7 ways to save your old socks

Socks often seem like something unimportant: they tend to wear quickly, and they are your washing machine's favourite snack. Still it's worth it to not just throw them out when they are end-of-life, but to see whether you can revive them. Read on to find out 7 different ways in which you can save them from your garbage can.

1. Patch them up

1. Find a stretchy piece of fabric that's large enough to cover the area you want to patch up. Think worn t-shirts, or a piece from another worn sock.
2. Place your fabric piece on your sock. Pay attention to how it stretches. Your sock needs to stretch sideways, so make sure that the stretch of your fabric matches the stretch of your sock.
3. Cut your patch so it fits your sock.
4. Pin in place.
5. Sew in place using a blanket stitch.

2. Darn your sock

1. Take some colourful floss, a blunt needle and a round and sturdy object such as a darning egg . You can find this all in our sock darning kit. If you want, you can use matching floss, but it will be harder on your eyes to work like that, and will look a bit more boring.
   
2. Sew your whefts first. These are the vertical threads that form the basis of the weaving you're about to do.
3. Now weave horizontally. Move your needle up - down - up - down along your whefts.
4. Anchor your floss each time you reach the end of a row. Do so by moving up 1 stitch.
5. Repeat until you have filled up the (w)hole area.

3. Go for a sturdy mend with Scotch darning

When you are scotch darning you actually make a number of blanket stitches next to, under and on top of each other. In doing so, you make your mend extra strong. And you can use it to go in different directions and to create some fun designs.

4. Imitate the original stitches with Swiss darning

The swiss darning technique - also called duplicate stitch - is ideal to prolong the life of your knitted socks. You take some yarn that is the same weight as your sock, and you recreate the original stitches.

5. Turn them into a sock horse

Are you stuck with an orphaned sock because its partner was devoured by the washing machine? Guide it towards a new adventure by turning it into a sock horse. Check tip number 7 for the stuffing, btw.

6. Use them as rags

No knights or amazones in the neighbourhood? Use your orphaned socks as a rag. To shine your shoes, for example.

7. Make sock stuffing

Not in need of more rags? Cut your worn socks up into tiny bits and pieces, and use them as stuffing. For homemade poufs, or for sock horses, for example.

Bonus tip

Combine different techniques, en let your creativity flow. You've got nothing to lose, after all.

Want to find out more on how to mend socks and other clothing? Check our tutorials and our workshops!