Kids activity : make a teddy out of fuzzy socks

I haven't been here for a while, concentrating most of my efforts over on the Tiny Sewing Club on Patreon. Did you know you can join for free and see some of my post? Right now I'm mostly writing about getting ready for my holiday market. 

What I'd like to share with you today is the free workshop I cooked up. I wanted to have something fun to do with kids, but sewing workshop are daunting and not as fun for everyone as you would think. I'm so often on Pinterest that of course I had seen toys made out of gloves and such and so I investigated further. Most of these tutorials involved sewing and cutting in various places, too complicated for me. I ended up finding tutorials with socks and the magic started working in my head (that's a weird phrase, I know). I wanted as little sewing as possible and something simple enough that even smaller kids could manage. And of course it had to be cute. A visit to the dollar store, a fuzzy sock and some small supplies later and I had this first adorable plushie. I put on a key chain on it and he's been following my around as a bag charm.

The concept is quite simple, it's mostly elastics that tie this teddy up. There's one seam to sew, but it's not so apparent and I think it will actually be fun to teach how to make this simple line. I'll provide white glue to make a face. It's as easy as that.

If you'd like to make one, or have a little workshop yourself, I made a video of my process. You'll need a fuzzy sock, some fill, 4 cotton balls for the ears and hands (optional, fiberfill can also do), small elastics (like for hair or bracelet weaving), a needle and sewing thread (glue could maybe also do), scissors, felt and white glue. I also added a cute necklace with beads and embroidery thread but that's also optional, I wanted the beads to go through a pipe cleaner but mine were jumbo and wouldn't fit through the letter beads.

The steps

1 - Cut the sock just over the heel. The top part will be the "outfit" and the bottom part is the teddy. 

2 - Place a cotton ball where a big toe would go and secure it with an elastic. Do the same at the opposite, creating two bubble ears.

3 - Now the trickier part is figuring where the arms should be. Fill up the teddy's head with polyfill, trying to make it round. Insert another cotton ball and try pinching about 5 cm below the ear, this is not an exact science. Secure it with an elastic and repeat for the other arm. Since the fuzzy socks are very stretchy it doesn't matter too much where you put the arm, as long as the teddy is cute. They must be low enough the that top part of the sock that we saved earlier will fit over them when you put on his outfit.

4 - Fill the rest of the body with polyfill. Close the bottom by overlapping the ends of the fabric and pinching each side. Secure with an elastic (no cotton ball required here).

5 - Lets make the outfit. Place the tube over the teddy, eyeballing where it should be cut. Cut in a small curve the bottom of the outfit (the unfinished part). Turn the sock inside out and align the unfinished ends and sew following the curve. The stitching doesn't need to be to perfect here, the fuzz hides most of the defects. Make sur to make knots at the end and the beginning so the seam is solid. Flip the outfit back so the good side is up (seam inside). Make 2 small holes on each side for the arms and try it on. The holes should be very small as this fabric is loose so the armholes will widen on their own.

6 - Now it's time to decorate your teddy. Make a face with felt and white glue. Make sure you wait for the glue to dry before adding more. and don't hesitate to smoosh his face to help the glue take hold. You can have fun with ribbons and lace, add a bow on his head, or like me find some letter beads and make a necklace. Note: for the workshop I will be using paintbrushes to help with the glue, not a tiny piece of felt :S I also found that putting a little glue at the end of the embroidery thread and letting it dry is a much easier way to help thread beads in.

Warnings

You must already know this, but this teddy will not be washable. Even if you decided to sew on his features, I'm not sure he would survive a bath. This also means this teddy is not meant for babies, he should be lightly played with kids of at least 3 years old.  Be very careful with any small parts that could be dislodged, unglued or just come loose and could be ingested. f you want to make a super cute teddy bear, why don't you check out on of my patterns, this one in particular could do the job nicely I think.

Different sock different teddy

As you can see, my beige teddy and my pink one were different is size, some of it is attributed to the fact that the first one was hanging from my bag for about a month before this picture was taken, but some of it is also the sock. Even if you buy all your socks at the same place, they won't be exactly all the same and you might have taller teddies and chubbier ones. I say just go with it. You can also use 2 different sock for the teddy and his outfit. For my workshop I tried having a variety that would be fun for kids, if I did this with adults there might be more natural tones in there. I think the stripes are going to make such cute outfits. Can't wait to see what the children create. If the activity goes well I'm planning on hosting it again with my nieces and nephews as I'm known as the crafty aunt.

Want a bag charm too?

The knit is loose enough with these socks to pass something through it. A key ring with a chain or simply beaded chain loop will do. You could even pass a ribbon if you would like a longer "leash" so the teddy dangles lower from your bag.

In any case if you make a teddy with this tutorial or even better host a workshop, I would love to hear from you. 

Dominique