Darn it!

Winter is drawing nearer and colder weather is approaching. One of my favorite ways of keeping warm as the temperature becomes chilly is layering up with warm socks. I typically like to wear one longer layer up past my knees and another thick pair on top. However, I have found that many of my longer pairs of socks have some holes in the toes; when they are perfectly fine otherwise. So instead of making waste and adding my holey socks to the landfill as well as consuming more from the stores I mended my socks the old fashion way by darning them.

I am going to show you how you can do the same so you can  make your socks last longer. You can do this for already existing holes or areas that are just becoming threadbare.
 

Area needing fixed. Place a small container in sock for ease in sewing. I used a small vitamin container.

Take embroidery floss (which cost very little) and sew long stitches in one direction. The embroidery floss threads cab be divided in two so it is not as thick. Above I did this half in two different types of long stitches.

Then sew in the other direction, weaving through the previous stitches and remaining fabric.

All sewn up, the second half with the container inside which yielded neater stitches. You can also go back and reinforce areas as needed.

Finished!

You can also turn your sock inside out before you sew which makes it look very nice but is not as comfortable (which is very important since it could be more annoying as you walk). Keep this in mind as you make your beginning and ending knots as well.

Example sewn on wrong side and turn to the right side.

Sewn on the right side.

 There you are! You can match the threads with your socks or use what ever you have on hand like I did. It does not need to be pretty because it wont often be seen, making this a great starter project for learning to sew. I really enjoy doing this as I watch TV because its very easy and repetitive. I'm also glad that I don't need to buy more long socks!