Cowabunga!!! I’m back with an awesome free sewing pattern for a Sock Ninja Turtle Stuffed Animal, which was inspired by the cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
I had a lot of fun making these four Sock Ninja Turtle Toys. When I showed my kids and other family members the finished Ninja Turtle toy, they couldn’t believe that each turtle was made from two socks sewn together.

My original plan was to make just one Sock Ninja Turtle Toy, but now that I’ve made the first one, I can’t stop myself from making a whole set of four. You just can’t leave any of them out because they are all so different.
If you grew up in the 1970s or 1980s like I did, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT for short) were one of your favorite cartoon heroes. This set of stuffed turtles takes me back to the days when my siblings and I used to watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles together in front of the TV.
Those days were some of the best times of my childhood. I remember how interesting it was to watch the mutated turtle brothers learn and use ninjutsu to fight crime. In our wide-eyed childhood minds, we saw magic, hope, and justice. I love those times!!
The Sock Ninja Turtles are a group of mutant red-eared sliders with the names of four Renaissance artists. They live in the sewers of New York City, where they train as ninjas during the day and fight crime at night.
Please meet:

Leonardo
Leo is the smart and brave leader of the Sock Ninja Turtles. He is also a dedicated Ninjutsu student who wears a blue mask and uses a katana. He is strong and would do anything to keep his brothers safe. He is the most disciplined, has a good sense of strategy, and is very strong.

Michelangelo
Mikey is the most typical Sock Ninja Turtle because he wears an orange mask and uses nunchucks. He is the one who makes the Turtles laugh with his easygoing, free-spirited sense of humor and jokester. He loves new adventures and pizza. He doesn’t just like to eat, but he’s also a great cook. As a ninja, he obviously has great fighting skills. He looks like a “surfer” and is often shown speaking with a Southern California accent.

Donatello
Don is the scientist, inventor, engineer, and technological genius of the Sock Ninja Turtles. He wears a purple mask and carries a bo staff. He is probably the stuffed turtle who is the least likely to fight. Instead, he prefers to use his knowledge to solve problems. He is a genius with a knack for coming up with new ideas. He loves peace, but he never hesitates to defend his brothers.

Raphael
Raph is the mean and bad boy of the Sock Ninja Turtles. He wears a red mask and holds a pair of sai. He has a lot of physical strength and can start a fight at any time. He also fights with his brother Leo, who is the leader of the mutant ninja turtles, but he is very loyal to his brothers and sensei. He is usually shown to have a New York accent. He can be mean and sarcastic, and he often makes people laugh by doing nothing.
Sock Ninja Turtle Stuffed Animal
scroll ⬇️ to get the free sewing pattern & tutorial
Aside from the color of the masks, the customization of the mouth expressions immediately reveals their distinct character and personality. Except for these two modifications, they were all created using the same basic sewing pattern and tutorial.
In addition, I included a tutorial on how to sew a turtle shell and style it. With all of the details, you can create the complete TMNT stuffed turtle shown here.

I was lucky enough to find the katana, nunchucks, and sai in one of the shops here. I can’t find the Bo staff, so I made it myself out of a rattan cane. Just cut the 4 rattan canes to about 18 “long, add a white felt to the middle of the bo staff and tie it with jute twine. Finish the bo staff by tying a few more rounds of jute twine around the two ends. Or, go to the woods and find a straight branch with a diameter of 3/4″ to 1” and cut it to 18 “and smooth out both ends with sandpaper.

I made some of them “hold” the weapons by wrapping the fingers and sewing them in place. The arms can be bent in the same way; simply fold and sew to secure.

Hope you have fun sewing this stuffed turtle from socks!
What’s Next:
- Start sewing and share your completed handmade on Facebook and/or Instagram. Remember to tag us, @craftpassion, so that we are able to see them.
- Pin it to Pinterest for a future To-Sew List
- Share with your sewing groups for a sew-along event.
- Learn more about the basics of hand sewing and how to choose a sewing machine for beginners.
- Browse more free sewing patterns and stuffed animals to make, especially animals that are sewn from socks.

Ninja Turtle Stuffed Animal Sewing Pattern
These Ninja turtles stuffed animals were made from socks.
Aside from the color of the masks, the design of the mouths gives them their own distinct character and personality. Except for these two modifications, they were all made with the same basic sewing pattern and tutorial.
I also included a tutorial on how to sew a turtle shell. With all of this information, you can make your own TMNT stuffed turtles.
Enjoy sewing them!
Download and print separately: SEWING PATTERN
Materials
- Sock, cotton, 1 pair, [Military Camouflage Green] or dark green
- Black button eye 1/2″ (13mm), black, 2; or button; or felt
- Felt, Yellow – 4″ x 4 1/2″
- Felt, Brown – 8″ x 18″
- Felt, White, 1″ x 5 1/2″
- Felt, Eye Mask Color (Red or Blue or Orange or Purple), 8″ x 12″
- Poly-fill stuffing material
- Embroidery floss, Yellow
- Embroidery floss, Black
- Sewing threads (coordinated colors)
- Sock Ninja Turtle Template
- Plain white paper, letter size or A4 size, 2 pcs. (for print-out template)
Tools
- Sewing machine. You can also hand-sew if you prefer.
- Sewing needle (prefer long, about 2″) and pins
- Pen
- Water Erasable Fabric Marker
- White chalk pen
- Scissors
- Blunt point tweezers
- Printer
Instructions
HOW TO SEW SOCK NINJA TURTLE TOY
- PREPARATION:
Gather the materials and tools needed to sew the sock ninja turtle. Always pre-washed your socks before sewing them.
Download and print out the Sock Ninja Turtle Template. You might need to do some size adjustment to suit your sock ninja turtle if you are using different socks as those recommended in this tutorial. - DRAW, SEW & CUT:
Felt Pieces: Trace the template with a water-soluble fabric marker on the felts according to the color stated on the template. Cut pieces out without any seam allowance except the top shell.
Fold the brown felt and trace the top shell template onto 1 side of the felt. Sew around the tracing line and cut it out with 1/8″ seam allowance.
Cut the remaining brown felt to 3 or 4 strips of 1/2″ x 18″ (not shown in the picture).
Cut the remaining eye mask color of your choice to 3/4″ x 12″ strips.
Set aside.
Sock Pieces: Turn the socks with the right side in, remove the stitches at the cuff fold. Align the sock with foot-part facing up, flatten, iron, and pin.
Use white chalk pen, silver permanent pen or pencil to sketch the pattern onto the socks by referring to the downloaded template. It might be difficult to view the lines from chalk pen and pencil, so please draw harder on the sock so that you are able to judge the lines as you sew.
Yellow lines are sewing lines, red lines are cutting lines.
Machine-sew along the sketched sewing lines. Stretch the socks a little while sewing so that the sewing seam is stretchable during stuffing. You may hand-sew with backstitches.
Carefully cut pieces out after you have finished with all the sewing. Give as much seam allowance as you can.
Try to clip as close as possible at the notch of the toes and fingers, be careful not to clip the sewing thread.
Turn all pieces right side out. You will need to use a pair of blunt point tweezers or skewer like a knitting needle to poke the toes and fingers out. - STUFF:
Fill all pieces with poly-fill stuffing. Fill them densely to give a stable and rounded shape.
Stuff heavily dense with 3 groups of stuffing on the arms and legs to resemble muscle-like structure.
Sew to close the openings of all pieces.
Head – Use slip stitch or ladder stitch to sew and close, this will give a straight line seam.
Body and upper arms – Use a running stitch to sew around the raw edges, pull the thread to close, this will give a gathered seam.
Join the palm to the hand by using a ladder stitch. Repeat the same to the other hand.
Completed parts of head, hands, and body before proceeding to next step. - HEAD SHAPING:
Draw a curved line as shown in the picture on the head, from one of the end of the top seam to another, with the center touching the heel line of the socks.
Draw another curved line as shown in the picture at the bottom of the head, with the center touching the heel line of the socks.
Sew ladder-stitch between the top and bottom lines. Keep the needle straight during sewing. Eyeballing the distance between the 2 lines so that you are able to reach both ends at the same distance after finish sewing.
Pull to create the shape of the muzzle for the ninja turtle.
Knot your thread securely, hide the knot and thread end into the head by inserting the needle back to head from the knot, out from the opposite side, pull tight to force the knot into the head. Pull thread and cut, the thread end will be hidden in the head.
Draw the lines as shown in the picture by adding the furious eyebrows and to further refine the muzzle of the Ninja Turtle.
Sew ladder-stitch between the lines on the muzzle, pull to make a small lift at the nose area of the muzzle.
This is how the muzzle will look like after the polishing touch.
Sew ladder-stitch between the lines on the eyebrows, pull to shape up the furious eyebrows.
1 & 2. Sew the white felt for the eyes, the white felt should fit into the area between the brows and muzzle, trim it a bit if it doesn’t. Design your own mouth expression of your Sock Ninja Turtle, cut it out from a white felt if needed. Sew it on the mouth area of the muzzle.
3. Sew some vertical lines with black embroidery floss.
4. Finish up the mouth with a yellow outline with yellow embroidery floss.
1. Place the colored eye mask on the eye, sew around the holes for the eye except for the top part where the black button eyes are located.
2. Place a red strip vertically at the back of the head, sew the center of the strip at the place where the band of the mask meets.
3. Join the bands of the eye mask, roll up and sew to make the joint narrower.
4. Tie the vertical strip to the band of the eye mask that you have just sewed.
Position the black button eyes under the mask, with 1/4 of the top being covered under the mask. Sew securely. - FEET SHAPING:
1 & 2. Bend the foot, 2″ from the toe. Rub the finger across the foot to move some the stuffing away so that it is easier to bend.
3 & 4. Sew around from side to side at the front of the foot where the sock touches. Sew with ladder stitch to secure the bending.
This is how the feet look like. The body should be able to stand up nicely when it is leaning against the wall. - TURTLE SHELL:
Position and place the yellow bottom shell onto the chest of the Sock Ninja Turtle.
Stitch up the center vertical line and the 3 horizontal lines with yellow embroidery floss.
Stuff the 6-pack segments of the bottom shell with poly-fill.
Stitch up the edge of the bottom shell to close the openings.
After sew and cut the 2 pieces of the top shell together, trace the slit opening onto one of the felts. Cut.
1. Turn the shell right side out from the opening.
2. Topstitch around the shell, about 1/4″ from the edge.
3. Trace the front shell with 2 oval rings cut out from the top shell template.
4. Trace the 4-point star on the back of the shell where the opening is located.
1. Stuff the shell lightly with poly-fill.
2. Sew both layers together along with the oval rings with running stitch.
3. Stuff more poly-fill at the center of the shell.
4. Sew to close the opening following the 4-point star lines, this is to make the back of the shell smaller than the front shell, hence give a convex curve to the front shell.
The completed top shell of the Sock Ninja Turtle. - ASSEMBLE:
You have 4 parts completed and ready to be assembled.
Align and sew the head to the body with ladder stitch.
Position one of the arms to the body, stitch around the arm where it touches the body. Repeat the same to the other arm.
The sock Ninja Turtle after arms and head are assembled. More details to put on him, next. - STYLING:
Tie the color strips on the hands and legs by wrapping 2 rounds then tie a knot. Trim the ends of the strips.
Give the limbs a good roll, this will compress the poly-fill and will make the limbs slender and longer.
See the difference between the left and right legs? The one with arrow pointing is longer after the hand roll.
Sew the shell to the back of the Sock Ninja Turtle.
This is how it looks like from the back after the top shell is sewn on.
Tie the brown strips to the belly area to complete the Sock Ninja Turtle.
Remark: Leonardo (blue mask Ninja Turtle) has another cross-body belt in addition to the one at the belly)
If you want to attach the weapon to the turtle, bend the fingers to hold the weapon then sew it up to secure the hold. You may bend the arms and sew in the same way.
Here are the expressions of the Sock Ninja Turtles, design your own shape to give a different expression to the Ninja Turtles.
Cowabunga!!!
We are Sock Ninja Turtles, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael and ….. hey, where is Donatello?
If you are not familiar with our name, mask color and character, please read it up at the beginning of this sewing pattern.
Happy Sewing!!!
Notes
HOW TO 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.
WHY DO WE HAVE TO HAND DRAWN PATTERN? Not all socks are the same size, so I can’t provide a standard printable template for this sock animal. The best way to proceed is to sketch out the sewing line by referring to the pictures.
DOLL SIZES: For different sizes of sock animals, use different sizes of socks.
SOCK CHOICE: Socks will be stretched after they are stuffed so thick socks that are close-knit make better quality sock sheep toys.
SEAM ALLOWANCE: Approximately 1/8” or 1/4”.
You need a bigger seam allowance for loose-knit and thinner sock materials because they can be ripped off easily
STUFFING: always massage the stuffing to loosen out lumps. Long tubular parts should be rolled with both hands so any lumps will be smooth, and help to make the parts longer and firmer.
Get the full article at https://www.craftpassion.com/how-to-sew-sock-ninja-turtle/
Recommended Products
Purchase the exact same material and tool used in this pattern from Craft Passion Shop.
Elaine Clare
Thursday 15th of April 2021
Do you have a video of how to do the head. I am stuck on this.
Susan
Saturday 6th of February 2021
Thank you for this pattern. My late son was a Ninja Turtle fanatic from toddlerhood to adulthood. I'll be getting a few of his tshirts this summer from his widow & plan to make 4 Leonardos for his siblings & a cousin. I'm not sure that his wife would want one as she has moved on and has a new boyfriend.
Nancy
Friday 16th of October 2020
Thank you so much for sharing this. I’m helping my granddaughters make all 4 for their brother. He is going to love them! Adorable!
Craft Passion
Friday 16th of October 2020
oh wow, this is lovely. I am sure they will love them and they will also love you too. You are such an amazing grandma.
Mai
Saturday 20th of April 2019
Thank you so much for sharing your sock ninja turtle tutorial, and making it easy to follow! These guys are too adorable!
Craft Passion
Sunday 21st of April 2019
Thank you, Mai :)
Paige Harty
Thursday 29th of March 2018
Hi i was wondering if you could custom make me two my boys where born preemie and i would like to have something the same size and weight for them to look back on and see how far they have come i will defiantly pay for cost labour and express shipping