Hacking the Welly Sock

My first attempt at making Welly socks for my thrifted Hunter boots was a total hack job.  To construct the socks I cut the arms off an old fleece jacket and then attached a sock that I made by tracing my foot.

I left the seams on the outside to maximize the comfort and I was successful but I wouldn’t say they were pretty.

Enter version #2.  I’m so happy with how these turned out!

I made them out of a piece of butter-soft fleece given to me by a friend.  I think the fleece originally was a blanket of some sort.  This time I left the seams on the inside, but I did a nice overcast stitch with my machine to make it look pretty.  I also cut down on the number of seams so there wouldn’t be any irritation when wearing the boot.  The cuff is a double piece of fleece that really helps secure the sock over the boot.

I finished them off by adding a little flare.  Love it?  I do!  They turned out just as nice as anything I’d find in the store.

This is what my pattern looks like.  It’s about 24″ in length and though I could have made it shorter I think the extra length helps the sock not pull down when I walk.  The width at the calf is 8″.  The dotted line marks the place where I want to put the gussets for the heel and is placed at about my ankle bone.  Each sock consists of three pieces.  I traced the template exactly for for the front piece and then for the back piece I allowed an extra 4″ of material at the top.  When you are pinning the front and back together, start with the toe and the top.  Using a fabric marker, mark the dotted line on the back piece and use that as a guide for where to put the fold of extra material from the back piece.  This fold will be your gusset.

The cuff was a piece of material cut to 10″ by 16.5″.  I sewed the short ends together and folded the tube inside itself to hide the seams and give it a double thickness.

Here is a picture of how the pattern compares to my foot.  In the picture my foot has slid a little too far forward, but you get the idea.  Basically you want a nice roomy fit.

The actual construction of the sock is super easy.  Sew along the edges of the front and back piece, stopping at the fold and flipping the extra material out of your way before continuing on.  Once you’ve finished stitching, try the sock on your foot (inside out) and pin the gussets to fit your foot.  I removed the sock and used a fabric market to draw a line where my pins were, then I removed the pins and sewed on the line, trimming the excess material.  The cuff gets attached next, just make sure your sock is inside out when you pin the two together.  Sew around the edge and flip the sock right side out.  Lastly add some top stitching around the top edge to secure the cuff and tack on any flare you are wanting.

I know there will be more pairs in my future.   I think a cabled sweater would make a great cuff too.  So fun!