Here’s the long awaited tutorial. I used an old sweatshirt to make a loc soc (which is basically a long headband). When picking a fabric, make sure it has a good amount of stretch in it. If purchasing from a fabric store look for fabrics marked “dance wear,” “athletic,” “swimsuit,” etc… Ideally, you want something that is a stretch nylon or lycra. My sweatshirt is a cotton/poly blend so I made some adjustments to the design which I’ll explain later on. So here we go!

What you’ll need:

• tape measure
• scissors
• thread (to match the material, you can use black or white if machine stitching)
• pins
• needle
• headband (optional)
• fabric of choice (must be stretchy)

Step 1:

Start off by measuring your fabric. The length should be about 16″ at the most (for shorter hair, make it less) and the width will vary depending on the size of you head/volume of hair and how stretchy the fabric is. I think a good range is between 8″ and 16.” Use a headband as a guide. The circumference of the headband is about how wide your sock will be.

Step 2:

Cut the fabric to your desired dimensions. To make this easy for me, I simply cut away the sleeves and collar from this shirt, then cut it down the sides so I was left with just one side of it.

I then folded my fabric in half so I could cut off the excess fabric that formed the sleeve. The bottom of my sock is wider than the top. I wanted more room in it so I can sleep comfortably in a variety of hairstyles. If you plan to wear your sock out, make it one width all the way down. If you use very stretchy fabric you can get away with a rectangle that is 4″ x 16.”

Step 3:

Find the outside of the fabric aka the right side. In my picture below, it’s the darker red side that I want to be shown. Fold the fabric in half so the wrong side is facing you. This way the stitches are on the inside of your loc sock.

Step 4:

Pin the length of the sock to help the sides stay aligned as you sew. Keep the pin cushion close by because you will need to pull out pins as you sew past them.

Step 5:

Thread the needle with a matching thread color. Use a backstitch to secure the two ends together. If you do not know how to backstitch, there should be many youtube videos explaining it. Comment below if you need more direction on this. You can also machine sew it this as well. If machine sewing, I recommend hemming each end. I did not hem my hand sew sock but I made sure the cuts were clean so they didn’t fray.

Step 6:

Turn your loc sock the right way round and pop it on. That’s it! I recommend making  a couple DIY versions to decide how tight or loose and how long you like it before buying fabric and making one.

I hope that helped! Let me know if you have any questions!

Jay

EDIT November 2013-

I’ve seen comments online about making loc socks from old leggings. This would be a simpler alternative. Just cut the legs of a sturdy pair of leggings to the desired length and voila. If a synthetic material, you could probably carefully burn the edges to prevent running and fraying.