Sock Monkey Business

I have a new respect for sock monkeys. I thought they were a cute but simple craft project— you cut a pair of socks into a few pieces, did some sewing, added stuffing and button eyes— ta-daa, you’re done! A classical American toy now is ready to take it’s place in your home, charming the hearts of children and adults alike.

So when I first thought of sewing sock monkeys with my nieces (four girls between ages one and twelve) while they stayed with me for a day, the plan sounded easy. Mom agreed, “That’s a great idea.”

To make the sock monkeys, I brought four pairs of Red Heel Socks, which are designed to create sock monkeys. Technically, you can wear the Red Heel socks, too, but they look uncomfortable to me. Mom had all the poly stuffing, ribbon, buttons, and thread needed, so we were set to go.

Two days before my nieces came, I decided to sew my youngest niece’s monkey to practice. Rachel’s only one-year-old, so she wouldn’t mind not witnessing her monkey’s creation.

You can see my first sock monkey in the above photo. The process took longer than I expected, and Miss Monkey wound up with a runner and some extra stitches in her bottom, hence the fluffy tutu.

When my nieces—Sarah, Nora, Rebekah, and Rachel— arrived at our house on Saturday morning, they were immediately delighted with Rachel’s monkey and thrilled about making their own.

However, Sarah innocently threw a monkey wrench into our plans by announcing, “I’m going to make two sock monkeys, since Hannah and I want to put them into our bedroom.”

Hannah is the oldest of the sisters, and she wasn’t along for the day. “What are we going to do?” I whispered to Mom. “I only have socks to make three more monkeys. I wasn’t counting on Hannah wanting a monkey.”

Mom is a quick-thinking grandmother. “You watch the girls. I’ll go get more socks.”

I feed Rachel her breakfast as the oldest girls played dolly. Mom returned with the socks, which come in packs of two pairs. I decided I’d make a sock monkey for myself with the extra pair.

So now we were running behind schedule on the monkey business, and what’s more, we had five monkeys to sew instead of three. I began cutting out monkey legs, arms, tails, snouts, and ears as fast I dared. There isn’t much excess sock, and making a wrong cut would mean a monkey with a missing body part. I didn’t want to make another monkey sock run, so I cut very carefully.

The girls loved stuffing the main body of their monkeys. Rebekah and Nora also loved pulling the poly stuffing out and throwing it on the floor, which isn’t a good thing with a one-year-old crawling around.

By lunchtime, I was sewing together monkey pieces as fast as I could. There wasn’t much the girls could help with anymore. After lunch, Dad did the dishes and Mom began to help stitch monkeys together.

The most time-consuming part of making sock monkeys is stuffing and stitching the arms, tail, ears, and snout. Rebekah would occasionally ask me if her monkey was finished yet (no, not yet) and if I could read a story or play Go Fish? (Do you want this monkey or not, Rebekah?)

By the time the girls’ parents and their older sister arrived to pick them up, monkey parts were stacked in piles on the kitchen table. Hannah pitched in and began to help Mom and I stuff and sew.

The three of us hand-stitched and stitched. We added the eyes, the pom-poms, the tulle tutus (what started as a cover-up for a mistake was a hit. )

By the time we finished at eight o’clock, the younger girls had long since gone home with their parents. Wearily, I snapped a few photos, and we packed up the monkeys to take them home.

One sock monkey stayed home with me, the one with buttons instead of a tutu. Even though I don’t want to sew another sock monkey for a long time, I’m glad five of my nieces now have their own sock monkeys. It practically makes me a monkey’s aunt!