For years I threw away old, used-up socks, but it always bothered me. Finally I decided to just start saving them in hopes that I would come up with some way of using them, and I did! A rug made from socks, an “upcycled socks rug”. So just in case anyone else is bothered by throwing away socks I thought I’d share my idea with you.

Here’s a picture of about a third of what I started with.

And here is a picture of one sock flattened and ready to be cut.

Snip off the toe end.

Then cut up the sock about every inch and a half. In the heel area I make some diagonal cuts to accommodate the shape there. Here’s what I got from one sock.

Next I looped one sock ring through another. I’m hoping you know how to do this because I couldn’t really take a picture of it. ☺ 

Just keep looping until you’ve used up all of your rings. I usually do several socks at once and get a long string of them. Notice the little white flecks on the table? You will be covered in those. Just a warning. ☺

Now turn one end on itself and sew it in place.

Just keep wrapping the socks around the centre and sewing it down. I used dark thread so you could hopefully see what I’m doing, but on the rug I’m making I’m using white thread since most of the socks are white.

This is what my rug looks like so far.

And one more pic to show you how big it is so far in relation to my foot. 🙂 It feels thick and plush.

I’m going to be giving this to my daughters for their bedroom when I finish. I’m enjoying working on this. It’s a nice project for when we sit together watching a movie. I always prefer to have some project to work on while watching something. Also, it makes me feel very pioneer-ish – using something old to make something new. I’m fulfilling a little girl’s dream of being just like Ma Ingalls.

Do you have orphaned or old socks hanging around? What do you do with them?