Sock Elephant Sewing Pattern

Just realized that I haven’t done any sock doll for more than a year, wow, how time flies!!! A while ago I received a message from a reader who is looking for  Sock Elephant Pattern, I feel bad that I have to answer her “Sorry, I do not have at the meantime” but now I am happy to answer her “YES, YES, YES, here it is!!!”. I can get excited every time I share a new pattern and tutorial, as I know that there is someone out there looking for it!

Just like all my sock doll designs, this sock elephant pattern doesn’t come easy. I have made 3 funny looking sock elephants before I am completely pleased with this pattern. Through the design process, I have gone through, I’ve learned that the ears of the elephant must be big enough to bring out the feature of an elephant. In order not to waste the sock material, I was trying to use up all from a pair of socks to sew the sock elephant, with that in mind I have to compromise with the size of the ears of the elephant, that was a huge, huge, huge  mistake where I end up with a sock animal that looks like rate but with long nose . Therefore, I have to give in to use other fabrics to make up the big ears. Tada….. that’s the sock elephant I want, Ella, the Sock Elephant.

The pattern comes in 2 options, short legs sock elephant and long legs sock elephant. The short legs sock elephant is sewn from a pair of ankle socks while the long legs sock elephant is sewn from a pair of crew socks. The ears of the short legs sock elephant are full fabric while the long legs sock elephant has a half fabric ears (another half is from sock material). Another difference between these two versions is the size of the toes, short legs sock elephant has a smaller toe size which is made of white felt.

Sock Elephant -Free Sewing Pattern

scroll ⬇️to get the free pattern & tutorial

The sock elephant is about 10″ high if sew from an adult sock. Some socks yield bigger doll and some smaller, the size also depends on the amount of stuffing you put in. Besides adult sock, you may also use toddler or baby socks. The picture below shows the toddler sock elephant and baby sock elephant which were sewed from toddler and baby socks respectively. If you are using plain socks to sew the sock elephant, you may add a patterned sock as the shirt of the sock elephant before sewing up the arms (just like what I did for the gray sock elephant below).

The color of the socks brings personality to the sock elephant, at times you will be surprised and get amused by how the sock elephant turns out. It happens to me all the time, this time I laughed out loud to see my sock elephant with chickenpox infection, that’s when I used a red polka-dot on cream base to sew, so choose your sock carefully. I especially love the black/ blue with white stripes sock elephant below,  the color makes me feel calm and the little feet are so cute.

Hope you having fun time sewing Ella the sock elephant! Ping me (via the contact form) with your photos of sock elephant after you have done it.

Happy Sewing!

Sock Elephant

Ella

Difficulty: Intermediate
Finished size: 10″ H
Download and print separately: Sock Elephant Pattern Template

Descriptions:
Ella, the sock elephant is an easy-going elephant. It has a calm personality and no-big-deal on almost everything. Ella loves to tuck it’s hand into the pocket and stroll slowly in the park, watching the little ones playing while enjoying the peaceful life around.

Materials:
Make: 1
1. Sock, ankle-length or crew length, 1 pair
2. Button eye 8mm dome-shaped, black, 2; or equivalent button
3. White felt – 1.5″ x 1.5″ if use ankle socks, 2.5″ x 2.5″ if use crew socks
4. Fabrics, 5″ x 4″ – 4 pcs if use ankle socks, 2 pcs if use crew socks
5. Poly-fill stuffing material
6. Sewing threads (matching colors)
7. Sock Elephant Pattern Template

Tools:
1. Sewing machine, or, you can hand-sew without a machine
2. Long sewing needle (about 2″), tapestry needle and pins
3. Water Soluble Fabric Marker
4. Scissors
5. Blunt point tweezers
6. Spray bottle filled with water

Seam Allowance: approx. 1/8″ – 1/4″ (loose-knit and thinner sock material need to have bigger seam allowance as the loose-knit can be ripped off easily.)

Note:
Since the sock is stretched after stuffed, thick sock with close-knit yields better quality than thin sock.
Click here to shop for other socks to make Sock Elephant
Tips:
Always massage the stuffing to loosen the lumps. Roll any long tubular parts with both hands to smooth out the lumps, it will also help to make the parts longer and firmer.
Secure the knot
Secure the knot by inserting the needle between the 2 threads.

The knot is locked with the sock and it won’t slip away through the knits when you pull the thread during sewing.

Gather the materials and tools needed to sew the sock elephant. You can use socks of ankle-length or crew length to sew.
Crew length is longer so you can sew the sock elephant with longer legs. Beside longer legs, the crew length sock will have enough materials to sew one facing of the ears with sock material.
Whilst, ankle-length will yield a cute little foot and full fabric of ears for the sock elephant.

Both pictures above show how to trace your sock elephant pattern on the ankle and crew socks respectively. The Sock Elephant Pattern Template has the ankle-length template but it includes the templates for the toe (big and small) as well. You can easily adapt the pattern for the crew length. Not all socks are made with the same width and length, you will need to adjust and hand sketches the template on the sock with a water-soluble fabric marker. Red dashed line is the sewing line, while the blue line is the cutting line.

Sew the socks before cutting with a seam allowance of 1/8″ – 1/4″. Those marked with “X” are to be trashed away or keep as a stash for your next sock doll sewing project.

Flatten the tip of the nose and sew a straight line with curved ends.

[Top] Place the ears pieces together with right side facing each other, sew around and leave 1 inch opening at the bottom.
[Bottom] Turn right side out from the 1″ opening. Sew to close the opening.

[Top] Fold the ear into halve to get the centerline, then fold 1/3 mark to the center to form the pleat (as shown in the picture).
[Bottom] Sew the bottom to secure the pleat that formed the shape of the ear.

Cut the tailpiece to 5.5″ long.

Fold up the long sides and sew the tail into a long round strip.

All pieces of sock elephant are ready for stuffing and sewn up.

Stuff the nose first followed by the head. Also, stuff the feet then the body.
[update:] In order for the elephant to sit on its own, do not stuff the groin line (between the legs and the body), massage to separate the stuffing material at that area. Once the legs are able to bend, the elephant will sit on its own.
Make sure the stuffing is firm and shapeable.

Sew to gather the opening of the body in the round. Pull the thread tight to close the opening, knot the thread. Set the body aside while waiting for the head to get ready.

Bring the raw edges of the head opening together and sew to close it.

The seam line after the opening of the head is closed. It is ok if it is not perfectly sewn, this part is hidden after sewing up with the body.

Mark the position of the ear placement on both side; start at the seam line of the toe part of the sock towards the bottom of the head.

Sew to attach the ear. Sew both front and back of the ear to the head.

Bend the bottom edge of the ear down and place it at an angle of 45° backward. Sew 1″ from the ear.

Repeat the ear sewing process to the other side of the ear.
Mark the eye positions of the sock elephant. Pinch your elephant with 2 fingers to find the eye positions you prefer.

Sew a button eye on the marking, knot and insert your needle onto the head and come out from another eye. You will need a long needle to do this.

Pull the needle from another eye marking to sink the button eye deep into the head, deeper than what you prefer. Knot the thread on the marking before sewing the second button eye. The second eye will sink into the head as well due to the tension of the thread. Sew the thread back to the first eye and knot, this is to further secure the indentation of the eye.

Trace and cut out the toes of the sock elephant if you haven’t done it yet.
Now, all parts are ready to be put together.

Mark the sewing lines on the head and body respectively. I want the head to slightly looking down so I shift the sewing lines toward the front of the body.

Pin the head to the body and sew around.
I usually sew 2 rounds to make them hold extremely well.

Mark 2 lines at the side of the body, 2″ to 2.5″ apart, this is the sewing lines to make the “arm” of the sock elephant.

Sew ladder stitches between these 2 lines, don’t pull the thread yet. Besides making loose sewing, leave a long thread in between stitches along the loop.

Pull the thread gently but firmly from the long thread loop, the sock will bump up and the “arm” of the sock elephant will form.
Knot the thread.

You may sew back to further secure the stitching.

Fold 1/2″ at one of the ends of the tail, sew to attach it to the back of the sock elephant.
Knot the other end as shown in the picture.

Stitch the felt toes to the feet of the sock elephant.
Spray water to the sock elephant to erase all the marking made by Water Soluble Fabric Marker. Leave to dry.
~~Done~~

Hello, I am Ella the sock elephant. How are you doing today?