The Great Tube Sock Rescue Tutorial

The tube sock rescue mission worked extremely well, so as promised, here's a tutorial.

Step one: Match all the socks you plan to rescue into pairs, turn them inside out and lay them on top of each other. Make sure the tops of the socks are lined up but don't stress of the bottoms (the part that the toe goes into) aren't perfectly lined up.

Step Two: Determine how much you need to cut off. You want to go far enough to eliminate the worn area while keeping in mind the length of the foot that uses the socks. Bear in mind that socks do stretch.

Step Three: Take a deep breath and make the cut. You need to cut through both socks of the pair at the same time to ensure the socks will be the same length when finished. Make the edges of this cut slightly rounded. Use the existing toe of the sock as a guide for how much to round.


Step Four: Separate the socks and pin the toes together. I know its a small seam but I found the loopy, strectchy material of the socks really made machine sewing a pain in the rear. Putting three pins in really made sewing much easier. But hey, if you're gutsy enough to skip the pins, do it proudly.


Step Five: Sew a straight seam across the toe of the sock. Turn your sock around with the needle still in the fabric and then sew a zigzag stitch. How wide should this seam be? The answer is, as narrow as possible so the toes don't feel bunchy when worn. Trim any edges that stick out beyond the zigzag stitch. Sew the second sock the same way.


Step Six: Turn your socks right side out and use an indelible marker to put a symbol on the bottom of these two socks identifying them as a pair. I did this because I found each pair of socks I rescued was a slightly different length. Marking them keeps the same length socks together. I used stars, squares, smiley faces, triangles, etc.


Here's the happy recipient of the rescued socks. He's extra thrilled because he always hated the long tube socks.