How to Make Gnomes Out of Socks
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Learn how to make gnomes out of socks, that as an easy, adorable craft project. Handmade sock gnomes are the perfect addition to your tiered trays, bookshelves or anywhere you want to add a little bit of whimsy and color.
Gnomes aren’t just for gardens and flowerbeds anymore. You can’t walk into a home decor store these days without seeing gnomes of all shapes, sizes and colors. They’re on everything from decorative plates to wall clocks and so much more. But best of all, they’re super easy to make as DIY crafts. In today’s tutorial, I’ll show you how to make gnomes out of socks.
How to Make Gnomes Out of Socks
I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love the adorable gnomes at the home decor stores. But they can tend to get pretty pricey, and I can’t always find the exact theme or color I am looking for. Learning how to make gnomes out of socks is the best way to get exactly what you want for your home decor.
Sock gnomes are the perfect size to add to little spots that just need a little something extra. My favorite place to put them is in and around my coffee bar, and they also make fantastic little gifts to give with holiday or seasonal-themed hats.
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Craft Tools Needed:
Supplies:
Tips to make gnomes out of socks:
Sizing your gnome hat
While I give general dimensions in the instructions, your gnome may be bigger or smaller. To measure the hat size, wrap the bottom edge of your fabric around the area on the gnome you would like to put it and add one inch; this is how wide your widest part of the triangle will be. you can then cut along the vertical lines to create a tall hat as long as you would like.
Filling Your Gnome
The easiest way to fill your gnome with dry rice is to fill up a jar or cup with the rice, wrap the sock opening around the top and “dump” it into the sock. Much easier than pouring and trying to hold the sock open at the same time.
What to fill your gnome with
It is important to start with something like dry rice, beans, or even weighted poly pellets. This helps keep your gnome upright. For the remainder of the filling, you can use cotton stuffing as you would for pillows or scraps of fabric; just be sure he is nice and fat.
Choosing the socks for your gnome
I like to use the thick fuzzy winter socks in a color that coordinates with the fabric but you can choose any sock style and size you like, even toddler socks for tiny little gnomes using the same process. Just remember that a bit of your sock will be showing on the finished gnome.
How to Make Gnomes Out of Socks
Equipment
Supplies
- 1 sock
- 1 cotton fabric
- 1 cotton stuffing
- 1 dry rice or beans
- 1 wooden bead
- 1 craft fur
Instructions
- Fill the sock about 1/3rd of the way with rice.
- Fill the remaining area with a cotton filler/batting to make it nice and full.
- Tie a knot in the top of the sock and cut off the excess.
- Cut the beard for your gnome a couple of inches longer than the filled socks. Starting from the knot, also make the width at the top long enough that it almost touches on the back. You want to use scissors or a straight edge knife to cut the beard only through the backing so that your beard stays shaggy rather than having a precise cut this will also cut down on the shedding.
- Attach the beard just under the knot with hot glue.
- Hot glue the wooden bead about 1" below the top of the beard. Hold in place until glue hardens.
- To create the long floppy hat, cut a tall triangle out of scrap cotton fabric, a good basic size is about 12"-14" tall and 8" across the widest point.
- Fold the triangle with the right sides touching and hot glue along the seam all the way from the top to the bottom.
- When glue is dry, turn the hat inside out, which will be right side out. To get the tip completely out, use a skewer or pencil to poke it out.
- Slip the hat over your gnomes head to just cover up the nose and secure in place with hot glue.
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What’s Next?
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