insulation on their own.

and would you believe i actually did try to fix them? but they were so uncomfortable i had to give it up.

sun bear · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 443

I can believe you tried to fix them, I have one pair of monkey socks that i love, so my mom reweaved the toe out of thread...moms are great :)

jt

Athos · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

hee hee - i don't know what it is about socks. maybe because i wear my favorite pairs at least two or three times a month, depending on how often i do laundry. i just get really attached to 'em!

CraftinFool · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 809 Location: New England

Maybe you could sew a bunch of them together and stuff them to make a draft dodger for a window or at the bottom of a door?

Lacie · Joined: 17 May 2004 Posts: 1

I agree, stretchy material usually doesn't work well for quilts. But I've considered the stretchier stuff to patch holes in my jeans, esp. the ones in the knees & butt, because my attempts at using regular fabric, they just rip right out again. Whereas something stretchy might have more give. It would involve cutting them up though, and if your socks are already wearing thin around the feet, *they* probably need patching too, which doesn't help. Still, I plan to try this. It would be a perfect way to salvage TWO items at once.

smudgy_cat · Joined: 15 Apr 2004 Posts: 346

I had some heavy duty wool socks that were all worn out in the feet but the cuffs were still sturdy. I cut off the cuffs and then sliced each tube along the ribbing and I ended up with rectangles of socky fabric. When I got a bunch of them together, I sewed them in a checkerboard pattern and made some throw pillows for my bed. The wool wasn't overly stretchy, but you could overcome that with some non stretchy fabric sewn to the back to help it keep its shape.

You could use worn out jeans, khakis, sheets, or old shirts for backing. Even if it doesn't turn out perfectly, it's not as if you spent $$$$ buying fancy fabrics.

If you have patience, try to save up the scraps to make one larger pillow instead of a bunch of smaller ones. A large pillow is more versatile, and I wish I had gone that route.

rachael · Joined: 18 May 2004 Posts: 1

YOu can cut the socks into "loopers." That's bascially starting at the top and cutting acrross all the way down makin circles. You then knot them together in a long chain. (One circle end wrapped around the other and pull, hard to explain, easier to do.) Then, once you have a bag full, find a local weaver in your town and have them made into a throw rug. My mom is a weaver and she's saved up our socks up over the years and made mulitple rugs. They're cool and recycled. Plus they never shrink.

:)

lizzymahoney · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 804

Oh hell, that is a *great* idea. Even just the loopers part of it, allthough I've never crafted with those. That's the sorta stretchy knit ring that kids can weave to make potholders.

Since I'm usually barefoot, socks are not high on my list of recycleables. Maybe when I see another thrift or rummage bag for a buck deal...

flyingfish · Joined: 19 May 2004 Posts: 24 Location: Milwaukee, WI.

obvious but no one has mentioned a good ol' fashioned sock monkey or variation there of, like a socktupus if you have a lot of socks you want to keep together..... i keep all my favorite striped socks in the form of monkey's on my dresser close to where they lived previously. if they have hole's in the heel's or toe's just stitch em' up and it add lovely character.