Starting Over With Holey Socks

I am a no-shoes kind of girl.  My husband is an always-wear-shoes-every-second-that-he's-awake kind of guy.  Opposites attract, right?  Anyway, it's really surprising to me that he is the one to wear holes in his socks.

He's been a really good sport about it, just asking me now and then if I could pick up some new socks next time I'm at the store.  Unfortunately, not only am I terrible at remembering things like this (can I still blame pregnancy brain?  Or maybe the baby?), but it seems as though the kind of socks he likes - black cotton tube socks - aren't even being sold anymore (except in single packs for like $5 per pair... not going to happen in this house).  I looked at three or four stores - no luck.

Then the other day I was folding laundry and looking at those sad, holey socks, feeling kind of terrible that he was still wearing them when they were getting so worn out.  ...No wait, look again, they're not worn out at all, they just have a hole right where his big toe is.

These are actually my feet, modeling my husband's holey socks.
(And artfully covering up the dirty dishes in my sink.)

And inspiration struck.

If the socks are tube socks, then they don't even have a "heel".  And if they're not worn out at all, then why not sew up the toes just past where the holes are?  They'd be like brand-new socks, all over again!

I picked out five of the worst pairs, that really should have been thrown away already, in case my bright idea wasn't as wonderful as I was picturing.

Then I got out my sewing machine and was getting ready to wind my bobbin with black thread to match the socks, when it occurred to me that the orange thread already on it would make it way easier to see where I'd sewn, and thus easier to cut right alongside the seam.  Plus, no one sees the toes of your socks anyway, so even if the orange showed, who cares?

I turned all the socks inside out, and based on how far up the holes were, I decided to sew a one-inch seam.  Then I cut right next to the seam, only about 1/8 inch from it, and then zig-zagged along that tiny seam allowance.  If I owned a serger, I'd use that.  But sewing with small stitches and then zig-zagging is a good alternative.

 

Here I am, sewing my one-inch seam allowance.

Can you see my orange thread?  No?  Well, that's okay, because you can see it in real life.

Cut off the holey toe, so that your seam is only 1/8 inch, then zigzag it to keep it from coming apart.

Here are the four socks I sewed this morning, all lined up.  You can see that they kind of look ruffly, which seems weird, but it's okay, because they are just fine when you wear them.

I turned the socks right side out to check... they are perfect!  Just an inch shorter is all.  You can't tell a difference between the ones I sewed and the ones I didn't, except for the holes.  I even had my husband try them on to make sure, and he loved them.

Me again, wearing my husband's non-holey-toed socks!

(Whoops, this time you can see my grocery bags on the floor, and dishes in the sink.)

 

 



Success!

Don't be afraid to try this at home!  It took me less than a minute per sock, start to finish.  I do realize that not everyone wears tube socks, but if the only thing wrong with a pair of socks is a hole or two at the toe, go ahead and sew them up, and then just pass them on to the person with the next-smaller size feet.

Kate