Saturday, July 19, 2014

Sew Primitive Sock Snowmen Ornaments

       As my children grew, I seemed to loose many matches of socks! But being a thrifty parent, I saved the random selection of socks in a basket just encase I ever managed to find a matching pair. 
      After several years of this ongoing frustration, I decided to use up the matchless pairs in a craft, of course, and now you see the result of my endeavors pictured on the right.

Supply List:
  • Very primitive snowman with shell button nose.
    white baby socks
  • old white button
  • plaid felt (brown tones)
  • small wire stem with leaves
  • yellow wool
  • hook for hanging
  • batting
  • needle and tan or white thread
  • black embroidery thread
Tea Bath Supply List:
  • black tea
  • small pot of water
  • stove top
Step-by-Step Instructions:
  1. Bring a few cups of water to a boil on the stove top; then turn off the heat.
  2. Add the black tea bag to the water and let the tea bath steep for ten minutes or more just to ensure that you stain will be dark. Don't remove the tea bag.
  3. Now soak the white baby socks in the tea bath for 40 to 50 minutes.
  4. Remove the socks and set them outside on a glass surface to dry. Make sure that you don't leave these to dry on top of something that you care not to stain! Do not dry the socks in a drying machine. The tea dye will leave a residue that may stain other clothes. Do not rinse out the socks either, this will remove some of the tea stain.
  5. Now stuff the socks with a poly-fill batting. 
  6. Wrap a small strand of embroidery around the middle of each sock to create a segmented looking snowman.
  7. Sew over this knotted floss, a small clipping of wool for the snowman's scarf.
  8. Twist the wire stem with leaves into a wreath shape and tack this element onto the front of the snowman's belly with thread so that he looks as if he is holding the miniature wreath.
  9. Sew on his button nose and add two little black "cross stitch" eyes.
  10. Cut from the plaid felt two triangle shapes and sew these right sides together leaving the shortest end of the triangle open to fit on top of your snowman's head.
  11. Turn the little hat right sides out and stitch the pointed hat to the top of the snowman's head.
  12. Push the wire hook through the back side of the knit material to hang up your primitive snowman. 
  13. Not only does he look cute, he smells good too!

2 comments:

  1. Kathy, please make more primitive ornament crafts here. I have a few ornaments from the 80s and I need many more in order to decorate a table top tree for my little shop. Have any more ideas?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I will think more on designs for primitive trees in the following year. Right now I am simply waiting for the old year to end before publishing. I love American primitive trees. Although these are not too terribly trendy right now, they are definitely appropriate for particular surroundings. My mother-in-law, for example, had a perfect home for such a theme because she collected Early American furnishings.

    ReplyDelete

Constructive comments are appreciated. All comments are moderated and do not immediately appear after publishing. I don't publish spam folks. Thanks and have a nice day!