I had some very good inspiration recently after spending some quiet time watching a fish documentary on TV. Watching them peacefully gliding around in the water gave me some great ideas for making sea sock animals. So now, allow me to introduce you to the sock narwhal stuffed animal, Nadir.
A narwhal is the unicorn of the sea. Just like the unicorn, it has a horn that protrudes from its face, which makes it a very special creature indeed. This sock sea animal toy, a narwhal stuffed animal, is sewn from one adult ankle sock (one pair will make 2 whales). It is about 9” long from head to tail, and a little longer once you include its horn.
Find some scrap sock or knit fabric with rainbow stripes (to wrap the horn with) and for this, you can pick any colorful or artistic-looking piece of material. The free sewing pattern template for the special sock unicorn whale is right here to help you along.
Before you begin sewing, always remember to prewash all the socks before sewing them into the stuffed animal. The reason you need to prewash them is that once you have sewn and stuffed them up, you are unlikely to wash them before gifting them to the recipient. Hence, it is recommended to prewash before sewing to prevent any harmful residue on the sock that might hurt the young ones.
Sock Narwhal Stuffed Animal Sewing Pattern
scroll ⬇️ to get the free pattern & tutorial
Do you know what’s also special about this sock narwhal? It is the 20th sock stuffed animal pattern created here at Craft Passion, which I am very happy to be able to design and share with you. This means the sock toy animal community is growing and soon, who knows? We can even create our very own sock animal zoo in our homes!
4 Narwhal Facts you may not know:
- They live under sea ice for up to 5 months, in the Arctic cold waters of Canada, Greenland, Russia, and Norway.
- They can dive down to about a mile deep into the ocean.
- They change colors as they grow. When they’re born, they’re blue-gray, they turn blue-black when young, and gray when they’re mature. Old narwhals are almost totally white in color.
- They eat fish, squid, and shrimp.
(Source: WWF)
I believe that we should protect as many animals as we can. Designing the narwhal stuffed animal sewing pattern is my way of honoring the great animals of the sea. Whales are the biggest sea creatures and they are such beautiful ones too. Their numbers today are getting lower and lower, due to illegal hunting and pollution. The narwhal is one of these special, beautiful creatures who need our cooperation to survive. If we’re not careful, we will lose them for good.
Now that you know a little more about the narwhal, I know you will enjoy sewing your very own sock narwhal stuffed animal, Nadir. The free sewing pattern for this narwhal toy should be able to help you along the way. Do share with me your own sock narwhal stuffed animal and if you do need my help, drop me a little comment below.
I hope you will have a lot of fun learning how to sew, Nadir, the narwhal. My next blog will be on a similar pattern, which you can try too because it is a small alteration on this design – sock shark Solo.
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.
Happy Sewing!
Sock Narwhal Stuffed Animal Sewing Pattern
This sock sea animal toy, a narwhal stuffed animal, is sewn from one adult ankle sock (one pair will make 2 whales). It is about 9 inches long from head to tail and a little longer once you include its horn.
Enjoy sewing them!
Download and print the SEWING PATTERN & TEMPLATES of the sock narwhal separately.
Materials
- Sock; White Denim color, cotton, adult size, 1 pc.
- Sock scrap or knit fabric; stripe, rainbow color.
- Button eye 8mm dome-shaped, black, 2; or equivalent button
- Crochet lace thread or Embroidery floss, yellow
- Poly-fill stuffing material
- Sewing threads (matching colors)
- Sock Narwhal template
Tools
- Sewing machine or, you can hand-sew without a machine
- Long Sewing Needle (about 2"), tapestry needle and pins
- Water Soluble Fabric Marker
- Scissors
- Blunt point tweezers or an awl
- Printer and letter size cardstock
- Spray bottle filled with water
Instructions
HOW TO SEW SOCK NARWHAL, NADIR
- PREPARATION:
Prepare all materials above. Always pre-washed your socks before sewing them.
Download and print out the Sock Narwhal template on a letter-size cardstock. Cut out the paper templates from the cardstock.
- TRACE:
In this tutorial, we are showing the method of using an ankle-length sock to sew the sock narwhal, however, you can always use socks of crew length to sew.
Remove the stitches at the ribbing area of the ankle sock and release the folded cuff.
Turn the sock inside out, flatten and lay the sock as shown in the picture, align the stripes pattern so that they are symmetrical in both top and bottom layers. Pin.
Trace the templates on the sock as shown in the picture with a water-soluble fabric marker. Since not all socks are made of the same size, you will need to adjust and hand sketch the template on the sock if necessary.
- SEW & CUT:
Sew on the traced line with either using a sewing machine or hand stitch.
Cut out the sock pieces with approx. 1/8″ – 1/4″ seam allowance.
- STUFF:
Stuff the pieces with adequate poly-fill stuffing material, massage and shape it nicely. Take note that the head of the Sock Narwhal is round.
Top view of all the parts after stuffed with the filling material, massaged, and shaped.
It is easier to use sock’s material or knit fabric for the unicorn horn due to its long and narrow shape. However, stuffing could be challenging to retain the uniformity, so make sure to stuff it bit by bit and give it a good massage to prevent the lumpy bumpy appearance.
A pair of blunt point tweezers will be of good help to insert the stuffing material into smaller parts like the tail, fins, and horn.
- ASSEMBLY:
Attach Tail:
Sew to attach the tail to the body by using ladder stitches or slip stitch. Make a few loose stitches on the marking lines between the 2 parts before pulling the thread tight to bring them together. Repeat the sewing until you have completed the round and securely attach the tail to the body of the sock narwhal.
The look of the seam line between the body and the tail.
Attach Fins:
Mark the position of the flipper fins under the body of it. About 3.5″ across the body horizontally depending on the size of your actual whale, you may be eyeballing the positions if you prefer.
Sew to close the opening of the fin.
Sew to attach the fin to the body by ladder stitch, sew around the part that is in contact with the body.
Repeat the same to the other fin.
This is how the sock narwhal looks like after the fins are attached. Mark the position of the eyes.
Sew Eyes:
Sew to add the domed button eyes to the sock narwhal, pull the thread tight between the eyes to sink them into the body.
Sew Horn:
Attach the unicorn horn to the forehead of the sock narwhal by sewing around with ladder stitches.
Embroidery Mouth:
Lastly, outline the mouth with yellow lace thread or embroidery floss.
Spray it with water to erase all the visible blue markings, leave it to dry.
~~DONE~~
Take extra care when aligning and pinning the sewing line. If you have aligned it well, the stripes will line up nicely at the seam.
Give Sock Narwhal Nadir a friend in Sock Shark Solo pattern & tutorial.
Sock Narwhal Nadir would love to have some friends around. Try my other animal designs for other sea creatures. Check out Pixie, the sock penguin and Pufferfish for more crafting fun.
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 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/sock-narwhal/
Recommended Products
Purchase the exact same material and tool used in this pattern from Craft Passion Shop.
hana
Thursday 16th of July 2020
hello i love your pattern design and my friends loved it when i gave them it thank you and hope you make more things during the lockdown.
Phoenix Chen
Tuesday 5th of March 2019
Thank you so much for this tutorial ^^
I'm terrible at sewing a straight line, but it came out really cute (as long as I use a matching thread color so my crooked sewing is hidden). The hardest part was indeed shaping, but massaging the whale really helped!
Here is the one I made: Click here for the picture.
Craft Passion
Wednesday 6th of March 2019
That's lovely, Phoenix. Thanks for showing us, you did it great!!!
Maria Clain
Thursday 13th of December 2018
I tried this and I failed. I'm not very good at sewing but I thought this would be easy. Mine looks nothing like the picture and I followed most of the steps. I printed the pattern and it was way too small. The tail was so tiny it didn't go with the whale at all. I had to make my own pattern so that it fits with the whale. I struggled with the tail the most. I tried almost 4 times and still got it wrong.
kasi althaus
Tuesday 25th of August 2020
I agree I am also struggling with the tail being small for the whale body on my first attempt. So i just blew the pattern up a bit and i think it seems to be bigger now. I think thicker socks and also more of a crew versus an anklet sock works better
Lauren
Tuesday 22nd of May 2018
Your sock whale and shark are soooo well made. I'm very impressed with your professional sewing. It appears in the photo that the shark mouth was sewn on by machine. I can't see how that is possible since you had already stuffed shark before you made the mouth. Did you hand sew it or magically machine sew the mouth on. Thanks for reading my comment and question .
Craft Passion
Tuesday 22nd of May 2018
Hi Lauren, I hand-sewed the mouth to the shark with white thread however the black zigzag line is done by machine. You can read the Sock Shark pattern and tutorial following the link which I just updated.
Claire
Wednesday 16th of May 2018
I used to make sock monkey's with my kids but this is way cuter. I think your Narwhal is adorable and I will be making them. Thank you!
Craft Passion
Wednesday 16th of May 2018
That's lovely, Claire. Hope you enjoy sewing up the Narwhal as much as you did on the Sock Monkey :)