bowsock

Most folks who have known me on the web for awhile know that I'm into old sewing machines as well as bows. I recently realized I was getting low on bow socks and decided to sew up a new batch. Since I've documented everything else I've done in archery, I figured I might as well demonstrate this project, too.

A lot of guys hesitate to tackle sewing. It's really no different than working on any other project in your shop. You envision how something should go together, cut out the pieces and assemble it. The sewing machine is just that... another machine. You read the manual, practice a bit and figure out what principles it works on, then use it. Old sewing machines are vastly simpler, stronger and better built than anything you can buy today other than industrials. They usually have only the single, straight stitch, but that's all you need. New machines are basically outstanding examples of planned obselescence and frequent break down. There has not been a high quality home sewing machine built since the late 1960's. Even at several thousand dollars, the best you can buy is mediocrity. Haunt some thrift stores or local for sale sites and find yourself an old black Singer Model 15 or 27 or a White Family Rotary. They may be old, but they're tough, will handle heavier material than new machines and it's hard to kill them. I use machines over 100 years old all the time.

OK... Bow socks are a real simple project. Most bow socks you get today are light weight and don't have reinforced ends. Longbow tips will eventually poke through them. When I want to make some tough bow socks, I go to a thrift store and find a heavy nylon blanket, something that looks like solid material, not a loose weave. I can usually find a good one for about $5. Then I go to the used pants rack and pick the largest, cheapest pair of used blue jeans I can find, again, usually about $5. Being a natural cheapskate, I wait and shop on senior discount day, or look for the tag colors that are half price that day.

In the case of this batch of socks, I didn't use jeans. I wished I had. I had a nice piece of canvas Sunbrella scrap from my wife. This is real tough stuff, but being new, was extremely stiff and I found it much harder to turn the bottoms of the socks right side out when I was done than when I use jeans, which are always old and soft.

When you get the blanket home, lay it out on a large flat surface... a ping pong table is good, or a smooth floor. Have large rulers or tape measures and a magic marker ready. Most nylon blankets will have a satiny material lining the top edge and the bottom edge sewn with zigzag stitching. If there's satiny material on both ends, cut it off of one end, fold that edge over and stitch it down. It now, becomes the bottom for our purposes. Measure from the bottom edge up 7' and cut across the blanket, removing the other satiny edge if there were two. Save the top part you just cut off. Next lay out 7' by 10" strips up the large part of the blanket you're working with and cut them. Ten inches will make a nice longbow sock. NOTE: The bottom edge of the blanket, the zigzag sewn or folded over and hemmed edge, will be the TOP of your socks.

For this project, I got a nice thick green blanket in really good shape. Actually, I got two of them. One's layed away for next time. I got seven 10" strips out of the one I cut up.

Next, cut 1 3/4" strips across the top section to make tie strips for what will be the open end flaps. You'll want strips about 24" to 30" long. Cut the same number of them as you got 10" pieces from the main part of the blanket.

Next, cut up the jeans and make rectangles 10 1/2" x 6" or 8"... that smaller dimension is not critical. These will become the reinforcements at the bottom of the bow socks.

Once you have all your pieces cut, you're ready to sew. The only real "sewing" thing you need to know is starting and stopping seams. This usually means simply backing up over a few stitches with the machine's reverse. Any sewing machine manual or beginning sewing book will cover it early on. Do use strong thread. Most sewing stores carry jeans thread. I would use at least that. There is a lot of strain on the seam when you're turning it inside out.

This series of pictures will show you the sewing steps. Just for the record, I spent less than an hour laying out my pieces and cutting them one evening. The next morning, I spent about two hours, including a coffee break, sewing the 7 socks. I then spent an hour turning the socks inside out while watching tv.

All of the pieces cut out. The light green pieces are the Sunbrella scraps cut up. The scraps were different sizes, so these pieces ended up different widths, but all were 10 1/2" in length. Next are the tie strips, then the 10" sock pieces. At the right you see a rotary cutting razor and plastic cutting ruler... items commonly used by quilters, but regular scissors and rulers will work fine.	The first step is to hem the tops of the end reinforcement pieces. Fold over 1/2" to 3/4" on the 10 1/2" length and stitch it down.
You don't have to handle each piece separately. You can just line them up and stitch them all in a chain, then cut them apart.	Check your long pieces. Assuming you used a magic market for your layout, you will have marker stains on one side of each piece. This will be the INSIDE of the sock. Lay a denim reinforcement piece across the OUTSIDE (the unmarked side) of a long piece. It will likely be wider than the long piece. I did that deliberately. Nylon blankets are stretchy and all of the long pieces may not be identical in width, even though you tried to measure and cut them to 10". Cut the reinforcement piece to match the long piece and stitch it down all the way around, with the hem you put in earlier toward the top of the sock.
Next, lay one of the tie strips across the top of a sock. The tie strip will be sewn onto the OUTSIDE (unmarked side) of the sock.	Here I stitched it in the middle. It had been awhile since I did this and I should have stitched it closer, but not all the way to, the right edge. On this sock, the tie will tie from the edge of the sock, rather than from the flat flap side, which is neater. Not a big deal, but a mistake on my part. I'll show a correctly done one in a few more pictures.
Once the tie strip is sewn on , fold the sokc lengthwise so that the OUTSIDE (Marked side) is out. Carefully pull the tie strips up and out of the open end so that they are not near what will be the edge seam. You don't want them caught and sewn into that seam.	Start at the top (open end) and sew down the length of the edge of the sock.
When your seam comes to the reinforcement piece (which is now on the INSIDE), continue sewing to the bottom of the tube, but curve the corner, then sew to the outside edge.	Cut the excess material off the corner. This will make it a bit easier to handle turning this stiff end of the tube back righside out when you're done.
Here I have the sewn tube in my lap, slowly turning it right side out. This is actually the hardest and longest part of the job! Having a 36" long 1/2" dowell on hand helps, especially when you get down to the stiff corners at the bottom.	With patience and the dowel, you can push the corners out quite nicely.
Success. I got seven socks out of the blanket. One got put on a bow and shipped out immediately. Here are the other six, with one in use.	This is a finished sock with the tie strip sewn centered on one side, rather than on the edge of the sock, as I did with that first one. Sewn in this manner, when a bow is in the sock, the excess length folds over nice and flat and ties neatly.

OK... I didn't get into the how of sewing... your sewing machine manual will cover that. Just remember, there's no rocket science here, and you're not sewing a wedding gown, just a piece of blanket to protect your bow. If a few edges aren't even or a tie gets sewn on less than perfectly, as I did, it'll still do its job. This one will do it better than most... it's heavier for better protection and with the reinforced bottom end, it'll last a long time.