How To Make Fleece Socks

Learning how to make fleece socks will enable you to stay warm in the winter and make pairs for yourself or as gifts. Although socks like these can be purchased, they tend to be expensive, and also don’t have the fun of being hand made. Fleece is a cozy, man made material that can be purchased online or in craft stores. These socks are usually too thick to be worn inside shoes, so they are more practical to wear around the house or as slippers.

Materials needed to make fleece socks:

• Less than a yard of fleece fabric
• Sewing Machine
• Construction paper (for a template)
• A measuring tape
• Scissors
• Sewing Pins
• Puffy Fabric Paint or slipper bottoms

1. Put your foot on the construction paper and trace all around it, then add an inch around that to take into account the seams that will be sewn. Figure out how high you would like the fleece sock to come up on the leg, then measure from that point down to the base of the heel. Then measure from the point on the leg that the sock will go to, down over the front of the foot to the tips of toes.
2. Cut out the template for the bottom of the foot, remembering to add an extra inch all around. Pin the template to fleece fabric and cut around it, making two. Then mark off the measurement you took for the back of the foot and leg and make it as wide as the foot, or as wide as desired, adding an inch to the sides and the length. Make sure the bottom of the back part in rounded so that it can be sewed evenly to the heel back of the bottom of foot section, and make two of these as well. For the front sections, mark on the fleece the length from top to the toes, plus about one inch all around. It is likely this length will to  be somewhere in the neighborhood of  inches for an adult, and the width should be as wide as the foot, or as wide as desired. Don’t forget to round the toe at the bottom so it matches up and can be sewn to the bottom of the fleece socks.
3. Use pins to pin the sock together inside out, and get ready to sew! Start with the heel or toe. If starting with the heel, match up the curve at the back of foot for the bottom piece with the curved part of the back of leg piece and sew this part together. Then sew the rounded part of the top of the foot to the toe part of the bottom of the foot. Next sew up the sides, and trim any loose threads. Although you could hand sew socks, it’s better to use a sewing machine, if possible. This will make the seams smaller and smoother, and so less likely to irritate the foot.
4. Fleece is a slippery material, so it’s a good idea to give the bottoms of fleece socks an anti-skid treatment. Use puffy fabric paint to put lines or designs on the bottom of socks. If the socks are a gift for someone in the hospital or a nursing home, you may want to write their name on the bottom with puffy paint in case they get misplaced. Allow the paint to dry overnight. Another option is to sew slipper bottoms, available at many craft stores, onto the bottom of fleece socks.

Making fleece socks is easy and enjoyable. Once you get the hang of it, you can quickly turn out pairs for yourself and others.