How to Make Custom Socks & How They're Good for Your Business
If you’ve ever thought about custom socks, but got a little bit scared because you thought it’d be too complicated a process, you’re not alone. As sock fairies, we know there’s a good amount to think about before making the commitment to invest in custom socks, but take it from us: It’s pretty easy, and they’re well worth it.
Whether you’re looking for a way to welcome new hires with a little bit of creativity, offer a little event swag when the time finally comes for us to see each other again or simply show your team you’ve been thinking of them, custom socks are the perfect way to boost morale and show you care.
how to make custom socks
There’s a good amount to think about when it comes to making custom socks, but if you’re working with the right partners, they should make it really easy for you! When it’s time for you to start the process, keep in mind the different types of fabrics, lengths and prints that are out there.
Step 1. Start with your materials.
More fashion innovation is involved in sock making than you probably thought! The process of making fun novelty socks has come so far and advancements in sock-making techniques and fiber blending are helping create so many cool and trendy styles.
Design the Best Custom Socks For You and Your TeamWhen you start making custom socks for your team, you have many different materials you can choose from. Some of the more popular fibers available include:
- Acrylic: Acrylic is a man-made fiber that holds bright colors particularly well.
- Cashmere: Cashmere is a soft and luxurious fiber that comes from the Cashmere goat.
- Cotton: Cotton is a breathable fiber that has natural moisture-wicking properties. There are many different types of cotton, including recycled, organic and combed cotton.
- Lurex: Lurex is a man-made fiber that weaves in sparkly, metallic thread for a special touch.
- Nylon: Nylon is often blended with other fibers to provide elasticity and durability.
Different fibers blend together to create custom combinations that suit you and your team’s unique needs. A company looking for a performance sock to wear to the annual volleyball tournament is going to create something much different than the consulting firm that’s looking to make dress socks to wear to presentations. It’s all a matter of personal preference and intended use.
Step 2. Choose your length.
When it comes to length, there are so many different types of socks with lengths ranging from no-show all the way up to above-the-knee styles. While you can pick any type for your team, the three most common options we typically see are knee high socks, crew socks and short socks. Knee high socks make a big statement and hit where you’d expect (ahem: at the knee), crew socks fall somewhere between the calf and the ankle, and short socks are great for sporty types since they usually poke out just a wee bit from underneath your sneakers.
As you choose your length, keep in mind the prints, patterns and emblems you plan to place on the socks. The more you want the overall look to stand out or the larger and more intricate your potential design, the larger the canvas you’ll need to show it off.
Step 3. Determine your sizing.
Socks make great corporate gifts for many reasons, but one of our favorites is that you don’t have to get fussy with sizing like you do for other forms of apparel. If you’re shopping around for t-shirts or jackets, there’s men’s sizing and women’s sizing, and there’s multiple size options for each. It can be really difficult, logistically, to accommodate all employees’ sizes, and you never want to leave someone out from the joy of receiving company swag!
Learn the Ins-and-Outs of Sock Sizes to Find the Right FitSock sizes are pretty universal and one sock size typically fits most shoe sizes. A sock size 9-11 can comfortably fit women’s shoe sizes 5 to 10 and men’s shoe sizes 4 to 7.5, while a sock size 10-13 fits women’s shoe sizes 10.5 to 13 and men’s shoe sizes 8 to 12.5. With just these two options, you’re usually covered.
Step 4. Pick your colors, prints and logos or emblems.
Once you have your materials, your length and the sizes you’ll accommodate, it’s time to select your base colors and prints. This is the really fun part where anything goes!
Novelty socks are an awesome source of inspiration to get a feel for popular color combos, quirky sayings and neat prints and graphics. Depending on if you’re looking to add any additional elements like your company’s logo or emblem, you’ll want to think about how subtle you want your base color or pattern to be.
Don’t worry if you aren’t necessarily experts in the sock design business! This part can be really tough for some, and it’s totally OK to ask questions and seek support when creating the custom design for your team. We know it can be hard; that’s why we offer free design help!
Step 5. Decide on your packaging.
Packaging is like the gift wrap for the awesome pair of socks you’re able to send over to your team members. It’s the finishing touch that makes the presentation extra special. Packaging can be as simple as a hang-tag or as intricate as a gift box with ribbons and a custom insert card.
When you’re deciding on how to package your team’s cool, new custom socks, do note that extra trimmings will come at an extra cost. If you’re setting out to give your employees a big reason to smile, that little bit extra could make a very meaningful impact!
Step 6. Place the order.
You’ve gotten to what is by far the easiest part of all. Custom sock orders have surprisingly quick turnaround times. Ours take just three to four weeks, and rush options are available, too (we’re not known as the sock fairies for nothing!). This is really helpful if you’re looking for a way to get something special to your team in a jiffy.
how custom socks are good for business
Socks can seem like a simple gift to provide for your team, but they really do have the power to warm their toes and their hearts! From boosting morale to inspiring a little bit of healthy competition, here are a few of our favorite reasons why socks can have a positive impact on your business.
1. They help to inspire camaraderie amongst the team.
While you might think your employees know who you are and what you stand for, sometimes they might need a little bit of a reminder. Creating cool socks inspired by your company and designed with words, phrases, colors or your logo give employees the chance to feel connected to your business as well as to one another.
That camaraderie starts, of course, with your company culture, but it’s fostered through thoughtful actions, like gift-giving! There’s just something so special about feeling as though you’re being cared for that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and when team members wear uniform articles of clothing, they can truly feel that natural sense of togetherness. How sweet!
2. They serve as little walking advertisements.
Depending on the sock length you choose and the boldness of the style you selected, your employees might draw a lot of attention to themselves while on their morning walk around the neighborhood. Even if your employees’ feelings are the first thing on your mind, another benefit to choosing custom socks is that they can be a conversation starter for the friends, families and maybe even neighbors of your team members.
Your choice to give employees a practical gift means they’ll probably choose to use them over and over again. This means they’ll take ‘em out and become little billboards for you. retty cost-effective advertising, huh?
3. They can cheer up employees who haven’t seen each other a while.
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us haven’t seen each other as much as we’re used to. It leaves us feeling a little bit down. A gift of custom socks for your company can be just the pick-me-up your team didn’t even know they needed.
- Send a gift to each employee’s home and then schedule a Zoom meeting where everyone gets to open their gifts together. It’ll be a special moment for everyone that they’ve all gotten a sweet new pair of company socks. It goes to show that, even if you can’t be together physically, there are still thoughtful ways you can be emotionally connected to those you care about.
- If your office is opening back up soon and team members are feeling a little anxious about getting back to a new “normal,” leave a pair on everyone’s desk as a cheerful little surprise for them to return to. The warm welcome will surely give them the fuzzies in their hearts.
4. They make great swag for corporate events.
Even if we’re not quite ready to kick company-wide events (or really any events!) off just yet, we’ll get there soon enough! When we’re finally out the other side of this pandemic and the team is ready to get back together again, custom socks can make really great branded swag for corporate events.
Whether it’s a team dinner, a fundraiser or an annual picnic, socks can be used in a lot of different ways:
- Have a pair at check-in to welcome participants and their guests.
- Include a batch as an auction item to encourage people to bid for them.
- Offer them up as prizes for event participation.
- Distribute them as favors at the end of the event.
5. They give you the chance to welcome new hires in a sweet and thoughtful way.
It’s tough being new at a company, now or any time, but for remote employees it can be especially difficult to feel connected when you’ve never gotten the chance to physically meet all of your coworkers.
A nice way to welcome someone to the team is to give them the gift of company swag. Whether novelty socks are the main attraction or part of a gift pack, they’re a great way to show how much you care right off the bat. Your new hires will know how lucky they are right away and feel even more confident about their choice to join the team!
6. They can help inspire employee productivity.
Rewards programs are known for helping motivate employees to achieve their goals in the workplace, and socks make a great prize for reaching productivity goals. Whether you’re looking for task-oriented outcomes, sales quotas or the completion of wellness-related goals, let a cool custom pair of socks provide the incentive team members need to put in that next-level effort.
Once one person unlocks their neat prize, it’s only a matter of time before your rewards program drums up interest and participation from the entire team!
happy feet, happy team
We love seeing the creative ways different companies surprise and delight their team members with gifts, and there’s nothing that brings us more joy than getting to play a small part in helping them make it happen. Custom socks give you a pretty great bang for your buck, and the emotional payoff you get from making your employees happy is truly priceless.
