Wait! Don't throw out your favourite pair of socks just because they have a hole in them. With a needle, thread and you can fix them in about 3 minutes. How to darn a sock ...
Darning socks is something I started doing when I was a kid. It was one weird thing in a long list of weird things that interested me. My mother, who had fun making her own hats, bras, porcelain dolls, clothing, stained glass, folk art, and wool washing soap - thought my sock darning habit was ridiculous.
Which makes no logical sense yet here we are.
Even if you don't have any socks to mend this same method will work on anything. It's basically how to sew a hole on any piece of fabric or clothing.
I understand there aren't many of you that want to know how to darn a sock, (a term I'm using loosely) but if you have a favourite pair and particularly long toenails, it's something that might interest you.
Most of the sock darning in this household is done on my pajama socks. The big, ugly, cushy socks I like to wear instead of slippers. I have an unexplainable attachment to these socks. They're like blankies for my feet.
So in an effort to get even closer to my childhood dream of becoming a scullery maid, I darn my own socks.
Again, I'm using the term darn loosely. Darning involves weaving thread so it mimics fabric. What I'm doing here is sewing up a sock the same way you'd sew together a sweater. It's a technique that is close to invisible and doesn't leave a big lump in the sock which would be annoying on the bottom of your foot.
How to Darn a Sock.
You'll need:
Thread in a colour similar to the sock
A tennis ball, light bulb or any other round object
A needle
A Sock with a hole in it
Step 1 - Place your sock over a tennis ball or lightbulb
(you can also just stick your hand inside the sock if you prefer).
Step 2 - Thread your needle
(I am using white thread just to make it easier for you to see what I'm doing in the pictures)
Step 3 - Tie a knot in the end of your thread then insert needle on the inside of sock.
(this way your knot will be on the inside of the sock. There are other more complicated ways to start your line where you have no knot at all, but I'm keeping it simple here)
Step 4 - Pull your thread through, leaving the knot on the inside of the sock.
Step 5 - With your needle, pick up one single stitch at the edge of the right side of your hole.
Step 6 - Pull your thread all the way through, without pulling it tight.
Step 7 - Insert your needle under a single thread to the left of the hole.
Step 8 - Pull your thread through without pulling it tight. You're creating a criss cross pattern on TOP of the sock.
Continue this pattern moving from left to right.
Step 9 - Once you get to the top of the hole, gradually move your stitches closer together.
Step 10 - Gently start to pull the thread. This will close up the hole.
Step 11 - Insert needle back into the spot it last came out, picking up a thread or two.
Step 12 - Pull the thread almost all the way through, leaving a small loop at the end.
Step 13 - Bring your needle back around and stick it into the loop.
Step 14 - Pull the thread tight to create a knot.
Step 15 - Insert your needle at the top of the repair and let it come out about halfway down.
Step 16 - Pull the thread all the way through.
Step 17 - Snip the tail end of the thread off close to the sock with scissors.
Done!
(remember you can see the seam on this sock because I used white thread to make it easier for you to see ... use the appropriate coloured thread and it'll be invisible)
Now here's the funny part. These socks are so worn out ... I've decided to finally chuck 'em. By the time you read this post, they'll be gone.
Speaking of which, I just remembered it's garbage night. A scullery maid's work is never done. Darn it.
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Colleen Smith
A woman after my own heart. I love my wool socks and darn them until there is almost nothing left of the original sock. My darning looks a bit funky as I just use whatever leftover pure wool that I have in my knitting basket. The grandkids have started bringing their favorites to me for a little TLC as well.
Steph
OMG this is the first post of yours I ever read, the post that led me to your blog! I am grateful to my boots for chewing up a brand new wool sock, partly because you helped me fix it, partly because I love reading your blog, but mostly because I got to know Cuddles :-)
Karen
:) Cuddles. :( My pet chicken. Baby, who replaced her is SUCH a miserable, mean chicken. She's the polar opposite of Cuddles. ~ karen!
Terri J.
I am so glad you posted this! I've been mourning a pair of my favorite socks that have a hole. They were headed to the rag pile but now have been given a reprieve. Your site is one of best...where you actually learn something with humor!!
Karen
Thanks for saying so Terri! ~ karen
Alena
I have always darned my socks but my method is very different from yours (most likely because ummmm I always procrastinate until the hole is twice the original size. But, back home, we could buy special darning yarn and not being able to find it here now I chuck them.
AmyinStL
For my birthday this year my 89 year old mother gave me a basket of sockdarning tools. Including the thread and her mother's handblown glass egg for darning. I've been trying to figure out where to put the basket when she's here for Easter, because it's never being used! I don't even fix hand knit socks! Do you want one of the wood molds?
Karen
That sounds like a great present, lol! I mean ... most scullery maids would love it. ~ karen!
Mary W
Who a thunk a post about darning socks would have so many readers interested - Karen that's who. I read every comment as well as the fun instructions. I go through socks like crazy - a cheapo bag of 5 pair almost every other month. I try to find the thickest men's sock in Walmart, but alas, they keep tricking you with grey colored yarn in the heel and toes - not thicker yarn - just grey colored! I get a tiny hole in the heel within weeks and throw so many away - thought I was doomed. Now I can just fix the little buggers and go on. NEVER thought I would darn my socks. But looks easy and fast. Maybe you should get that wood carver friend to make some delicious wooded eggs with beautiful wood and sell them. Plastic easter eggs, light bulbs, maracas (my favorite) and balls all sound like great relpacements but nothing makes a crafter happier than owning an expensive hand made tool to do a job by hand in order to save money! I kept thinking that blowing the egg out and filling it with plaster would work. The other alternatives are so much easier. Darning with music (maraca style) sounds more fun.
TucsonPatty
"...But nothing makes a crafter happier than owning an expensive hand made tool to do a job by hand in order to save money!..." Make that "a *very* expensive tool to save a *little* money!" My favorite sentence, and a past-time that is one of my shortcomings at times.
Mary W
My shortcoming also, at MANY times.
Dawn Wang
LOLOLOL!!! I'm pretty sure we're cousins!
Darning is the best. It's not just for lonely people anymore- Father McKenzie really just darned his socks in the night when nobody was there... because his Mom had told him it was ridiculous too, so he hid his habits from others. 😉
Love you K!!
A fan from Texas!
Karen
Thanks Dawn! ~ karen!
TucsonPatty
Is it weird that I enjoy darning by hand and with my sewing machine? Because I do. Enjoy it. A lot. I really enjoy mending all sorts of things, and am also known for being somewhat of a glue aficionado. That could be another post - which glue for which application. Thanks for the reminder that there are a couple of different ways to mend/darn a sock.
Karen
"... am also known for being somewhat of a glue aficionado.", lol. Only on this blog would that be a comment! ~ karen!
TucsonPatty
: )
Mike A
You didn't darn it, you sewed it. I really wish people who don't know how to darn would stop making posts about darning when they are simply sewing a sock.
Dawn Wang
Gosh
Megan
Thanks for such an easy tutorial! I did manage to attach the first one to the tennis ball, but aside from that, all good! :-)
I'm so glad I found this post, as I had holes in the toes of 4 bamboo socks, and I love them so much, I couldn't bear to throw them out! Now I don't have to :-)
Karen
LOL! I can't even stand a fluff in my socks, I can't imagine how awful a tennis ball in the toe would feel. ;) ~ karen!
Emmett Hoops
This is a really helpful article. Good photos, good descriptions -- easy enough for me, a guy who hates throwing out a decent pair of socks just because one of the pair has a hole, but who has never sewn anything properly in his life. If you were a neighbor who'd given me this advice, I'd invite you over for coffee and stollen. Consider yourself appreciated.
Herb
Here's the typical, male, hasn't-got-a-clue plea:No one ever tells you how long to make the thread at the start!?!?
Dev
It's up to you, but most will reccomend a thread that is as long as you can sew with comfortably. If you think about it, you have to pull your hands apart by the length of the thread after every stitch. It will get annoying if the thread is too long. (If you really want a number, try 3 feet long and adjust as needed.) Most people figure this out after they sew with a too-long thread a couple times, so there is little need to specify.
Lisa Smith
3 feet seems excessive for socks. When I'm sewing something small, I usually hold the end of the thread with my left hand and cut the thread by my elbow
eye veins
if you sew or mend much, hard to make it too long, as you'll find use for the string left through the needle whenever you have left over.
Gigi
To call this isn't "darning." This is just stitching a hole shut.
Gigi
Sorry my last message was scrambled. Just wanted to say that this is not true "darning."
Karen
Assuming darning only refers to creating a woven thread is a common misunderstanding.
darning: verb (used with object)
1. to mend, as torn clothing, with rows of stitches, sometimes by crossing and interweaving rows to span a gap. ~ karen!
Pam
Kudos for the definition for knit picker!!!
Cindy
This is the way Mama taught me to darn socks a very long time ago. I enjoyed reading your steps and watching your video clips. It brought back a lot of sweet memories. My daughter is a sock nut, so I'm going to refer her to your site to see this and then darn a sock or two with her. Thank you for posting this!
Curtis
I've been darning socks for years, only because a hole or real thin just drives me nuts as well as the knot. I just use a light bulb. When I get to the end & tie the knot. I leave roughly a 1/4" then just melt the thread & push a lighter against the thread to squish. This keeps it from coming apart, as well the knot is squished so it's less noticeable. I didn't know how to finish it, but figured when you hand sew something that's how you do it there, and it works for darning as well. Family members say "if you have a hole, to just get rid of them". I say why throw them if you can fix them, as I found out the other people on this sight agree. Way to go, keep on darning!!!!!
Cyndi
Perhaps I learned to darn much longer ago but I was always taught to make a ring of small running stitches around the outside of the hole, far enough away from the raw edge that they wouldn't pull out. Then stitch back and forth in one direction, from the bottom to the top of the hole, always starting and anchoring the stitch on each side at the ring of running stitches, and laying the threads close together. Then you start at the top of the hole, in the far left, and weave the needle and thread in and out of the previously laid stitches so you are, in essence, weaving a patch over the hole. Again, keep the stitches close together so the weaving is tight. Since the stitches are anchored out past the raw edge of the hole and they are woven, the strain of holding the patch in place is equally divided around the edge and is less likely to tear or pull open. :-)
Kathy
For those of you who want a frugal substitute for a darning egg, a plastic Easter egg works perfectly.
Rebecca
This was so helpful! Very easy to follow and the best tutorial I've found on how to darn socks! Thank-you so much for making this! :D
Tim long
Tks for info! Yes, there are guys that find socks with nice material & fit without falling apart as easy as the cheap one's made today! So, darning seems to be the way to go. Don't even have to pull these socks up every half hour. They just stay wrapped around calf ( lower leg ) all day. They ( socks ) can't leave!!!
Matt W
P.S.
Tennis ball worked great, keeps the hole stretched out so you can get a better view of the choice of threads your going to pick!