Ladies, Start Your Sewing Machines!

There are so many things that I WISH, WISH, WISH people had told me much sooner than I figured out on my own. Here's something I did this morning that I would love to share with any of you who sew (particularly for little girls). I'm sure many of y'all have figured out that I am one of the cheapest persons on the planet (my mom may come in first, sorry mom!). However, I do enjoy nice things... so what do you do when you like the niceties in life but can't AFFORD them... you make them!



When Erika and I went to our grandfather's funeral last year we stopped at Sikes & Kohn's. If you've ever been to the beach (north FL) from B'ham or further north you've passed it between Montgomery & Troy... it's the giant shoe store. The store is easy to miss; the shoe billboards are not. Anyway, I bought Morgan 3 pairs of precious eyelet ruffled socks for $6 a pair. I know, it's crazy to spend that on socks but they were super cute and I loved them (& we've managed to keep up with them). Well, this week I went to Target and bought these....

And this morning I made these...

For the price of 1 pair of socks, I made 3 pairs (earlier today I said 6... I got confused) and probably could have done more had I bought more eyelet. I bought the ruffled eyelet trim at Walmart for $1.32 a yard. I would estimate that 3 yards of eyelet trim would do 6 pairs of socks.

Here's a quick tutorial on how to do it...

** Never turn the socks inside out... always keep them just as they would be if you were putting them on. It only takes one stitch: ZIG-ZAG

First, starting at the back of the sock zig-zag the eyelet around the top of the sock. The eyelet will slightly overlap the sock on top. Slightly stretch the top of the sock as you attach the eyelet, this will allow enough "give" to get them on comfortably. Here's a picture for the visual learners out there.

Before you go ALL the way around stop just short of reaching the point where to started. Remove the sock and cut off the excess trim.

Next you will put the eyelet trim right sides together like this... (still not turning the sock inside out)

Then you will do a "tighter" zig-zag to bind the ends of the eyelet together. It will not look beautiful or "finished" but because you turn them down the other side looks finished.

Trim away your strings and turn down the sock... voila, a cute little sock for a fraction of one just like it!

Here's where you stop at the back of the sock. Not absolutely perfect, but as my grandmother would say, "On a galloping horse, who would know!"
Ok, stay tuned to see what I did with this $40 worth of fabric...

I'm 1/2 way done so here's a hint...
Have a wonderful weekend... and y'all have to let me know if you make any SOCKS! :)