Recycled Baby Socks Make Cute Doll Dresses

When I was in middle school, my mother started buying my sister and I collectible dolls from Effanbee. I’m not sure what prompted my mother to start a collection for us, but I ended up with the Wizard of Oz collection, and my sister ended up with the International Collection.

These dolls stood in their stands, on our dressers, until I moved out of my childhood home and into my first apartment with my husband. Somehow, I didn’t think he’d be too keen about staring at an army of collectible dolls, so I carefully packed them in a box labeled “Do Not Throw Out – Denine’s Dolls”.

I forgot about the Wizard of Oz gang until recently, when my sister showed up at my house with the box in tow. I couldn’t believe it – apparently, my dad made my sister take the box with her when she moved out. Ha!

Anywho, I showed the dolls to my 2 1/2 year old daughter and she promptly stripped them naked. I washed their original clothes, but her chubby little toddler fingers couldn’t fasten the teeny-tiny buttons.

I sensed that we were on the verge of a Baby-Girl breakdown, so in a moment of sheer desperation, I created the “Sock Dress”. She loves the dresses so much that I am now in the process of creating a whole new wardrobe for the Wizard of Oz gang!

Have fun upcycling all of those unmatched baby socks that are collecting dust in your child’s closet. Their naked dolls will thank you!

 

RECYCLED SOCK DRESSES

Materials:

• Old mismatched baby socks
• Marking pencil
• Scissors
• Sequins, if you want to jazz it up
• Sewing needle & thread, if using sequins

Directions:

Step 1: Gather up some old unmatched baby socks.

Step 2: Pull the sock up over naked doll’s body and cut off the toe area (just cut right on the seam). Then pull the dress up until her derriere fits into the heel of the sock.  Move the doll’s arms upward, and using a pencil, draw a line right under each armpit. (Make sure your pencil mark stays true to the width of her arm pit or else your arm hole will be too wide.)

Step 3: Remove the dress from the doll, and carefully cut holes where the arms need to go. Then, place an index finger into the arm hole, and sew around the edges of the hole to keep the arm holes from fraying.

Step 4: Find another sock that has a bound edge, and cut off the banded part to use as a headband. Sew a fun sequin on top and place on the doll’s head.

Step 5: Pull the sock dress back onto the doll. Roll any excess tubing of the sock downwards into a lovely cowl neck. Sew sequins onto the frayed hem to finish the dress!

Thanks for reading,

Denine

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