Sock Head Santa

Today I am showing you how I make those sock heads on "Old Tattered Santa" and "Good Night Santa"

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You should use a cotton or cotton blend sock with a tight weave.  A ladies sock is best.   Cut it  in half, or, at the heal as shown.

Stuff fairly firmly with fiberfill.  I always use "Morning Glory" fiberfill. It stays where you put it and doesn't shift like that other slick brand.   It takes a couple of big handfuls for this head.  Shape it as you go and then tie off at the end with jute or any twine. 

With a long darning or embroidery needle and full strand of embroidery floss ( cream or light tan ), you will begin the nose.   Use the picture of a guide how to start towards the top , about a 1/2'' across, gathering some of that stuffing underneath. Pull that needle and thread through tightly.  Once you get your first stitch through, Run it back through, and back and forth, pulling tight. You may want to hold it with your fingers as you go along.

Keep doing that until the nose is about 1 1/4'' long.

At the bottom of the nose,hold your thread as shown, giving it a slight curve.  Pull your needle through , and pull up....

I honestly am having a hard time describing how to do this.  I  know a video may be best, but, not possible at this time.
Once you have the stitch in as in above picture, run your needle up to the forehead area as shown, pull tightly to give the bottom of the nose a somewhat rounded end.

Now you will begin indentions for the eyes and giving it somewhat of a forehead.....

Run your needle back and forth from that eye area ( see where I started... a tad bit away from the nose at the top)   Run that needle up , always through an amount of the stuffing underneath to give it some depth.   You are ending your needle up at the top of the head.  That will be covered up, so no need to worry about what it looks like up there. ..... 

Keep going until you get the look going on here in these pictures.    I really hope I''m helping... It may just take a little practice for you to get the feel of it.  Once you play with it a bit, I know you'll get it ! 

When you are all done running those stitches through on both sides.  End up at the top of the head and sew a tight knot to secure.

Look ... It is not perfect, and looks really silly at this point...but, trust me... It will be great when that beard gets on ! 

Now give him a little mouth, using the same method.  It doesn't need to look like much,  You just want  the hint of  a mouth once the mustache and beard goes on.

Now, it's time to paint the head.   My all time favorite paint for Santa Faces is this Ceramcoat AC Flesh.

Just apply a nice even coat of paint all over face and even the back of the head/neck area.

Once your flesh color is dry, paint eyes on as shown.  I'm sorry these next few pictures are a little out of order.  I'm still learning how to set this up.  See below for paint color. You should use a soft white shade of craft paint.  

Simply use a tiny liner brush and paint an shape of an eyeball . As you see, I cannot do perfect shapes.  It is impossible for me.  However,  these are primitive Santas.  Have fun , and do the best you can and it will be wonderful !   

I have had a few requests for a diagram for eyes and features.   I think these pictures will help.  I get the feeling that some of you are scared and uptight about doing faces.  You may want to practice and play a little with it all.  I want you to have fun with it !  

I like blue eyed Santas. You could do brown if you like.  With  a tiny brush,  paint the iris of the eye. Just little circles as shown. 

Outline the eyes with  brown paint.   I know...this really does not look that good, but, when you get the final aging coat on , it will all blend in ! 

Add black pupils with black paint or a sharpie marker as shown.  You may also wish to add a teensy white dot in each pupil to add a little gleam to his eye. 

For the cheeks... use a piece of foam or sponge, dab into a little  dark red paint. Dab on paper to  remove excess and then,  blush his cheeks and his lips. 

It looks so silly !   Dude looks like a lady at this point !   Smiles !
Let this all dry really well, and then we will age it !  

Okay... so now, you need to brush water or light coffee stain over the entire painted area.  While wet, brush on a light, dirty brown paint over it all.  Wipe any access off immediately.  You just want to tone that face down so it isn't so bright.  Remember , you can always refer to my tips and techniques page in my patterns for further aging ideas. 

Once the the head is dry and ready,  add your beard and mustache.   I prefer to stitch mine on, however, sometimes hot glue is best ( as much as I hate to use a glue gun )  it comes in handy for applying the eyebrows and getting that wool just where you need it. 

I truly hope that this has helped you.  I look at this picture and see that, as with all of my Santa faces.  It definitely is not perfect.   The eyes are not set just right, but, I can re-adjust that by shifting the nose.  I'm leaving it as it is on here for a few reasons....to show you that it's okay, and it will all work out in the end, you just need to re-adjust things as you go along.  PLUS,  I am simply not feeling well today and I'm doing the best I can.  I promised I'd get this to you guys ! 

I do look forward to fixing up the blog better and better and it will be fun to start doing weekly posts, more tutorials and fun things along the way. 

Thank you ALL so much for your support and enthusiasm for what I do !   

Happy Creating ! Have fun ! AND Be as original as you can.... You can always use these guidelines, but, I love seeing others do things their way and doing it better than Me ! 

Dru Ann

ps..... If you feel that I've left something out, and want more information, I'll do my best to help you. You can leave a comment to let me know.