Learn how to make a lost sock station – in 10 minutes!

SOCK SEASON IS BACK! Have a single sock situation at home? Ready to make a LOST SOCK STATION to marry up those socks? Here’s a super fast tutorial that only requires 2 yards of twill tape or ribbon, a rubber band and a few quick stitches! When my first daughter was just starting preschool we were rushing to get out the door one morning. Frustrated that she couldn’t find two matching socks, I thought I was brilliantly flexible when I said “your socks don’t HAVE to match to keep your feet warm”. WHY DID I SAY THAT? Well, it’s true. And it worked in the moment. And I am okay with mismatched socks in general. But we finally got to the point where there were no matches to be found. Anywhere. I had a basket on top of the dryer for single socks that kinda sorta worked but I realized that if I could SEE them I could match them more easily, and with all of them in piles I’d realize after a month or two that the matches were in fact there and I’d not noticed because I couldn’t see them UNDER ALL THE SOCKS. So I got to work.

Ready to make one? It’s SO simple.

1. Grab 2 yards (72″ or 183 cm) of twill tape or ribbon. Either will work, but the texture of cotton twill tape is perfect. Grabby enough that socks don’t slide out when you’d like ‘em to stay put but not so grabby that it won’t let go when you’re ready to match up. And no edges to finish. Thread your rubber band onto one end and fold it in half.
2. Stitch the ends together. A half inch-ish seam allowance. Turn the stitched ends into the center of your newly formed loop and shift them so that they’re on the bottom and at the back. Pull the rubber band (I used one that’s meant to be a ponytail holder, just like in this post) to the top.
3. Starting from the bottom, mark your stitch lines with even spacing. Mine were about 3” apart and I ended up with 9 slots for socks. Stitch straight across at each mark. And that’s it! You’re done!

I’ve hung ours on a hook right next to the washer and dryer. It’s so easy to line ‘em up, and rainbow order makes it especially easy to spot a match. I used brand new socks for these photos because I don’t feel the need to examine other’s old used-up looking sock pile so I figured I wouldn’t subject you to mine. What was previously a pile is now an orderly-ish stack and is a lot smaller than it was when I started!

Another reason this works well? EVERYONE in the family knows where the lost socks go. No more dresser drawer stowaways.

Here’s a short story that ‘ll make you a bit teary-eyed. I had attempted to add captions but that last frame is just too racy and we’re not that kind of blog.