This week, Roy was doing a big cleanup of his sock draw and came across a pair of socks which had become very thin on the sole. He wondered if there was something he could do with them, so looked through his old patterns for inspiration. He came across a pattern for a sewn cat which was very cute, but not very easy to follow. At length, he worked it out and was so pleased with the results that he wanted to share it with his friends. So this week, Roy Creates An Easy Sew Cat From A Sock.
You Will Need:
- 1 adult sock (you could do this with children’s socks, but you will have a smaller cat)
- A sharp pair of scissors. Roy has a pair specially for sewing which are very sharp
- A needle and thread (Roy suggests you choose a thread which blends with your sock)
- Toy stuffing
- A piece of ribbon
- Embroidery cotton (Roy used black) and sew on eyes to make the face.
- You may also need an adult to help
Method:
- Cut the toe off the sock and then cut out the heel. Now, cut a diagonal line from the middle of the heel (on the toe side) to where the toes were, leaving a piece about 3 or 4 centimetres wide at the toe. Your sock will look like the one Roy is holding up in the photo above
- Turn the edges of the cut sides under (to make a seam) and neatly sew the sock shut, all the way from the toe to the beginning of the heel. This will for the cats tail.
- Stuff the tail with a little of the toy stuffing
- Using a doubled piece of thread, and without ‘starting off’ the thread (you are doing what is called a gathering stitch), loosely sew from half way down the tail and all around the heel. Pull the thread gently from either end to gather the tail up. Tie the end of the cotton tightly on either end to hold the gathered section in place.
- Add some stuffing to the body of the cat (the body will be about 8 to 10 centimetres tall)
- Again using a doubled piece of thread, do a gathering stitch around the neck of the cat and gently pull the ends together to close the body off. Tie the ends off tightly.
- If you like, use a couple of stitches to sew the cat’s tail to the body, so that it stays upright.
- Stuff the head and turn the very top of the sock under and sew it shut, again using neat, small stitches.
- To make the ears, pull the corners of the sock head upwards and sew from the side, up through the top of the ear and back again a few times. Shape the ears as you go.
- If you like, make some little feet for your cat from the toe section you cut off. Sew down the centre of the toe and pull the middle inwards slightly so you have two little pockets. Stuff these and sew them shut (again making sure to fold the edges under so that they don’t fray. Sew the feet (if you made them) onto the base of the cat so that they stick out slightly
- Sew the eyes onto the cat and stitch a triangular nose in embroidery cotton. You could also embroider the eyes if you preferred.
- Lastly, tie the ribbon around your cats neck!