Church mice are considered collectible by some people who purchase them at charity auctions. Although I am one that generally believes all toys should be played with, I will share with visitors how to make these small dolls for display so that they might be auctioned or sold for ministry fund raising.
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| Left, sock mice ready to be dressed in costumes and have their stands finished. Center, I used the cotton covered chenille stems to help balance the mice on the stands. Right, these mice have eyes made from pom-poms, beads and pink felt circles. |
To make sock mice that will stand or sit permanently, the mouse should be attached to a stand. This stand should keep the mouse in whatever position is originally intended to flatter it's clothing or animation. Sock mice are very soft, flexible and light weight - so the stand need not be made out of heavy material. The examples I show on this post are made from a cardboard, molded orange crate that I found at a local market. It was clean and I liked it's interesting texture. If you can't find one of these, use a small box. Little boxes may be weighted down to make the stand heavier if needed, so there is an advantage to using them instead of molded cardboard. I used the wire tails of my sock mice to balance them as I wished in this case; so there was no need of weighting the stands.
Supply List:
- cotton batting fiber for stuffing the mouse or mice
- baby socks in colors of mic: white, brown, grey and black
- needle and threads to match the sock fabric
- pale pink pom-poms for the mouse nose
- pink felt for the inner lining of the mouse ear
- white chenille stems for the wire arms and legs of the mouse
- small beads for the eyes
- a base to support the mouse in a standing position if you wish
- thread or fishing line for the mouse whiskers
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| Left, pulp crate used to transport oranges recycled into stands for my sock mice. Center, close-up view of stand. Right, see details of sock mouse face, ears, eyes and nose. |
Step-by-Step Instructions:
- I decided to cut the infant socks in half lengthwise. This made is easier to stuff their bodies into slender shapes, thus making their costumes more attractive in my own opinion. Remember that knitted socks do stretch a great deal and you will always need less material from them than anticipated in the beginning. I also wanted to ensure that I would have leftover sock scraps for the ears of the mice.
- When I stitched down the length of the sock, I turned the rough sides together instead of the smooth. Most church mice made from socks present the smooth knitting as the skin but I found the rougher, inside parts of the socks to be more like fur, so I stitched the material in the reverse.
- While sewing the seam, you want to make sure that the toe of the sock is sewn shut in the shape of a gradually narrow point. This will form the structure of the mouse's snout.
- Turn the sewn parts inside out to hide the seam.
- Stuff the main body with soft cotton batting, not polyester, cotton only. Polyester will collapse over time. If the mouse is intended for display, the cotton batting will help the body of the mouse to remain upright and stiff.
- Do not sew the bottom part of the sock after sewing the sides just yet. You can, however, tack the opening shut in the center with thread at the point.
- Shape the small rodent's head and snout while stuffing the body. You may wish to tie a bit of thread to form the neck of the mouse permanently.
- Cut from the remaining sock scraps two round shapes for the ears. You can trace around a coin for the ear shapes. Do the same on top of a bit of pink felt.
- Now stitch together and around the felt and sock ear pieces, leaving a small hole to turn them inside out.
- Pinch the ear pieces together and tack these with a stitch.
- Now sew the tiny ears to the mouse head, one on either side.
- You can sew or hot glue a tiny pink pom-pom to the tip of the mouse snout for it's nose.
- Thread a needle with fishing line and sew whiskers securely in and out of the snout. Clip the whiskers leaving some of the thread to stick out as you go.
- Sew on beads for eyes.
- Take a chenille stem and thread it inside the bottom of the mouse torso to form the legs of the mouse. Sew the remaining sock material firmly around the wire to make the legs stiff. Shape the knit around the top of the legs with the needle and thread. (see photo)
- Bend the tiny chenille feet of the mouse and then hot glue these to the stand.
- Not take a second chenille stem and twist cotton batting around it to form the tail of the mouse. Roll the stem between the palms of your hands vigorously to adhere the white glue, batting and chenille stem together.
- Using a needle and matching thread attach a generous length of the wire tail to the back side of the mouse.
- Shape the tail as you like with loops and turns. Hot glue the end or some curve of the tail to the base in order to give the display mouse balance. (see photos)
- Attach a length of the chenille stem to the mouse across it's back to form arms. You can roll this stem in batting or cover it with knit sock or leave it plain. In any case, the costume of the mouse will be permanent so some of these attachments will not be fully seen after you have finished dressing the church mouse in the end. So, make your choices according to the costume you select to dress the mouse in.
How to make a sock mouse for play,
by Brave Mouse Books