How to embroider socks with Peking Knot stitch
Fancy a pair of embroidered socks? Follow our embroidery how to and learn to personalise your own pair
Published:
Treat your feet to embroidered socks personalised with a dainty floral motif, stitched in Peking knots. Mollie Johanson shows you how it is done with this step-by-step embroidered sock tutorial.
Begin by practising working a Peking knot on a spare scrap of fabric before you embroider on to your sock.
You will need
- 1 pair of socks
- Stranded cotton: coral, warm pink, yellow and dark green
- Scrap of cotton fabric: 2.5×7.5cm (1x3in)
- Iron-on double-sided fusible interfacing
- Basic sewing kit
Socks socks socks!
Spice up your socks even more by crocheting this colourful pair to brighten even the darkest day
How to make embroidered socks
You Will Need
- Socks
- Embroidery Thread
- Basic embroidery kit
Total time:
Step 1
Come up from the back of the fabric. This will be the bottom of the stitch. Make a loop with the working thread with the loose end under the thread that’s attached to the fabric.
Step 2
Insert the needle just above the point where the thread exits the fabric, but don’t pull it through yet. Slowly pull the working thread until the loop is the size you want the stitch to be.
Step 3
Hold the loop in place with your finger as you pull the needle and working thread through. Be careful not to pull the thread too tight, especially when securing the end, otherwise the Peking knot will tighten on the surface.
Step 4
Now you are ready to embroider on to your socks! Cut a 2×6.5cm (3/4×25/8in) rectangle of cotton fabric and press paper-backed fusible interfacing onto the back. Remove the paper backing and fuse it to the inside of the sock near the cuff. This will prevent the embroidered area from stretching and distorting the stitches.
Step 5
Working through the sock and the fused fabric, embroider a staggered row of Peking knots in varying sizes. Use six strands in coral, warm pink, and yellow embroidery thread. Use the pattern as a guide or stitch the Peking knot flowers freehand.
Step 6
To finish, embroider tiny stems and leaves under the flowers with straight stitch. Use three strands in dark green embroidery thread.
Customise with your own colours to suit every occasion!
More embroidery how to make ideas
If you’ve enjoyed this embroidery how to tutorial and are looking for more projects to make as you learn, try these other designs on Gathered! You’ll find a great assortment of stylish sashiko designs to make in our Sashiko patterns and project for beginners article. Make a brilliant decorative hoop with our How to do Lazy Daisy stitch project, or find the perfect cross stitch kit for you or a friend in our roundup of the best modern cross stitch kits. For more make you can wear, check out our Feather stitch project to update a scarf, or our cat embroidery tutorial to add cat pockets to all your cardis. For more blooms in your wardrobe, make our embroidered flower shoes to jazz up your high tops, update a denim jacket with embroidery flowers or learn how to make brooches with our quick-stitch embroidery tutorial. For a choice of stunning bee designs to stitch, take a look at our bee embroidery patterns and Easy embroidered Christmas decorations.
Authors
Mollie is the author of Stitch Love: Sweet Creatures Big & Small. She lives near Chicago and is happiest with a cup of coffee and some stitching. She specializes in designing exceedingly cute, contemporary embroidery and cross stitch projects with a kawaii influence. Her work has been featured on The Spruce Crafts and in books and magazines including Simply Sewing Magazine, Cross Stitch Crazy and Mollie Makes. She co-hosts the Very Serious Crafts Podcast with Haley Pierson-Cox and Heidi Gustad. Find her on Instagram @molliejohanson
