After being inspired to do sea sock animals in my previous tutorial, I thought Nadir the sock narwhal would be a little lonely in the craft room. So I made a few alterations to him and ta-daaa, please welcome sock shark, Solo.
Sock shark Solo is about 9” long and sewn from a single adult ankle sock (so with a pair of socks, you can sew 2 sock sharks!). Aside from that, you will need a scrap of white felt, button eyes and yellow embroidery floss, and some polyester filling material to shape the shark. You can use the free sock shark pattern template in the tutorial below to make the sewing easier. After correctly padding this shark toy, you will find that it makes a lovely baby soft toy gift for newborns.
Sock Shark – Free Sewing Pattern
scroll ⬇️ to get the free pattern & tutorial
You may be thinking, “oh boy, I’m too scared of sharks to sew this one.” After movies like Jaws, yes, it’s very natural to be afraid of these swimming creatures with powerful jaws and a big wide mouth full of sharp teeth.
Sock shark Solo is the opposite. He is soft, huggable and his big, wide mouth is actually widely smiling at you! Yes, sock shark Solo wants to be your new friend. And now, he can be your new craft family member.
Solo lives in the big, big oceans which are home to his food, like smaller fish. He has one favourite spot in the ocean that he loves to swim around and around in. It’s the seabed somewhere near the Gulf of California, where the reefs are all underwater and there are plenty of underwater caves and ridges to dart around.
That’s exactly what he loves to do – dart around, sneak here and there, flitting from cave to cave, and testing himself to see how fast he can swim from one point to the next. Sometimes he is alone, but today, he is with the sock narwhal Nadir whom he befriended recently.
They look like twins, actually. If not for Nadir’s unicorn horn, they could pass off as brothers. In reality, they are not even related. Solo is a shark while Nadir is in the whale family, but they love living underwater together in harmony.
Right now, they are swimming lazily side by side. Sock shark Solo flicks his tail left to right as he navigates even deeper down to a cave. “Look here,” he says to Nadir over his shoulder. “This cave looks interesting. It has shimmering lights and there’s music too.”
“What’s going on?” Nadir asks curiously. “Let’s go see.” And together they swim towards the cave. As they get closer, the music gets louder and now, right at the entrance, they can hear the buzz of voices too. It’s an underwater party, woohooo.
They enter the cave and immediately get surrounded by smells of wonderful fish sandwiches, moss biscuits and algae cocktails, served by fast-swimming fish and octopus. There is a big banner at the front which reads “UNDERWATER FESTIVAL”.
Solo is so excited, he turns to Nadir and says, “Let’s have fun!”.
Nadir nods his head and together, they make their way right to the centre of the dance floor, where they bump into their neighbour, Pixie (link) https://www.craftpassion.com/sock-penguin-how-to-sew/ who is just as happy to see them. How wonderful! Now they all have friends to party with.
That’s the joy of having so many sock animal toys together. Everyone has a companion and you will too. With more sock animal toys, you will always have a soft, huggable companion in your home.
Use my free shark sewing pattern below and have fun sewing sock shark Solo today.
Sock Shark Sewing Pattern
Sock shark Solo is about 9” long and sewn from a single adult ankle sock (so with a pair of socks, you can sew 2 sock sharks!). Aside from that, you will need a scrap of white felt, button eyes and yellow embroidery floss, and some polyester filling material to shape the shark. You can use the free sock shark pattern template in the tutorial below to make the sewing easier. After correctly padding this shark toy, you will find that it makes a lovely baby soft toy gift for newborns.
Enjoy sewing them!
Download and print the SEWING PATTERN & TEMPLATES separately.
Materials
- Sock; Dark Blue Denim color, cotton, adult size, 1 pc.
- Felt, White color
- Button eye 8mm dome-shaped, black, 2; or equivalent button
- Crochet lace thread or Embroidery floss, yellow color
- Poly-fill stuffing material
- Sewing threads (matching colors)
- Sock Shark template
Tools
- Sewing machine. You can also hand-sew if you prefer
- 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 SHARK, SOLO
- PREPARATION:
Prepare all materials above. Always pre-washed your socks before sewing them.
Download and print out the Sock Shark 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 right side in, 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 sock shark 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 needed.
- SEW & CUT:
Sew along 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.
Turn all pieces right side out.
- STUFF & ASSEMBLY:
Stuff all parts with adequate poly-fill stuffing material, massage, and shape it nicely. A pair of blunt point tweezers will be of good help to insert the stuffing material into smaller pieces like the tail and the fins.
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 shark.
Attach Fins:
Shape the head of the sock shark a little pointy to resemble a shark.
Sew to close the opening of the fins. Sew to attach the bottom fin to the body by ladder stitch, sew around the part that is in contact with the body.
Repeat the same to the other bottom fin.
Sew to attach the top fins in the same manner.
Sew Teeth:
Embroider the gill slits with yellow floss, Start and end the stitching with knots at the mouth area. The knots will be hidden up after you sew the mouth to the sock shark.
Trace the mouth and teeth template onto white felt. Please note that the tips of the zigzag are not touching the outline of the mouth, spare about 1/8″ or 3mm from the edge.
Sew the outline of the zigzag teeth.
Neaten the thread ends by hiding them behind the mouth. Cut the mouth along the tracing line.
Sew the felt mouth and teeth to the sock shark.
Sew Eyes:
Sew to add the domed button eyes to the sock shark, pull the thread tight between the eyes to sink them into the body.
Spray the sock shark with water to erase all the visible blue markings, leave it to dry.
~~DONE~~
Sock shark Solo and sock narwhal Nadir, the twin sea creatures in Craft Passion. Both of them share the same body and fins template, with some changes from the design of the sock narwhal, I created this sock shark. Look at them swimming together in the sea in peace and harmony.
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.
Recommended Products
Purchase the exact same material and tool used in this pattern from Craft Passion Shop.
I enjoyed designing sock shark Solo and hope you have as much fun sewing him too. If you prefer sea animals as accessories, try the fish pendant or fish coin purse. If you love dressing up, these are perfect for you.
Happy crafting!
Excited to find a whale with a horn (narwhal) design. This looks easy enough even for me…not a good sewist but learning.
Adorable shark! I have not made a softie in around 2 years. My granddaughter was fascinated with piranha so I made her one. So I think most of my grandchildren would really enjoy this shark. Thank you for the free pattern.
Thank you, Joanne for the free tutorials on your blog.
You are most welcome, hope you enjoy making them.
So, my sharks don’t look as neat as your adorable blue guy there, but I love them! I am starting to make them as birthday presents for friends and family. Need a quick present? Sock Shark. Didn’t have time to order something from amazon? Sock Shark. Don’t have the money to spend? Sock Shark. Only problem is, I’m gonna keep them all to myself, cause they’re so freaking cute!
I am excited to try the shark, is this pattern true to size or do I have to redraw it on 2″ graph paper. When I printed it out it says check your printing scales. And it has a 2″ scale at the bottom of the page. I am not good with computers so HELP me.
The template is through to size only if you didn’t scale the printing, so make sure to check your print setting at your computer that it is not scaled. After you have printed it out, use a ruler to measure the 2″ scale to counter check if you have printed it in the correct size.
When I want to make one of the free patterns, I run into a problem. My computer is in one room and sewing machine in a different room. I am sure that other people have the same problem/set up.
I do not print out a lot of extra pages that are not really part of the pattern.
How am I suppose to do this?
Thank you so much for this pattern! I was able to make the cutest shark =)
Oh wow, glad that you have done it. 🙂 Please share it in your social media and tag @craftpassion if possible. Thanks for telling us here.
These are absolutely incredible shark! I loved the idea on using Sock Unicorn Whale. Thank you so much for sharing this post. Great pictures. Keep posting!
These Sock Sharks are absolutely adorable! I’m going to try making one with my 6 year old. Great job on the tutorial!
Ohhh this is so cool! I’ve got a baby nephew who will love this! Thanks for the inspiration. 🙂
– Mike, https://www.thecraftygentleman.net
really beautiful ! what a lovely idea ! thank you for sharing ! bonne journée !
Geneviève . ( from Paris , France )
Love the shark,cuteness overload