Fleece Socks

I made two pairs of fleece socks for my dad using this pattern.  This is the original pattern, but it has been reintroduced as pattern number F890:

I made the short socks in the style shown at the far left.  Instead of ribbing or binding, I turned under the hem and stitched it down.

I prewashed the lightweight fleece I got at JA's on sale.  I use vinegar in the rinse instead of fabric softener, which gives a waxy coating.  I used a size 75 stretch needle for the whole project:

I cut out the blue flecce ...

... and the red fleece ...

By the way, this is how I mark notches:

I pinned and stitched the heels of the socks:

I topstitched along the heel line, with the seam allowances held away from the foot:

With the sock assembly right side up and the top of the sock right side down ...

... I placed the sock top over the assembly, and pinned them together at the toe notch:

Starting at one side of the top, I pinned along the side, with no stretching needed ...

... until I reached the seam at the heel, where I placed on pin directly to each side:

I pinned the other side in the same way:

Then I pinned down each side of the foot area ...

... and continued around the toe area:

I stitched around each sock, leaving the top open:

I carefully turned a one-inch hem to the inside, pinned it well, and held it down with a zig-zag stitch:

I turned the socks right-side out, including pushing out the seams with my hand:

I carefully placed both socks on my work area with soles smoothed out and facing up:

I drew a design on one sole with fabric paint.  Any type of dimensional or puffy fabric paint will do:

I do not use fabric softener because it would make the paint not stick well:

I turned the other sock over, aligned it on top of the painted sock, and pressed down on the entire sock.  This embedded the paint into the fibers, which makes the paint stay attached to the fleece for a long time.

I flipped the top sock back over and set them out to let dry for a while:

After a few hours, I added more paint on top of the designs:

After drying overnight, I hung them out of the way to allow the paint to harden even more:

The socks will be ready to wrap tomorrow!

For ALL the pictures, click here.