Sock Monkey Tutorial?

We have a history in our family regarding the Sock Monkey. My mom made my youngest sister one once and somehow sewed the legs on crooked. It has been a memory of many laughs as we have all grown up, and multiple sock monkey gifts have been given to my mom since the original monkey was sewn with love and crooked legs. When Holden was born, he was given his first sock monkey, with straight legs, from his grandma (my mom) but it is too special to be a well worn loved toy. I decided to make Holden his very own, very special sock monkey. You can order your own sock monkey kit in three levels of difficulty, depending on our perceived sewing experience, at sockmonkey.net. Holden's sock monkey was made with lots of love and my amateur sewing.

Here is how to make your own.

1. You need 2 Rockford Socks, some thread, stuffing and a needle at the minimum

2. Turn both socks inside out and mark the socks with a pencil and ruler as shown:

3. Sew on the lines marked for the legs, tail, arms and ears. You can use a machine or hand sew.

4. Cut between the seams you created for the legs and cut about 1/2-inch beyond your seams.

5. Turn the sock right side out and stuff through the hole in the legs.

6. Sew the opening closed and now you have the body of your monkey.

7. Carefully cut out the remaining pieces on your second sock. Make a small hole in each ear to turn them right side out and stuff.

8. Turn the arms and tail right side out and stuff. You can stuff the ears or leave them flat, I stuffed them.

9. Sew the holes closed for the arms, tail and ears.

10. Sew the tail on the back of the monkey just above his bum

11. Tie a ribbon or piece of yarn near the top of the body, to make a neck. I forgot this step until later.

12. Sew the arms on both sides just below your neck

13. Sew the mouth on just above the neckline. I had to do it twice and his mouth is still a little crooked, but like I said he was made with love. I pinned the mouth on, sewed the bottom half, stuffed and then sewed the top half. I also tried to make a nose and mouth with black yarn.

14. Sew on the ears

15. My kit had two buttons for eyes but you can use anything you like for eyes.

16. Optional clothing: I made the hat with a little red ball on top, there are lots of clothing options for your monkey here are some ideas.

The one complain I have is that the socks had a tendency to unravel and I had to do some mending while putting the monkey together. But all in all, I'm pretty happy with my first sock monkey and hopefully Holden will grow to love him.