# Short introduction to the use of sewing machines/Sewing labs/Socks

Making socks with sewing machines.
In this tutorial we will learn how to make socks that fit properly to the shape and wide of our foots.

## Preparation

Socks can be made with a single piece of fabric, but also with more than one part; With two, three or more pieces of fabric. The following items may be needed:
A fabric with a size of at least 40 inches x 20 inches, this will be enough to make at least one pair of socks.
A protractor
Scissors
Sewing machine, thread and needle.

### Material selection

Select an elastic fabric, this is due the fact that the upper part is shorter than the middle parts of the socks.
An advantage of this, is that you can use natural and organic materials (example: Cotton), the texture, the thickness of the sock and also use breathable materials. An option could be: Solid Stretch Sateen Fabric 95 % cotton 5 % Spandex.

## Making socks with one piece of fabric
### 1.- Taking measures for the template

This can be done with measures taking directly from the shape of your foot, or using one of your socks to copy the measures.

#### Taking measures directly from your feet

* Take the measure of how tall you want your sock in inches: ___ in
* Take a measure of the length of your foot in inches: ___ in
* Create a template using this 2 measures.

#### Taking measures from socks

Use a pair of your socks and take measures of them:
Side of the sock:
* Upper extreme: In this case: 3 inches.
* Middle area (the widest area): 6 inches.
* Wider area close to the lower end: 4 inches.
* The lower part does not has a measure since is an arc, it does not has measure, it is rounded, and is the last part of the foot.
Length of the sock: 16 inches from top to bottom, also measure:
* Distance from the center to the top: 7 inches.
* Distance from the upper part until the area where the socks become wider: 4 inches.
* Distance from the center to where the upper part becomes of the same wide: 3 inches.
* Distance from the center to the lower end of the sock: 8 inches.
* Distance from the lower section were the socks are wider to the center of the sock: 6 inches.
* Distance from the lower wide section to the end of the sock: 2 inches.

### 2.- Drawing the socks lines in the fabric

Create a model for your template:
Taking in mind that we are going multiply by 2 the previous measures, since they will be for the frontal and the other side of the sock and will be sew together to make the sock with a single piece of fabric.
Use a protractor to measure the angle in which the lower part is oriented: In this case 240 degrees, you can also change it.

### Measures

The length of the sock will not change.
* Upper area of the sock: 6 inches, we will use 8 inches for the test.
* Medium area: 16 inches.
* Lower wide area: 12 inches.
* A dot 2 inches after the lower area.
Drawing the template:
We will use a fabric 20 inches wide by 20 inches long for the first sock.
Mark a dot in the the center of the fabric.
Mark a line in 30 degrees up from the left side, and this will be the center, make it 16 inches long, this will be the wide of the socks. This will be a 150 angle.
Mark a line 8 inches long 30 degrees to the left of the sock, if we use as reference the vertical straight upper part of the sock (this is a 210 degrees angle). This is the lower part of the sock.
Draw the shape of the sock and sew it.

## Making socks with two piece of fabric

For this way of making socks you can use a pair of socks and cut two pieces of the same shape or you can also use the previous template to make the two pieces.
Once you have the 2 pieces cut, sew them together.

## Notes

Even is this is the process to make personalized socks, once you see the best template for you socks, you can mass produce socks for your own use, since they will fit correctly to the form of your foot.

## Also see

https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Socks