Are you ready to create customized sublimation socks? I am going to teach you how to make sublimation socks in all different shapes and sizes using whatever sublimation printer you own. If you’re new to sublimation make sure you check out my Beginner’s Guide here. Then grab your supplies to make your own custom socks in minutes!
How to Make Sublimation Socks
Have you ever seen those customized socks with faces all over them? It could be people’s faces or pets. I’m going to teach you how to make those and others today. Just click play on the video below to watch me make a variety of socks with a sublimation printer.
Can’t watch the video or miss some of the information? You can follow along below as well!
Supplies Needed for Sublimation Socks
To make sublimation socks you’re going to need the supplies listed below.
Supplies used:
Blanks used:
Forms used:
Designs used:
How to Find Sublimation Sock Blanks
I have looked at several different brands of sublimation socks and even purchased socks that were polyester and the truth is, I haven’t liked any of them. They’re not good socks and I personally wouldn’t wear them so I didn’t want to recommend them
Recently I found the Silky Socks brand of sublimation sock blanks. They have a variety of different socks and some of them even have cotton bottoms so you get the benefit of a cotton sock and a polyester sublimatable area that can be customized. Even the socks that are completely polyester are good, thick socks. I would actually wear these socks which is why I decided to teach you how to customize socks with sublimation.
Sublimation Sock Form
To make sublimation socks, you will need some kind of sock form. Some socks come with a form already inside of them but some don’t. Make sure you check the description for your socks and if you need to purchase a form separately get that before you begin.
Of the socks I purchased, only the no-show socks came with the insert inside. The inserts I list above can be used for multiple projects, they are not just one-time use. Depending on the sock size and shape there are different inserts to use.
I will be using a long one with a rounded end, the other is tapered and works well with crew socks. You do want to make sure that you leave the form in the sock for at least 30 seconds after removing the sock from the heat.
Sublimation Sock Designs
For my socks, I chose a print for each different type of sock based on the sock style. I am limited in size by my sublimation printer. The largest I can print is 8.5×14. My longer tube socks are too long for my printer without having to try to match up the print.
For the long socks, I chose to create a fun all-over face design. You can do this with people, pets, sports, whatever. For the other socks, I used a ruler to measure the sock and then resized the design so it would fit.
Using Canva to Create Sublimation Designs
I am going to use Canva to design socks with faces on them. Open Canva and create a design in a custom size. Set the size to match whatever size sublimation paper you have for your printer. Upload the picture you want to use, add it to the design, and then crop it down around the portion of the image you want to use.
Click edit image and then click background remover. This will attempt to remove the background on your image. Depending on what the background looks like you may need to clean it up some more. To do that, you can click the eraser and adjust the brush size and erase whatever you don’t want to have printed.
Once you’re done erasing, click done and then apply. Once you have the image cleaned up, you can resize it to whatever size you want. I am resizing my image to 2×2. You can have different-sized images, and make your design however you like. From there we can duplicate the image to fill up the canvas.
Once the paper is filled up, name your design, and then download it as a PNG file. If you have the premium version of Canva, you can download it with a transparent background and then click download. You’ll use a different program to print the design from your computer. You can see more about printing to your sublimation printer here.
Mirror Your Image
If your image has anything directional make sure you mirror your image before printing. With my no-show socks, I wanted them to look like a pair of shoes so I mirrored only one of the images before printing.
How to Create Sublimation Socks
Use your sublimation printer to print out all your designs. You will need to lint roll all of your socks to prepare them for the sublimation print. If you’re worried about moisture at all, I recommend pre-heating the socks before adding the sublimation print.
Sublimation No-show Socks
Print your sublimation design and make sure the socks are smooth and lined up on the form. With these socks, I am only sublimating the top of the sock. I did mirror the design for one sock so they would look like a matching pair of shoes.
Place the sock, with the form inside, top-side down on the printed image. The design won’t fit perfectly on the sock so I am going to just line it up by eye.
Use heat-resistant tape to hold the socks in place. I am using my AutoPress and will press these at 400 degrees for about 40 seconds with medium pressure. Add protective paper on both the top and the bottom of your socks and when the time is done peel the design off while it’s hot.
As you can see my design doesn’t get completely edge to edge but when these are on the whole top will have this cute converse shoe design.
Sublimation Crew Socks
These socks are so fun. They come in a variety of colors, I chose pink. The bottom of the sock is cotton and the top is polyester. I chose a fun sprinkle donut image for these socks. I printed my image a little larger than the sock itself so I will get it in place and then cut away the pieces I don’t want.
The tapered sock form fits this sock really well. Once it is inside, straighten out all the ribs on the sock, both front and back. I left a little of the form out the top of the sock to keep the image from bleeding through. With the form inside the sock, it stretches a little allowing the print to get inside the lines so when they’re on you won’t have white lines in the middle of your print when you wear the socks.
Add the design to one side of the sock just like we did on the top of the no-show socks. Because I printed it over-sized I need to trim anything that runs onto the bottom of the sock. Because the bottom of the sock is cotton, it’s likely any sublimation print will wash out. If you don’t want to take that chance, trim your design so it doesn’t touch the cotton area.
Add a couple of pieces of tape to hold the design in place long enough to get it over to the heat press and add protective paper on the top and the bottom. Then heat press according to the instructions for the sock and remove the sublimation print.
How to Create a Seamless Design
To add a design to the other side and prevent any blank space where the design meets, flip the sock over and then roll the sides toward the middle just a little so that the design can be seen from the top. Doing this will allow you to line up a sublimation print on the other side up so it sits right on top of that little part of the image that is showing.
Then when you press for the second time, it will layer on top of that small strip of your design so you have a seamless sock.
Sublimation Tube Socks with Faces
Add the long sock form to your tube sock making sure the toe of the sock is straight along the end and then straighten out all the ribs as we did before. Lint roll the entire sock and pre-press as needed. Because I don’t have a printer large enough to print an image that will cover the entire sock at once I decided to add faces.
Cut the faces out and using heat tape place them randomly all over the sock. Add protective paper over the top of and under your socks. Use your heat press to press the first side and then remove the prints. Once the first side is done, without removing the form add prints to the other side and press again.
With the form inside, you can see that the socks are stretched a little so the print is in the ribbing of the socks. This will help your print from having white lines when you wear the socks.
Removing Heat Press Marks
If you notice your tape left heat press marks on your socks you can use your EasyPress Mini to press them out. Keep the sock on the form and go over the marks with your EasyPress Mini and as long as you don’t keep the heat in one place too long it won’t affect your design. The marks on the top of these socks came out really easily with just a little heat from the Mini.
Off the form you can see that the image scrunches back together a little, that’s what we want so it doesn’t stretch out weirdly when it’s worn. The heat press marks didn’t remove from the bottom of the socks completely. You may want to skip the bottom or make a large print so you don’t have to add tape. You can also try sublimation spray adhesive instead of tape.
Sublimation Ankle Socks
These ankle socks are small enough that I can do an all-over design with my 8.5×14 print. These socks came folded on the side. You can try pressing them like that but I am going to use the long sock form and press it as a top and bottom. This way any seams are on the sides of the sock instead of the middle of the top.
I printed 4 copies of my print on 8.5×14 paper to do an all-over print on these socks. I am going to add the image to the top just like we did with our no-show socks. Make sure everything is lined up and straight and using heat tape hold the sock into place. Press for the appropriate amount of time with protective paper on top and bottom.
To press the bottom of the sock we need to roll the sock so you can see a little of the image all the way around. You can see in the photo below that there is just a little purple all the way around. We also need to decide how we want to handle the heel of the sock. Just remember that whatever area is folded down won’t sublimate. I am folding my heel so the white area will be centered on the heel.
Tape the sock onto the design and use protective paper above and below and press for the appropriate amount of time.
Once we’re done pressing you can see the white area left from folding the sock on the heel. How you decide to fold the heel is up to you, I like this look.
Finished Sock Seams
In the photo below you can see where the seams of the design lined up. By rolling the edges just a little bit we created seamless images without any blank space on the seams. They turned out so good.
On the galaxy socks, the seam is on the sides. On the sprinkle socks, it is right down the middle. You can’t really tell on either pair of socks at all.
Tips and Tricks for Sublimating on Socks
While making all these different socks, I learned a few different things. Here are my best tips and tricks just for you.
Be Careful of Ink Transfer
With the socks in the photo below the sock form comes up above the top of the sock. Depending on your image the ink may transfer onto the sock form. I will mark my forms for the sock I used so I can make sure that future socks don’t get ink transferred on them. You don’t want future socks to go past the ink line from previous socks.
You also want to make sure to use protective paper on the top and bottom when pressing. You will probably be using oversized prints for these socks and do not want ink on your heat press.
Watch for Press Marks
I had no problem removing the press marks from the top of my socks but the bottom is more cushioned and the tape marks didn’t come out completely even with running the EasyPress Mini over it.
You can get away from this happening by avoiding placing images on the bottom of the sock or make the image big enough that you can tape the image to the protective paper instead of to the sock itself. It is on the bottom of the foot and it did press mostly out so it’s not noticeable, it’s just something to be aware of.
Which of these do I like best?
I love these socks. They’re so much fun! I’m glad there are finally sublimation socks I will actually wear. I’m not sure I can pick a favorite pair. I love the look of the tennis shoe design, there are a lot of fun options for the holidays on Etsy.
I think my favorite pair to wear are the cotton bottom ones. Personally, I like thick socks and these are comfortable and I like that I can customize the top. I like that I can sublimate the entire ankle sock. The galaxy pattern is really cool but you could use any full design you wanted.
I think the all-over face socks are my favorite design. The crew socks are probably my favorite to wear but the face socks are so fun. They make a great gift, they could be a funny gag gift or you could do something more serious and cover your socks with them.
I hope you found this tutorial on making customized sublimation socks helpful. If you have any questions leave them in the comments and I’m happy to answer them.
5 More Sublimation Crafts
Do you love these sublimation socks, and are looking for more sublimation crafts? Then check out the projects below!
- How to Make Sublimation Flip Flops
- How to Make a Sublimation Tote Bag
- How to Make Sublimation Baby Onesies
- How to Make Custom Sublimation Aprons
- Sublimation Tie Dye with a Printer or Infusible Ink
Equipment
- Sublimation Printer
- AutoPress
- Tape Dispenser
- EasyPress Mini
Supplies
- Sublimation ink
- Sublimation Paper
- Lint Roller
- Heat Resistant Tape
- Artesprix Protective Paper
- Cotton Bottom Socks
- Crew Socks
- Ankle Socks
- No-show Socks
- Long Sock Form
- Tapered Sock Form
Instructions
Using Canva to Create Sublimation Designs
- I am going to use Canva to design socks with faces on them. Open Canva and we are going to create a design in a custom size. Set the size to match whatever size sublimation paper you have for your printer.
- Upload the picture you want to use, add it to the design, and then crop it down around the portion of the image you want to use.
- Click edit image and then click background remover. This will attempt to remove the background on your image. Depending on what the background looks like you may need to clean it up some more. To do that you can click the eraser and adjust the brush size and erase whatever you don’t want to have printed.
- Once you’re done erasing click done and then apply. Once you have the image cleaned up you can resize it to whatever size you want. I am resizing my image to 2×2. You can have different-sized images, and make your design however you like.
- From there we can duplicate the image to fill up the canvas. Once the paper is filled up, name your design, and then download it as a PNG file. If you have the premium version of Canva you can download it with a transparent background and then click download.
- You’ll use a different program to print the design from your computer.
How to Create Sublimation Socks
- Use your sublimation printer to print out all your designs. You will need to lint roll all of your socks to prepare them for the sublimation print. If you’re worried about moisture at all I recommend pre-heating the socks before adding the sublimation print.
Sublimation No-show Socks
- Print your sublimation design and make sure the socks are smooth and lined up on the form. With these socks, I am only sublimating the top of the sock. I did mirror the design for one sock so they would look like a matching pair of shoes.
- Place the sock, with the form inside, top-side down on the printed image. The design won’t fit perfectly on the sock so I am going to just line it up by eye.
- Use heat-resistant tape to hold the socks in place. I am using my AutoPress and will press these at 400 degrees for about 40 seconds with medium pressure. Add protective paper on both the top and the bottom of your socks and when the time is done peel the design off while it’s hot.
- As you can see my design doesn’t get completely edge to edge but when these are on the whole top will have this cute converse shoe design.
Sublimation Crew Socks
- These socks are so fun. They come in a variety of colors, I chose pink. The bottom of the sock is cotton and the top is polyester.
- I chose a fun sprinkle donut image for these socks. I printed my image a little larger than the sock itself so I will get it in place and then cut away the pieces I don’t want.
- The tapered sock form fits this sock really well. Once it is inside, straighten out all the ribs on the sock, both front and back. I left a little of the form out the top of the sock to keep the image from bleeding through. With the form inside the sock it stretches a little allowing the print to get inside the lines so when they’re on you won’t have white lines in the middle of your print.
How to Create a Seamless Design
- So we’ll add the design to one side of this sock just like we did the top of the no-show socks. Because I printed it over-sized I need to trim anything that runs onto the bottom of the sock.
- Because the bottom of the sock is cotton it’s likely any sublimation print will wash out. If you don’t want to take that chance, trim your design so it doesn’t touch the cotton area.
- Add a couple of pieces of tape to hold the design in place long enough to get it over to the heat press and add protective paper on the top as well as the bottom.
- To add a design to the other side and prevent any blank space where the designs add up we want to flip our sock over and then roll the sides toward the top just a little so that it can be seen from the top.
- Doing this will allow you to line the other image up so it sits right on top of that little part of the image showing. Then when you press, it will layer on top of that design so you have a seamless design.
Sublimation Tube Socks with Faces
- Add the long sock form to your tube sock making sure the toe of the sock is straight along the end and then straighten out all the ribs as we did before.
- Lint roll the entire sock and pre-press as needed. Because I don’t have a printer large enough to print an image that will cover the entire sock at once I decided to add faces.
- Cut the faces out and using heat tape place them randomly all over the sock. Use your heat press to press the first side and then remove the print. Once the first side is done, without removing the form add prints to the other side and press again.
- With the form inside you can see that the socks are stretched a little so the print is in the ribbing of the socks.
Removing Heat Press Marks
- If you notice your tape left heat press marks on your socks you can use your EasyPress Mini to press them out. Keep the sock on the form and go over the marks with your EasyPress Mini and as long as you don’t keep the heat in one place too long it won’t affect your design.
- The marks on the top of these socks came out really easily with just a little heat from the Mini.
- Off the form you can see that the image scrunches back together a little, that’s what we want so it doesn’t stretch out weirdly when it’s worn.
Sublimation Ankle Socks
- These ankle socks are small enough that I can do an all-over design with my 8.5×14 print. These socks came folded on the side. You can try pressing them like that but I am going to use the long sock form and press it as a top and bottom. This way any seams are on the sides of the sock instead of the middle of the top.
- I printed 4 copies of my print on 8.5×14 paper to do an all-over print on these socks.
- I am going to add the image to the top just like we did with our no-show socks. Make sure everything is lined up and straight and using heat tape hold the sock into place.
- Press for the appropriate amount of time with protective paper on top and bottom.
- To press the bottom of the sock we need to roll the sock so you can see a little of the image all the way around. You can see in the photo below that there is just a little purple all the way around.
- We also need to decide how we want to handle the heel of the sock. Just remember that whatever area is folded down won’t sublimate. I am folding my heel so the white area will be centered on the heel.
- Tape the sock onto the design and use protective paper above and below and press for the appropriate amount of time.
- Once we’re done pressing you can see the white area left from folding the sock on the heel. How you decide to fold the heel is up to you, I like this look.
