Sock Puppets by Katie Seage

Hi all!

For those who do not know me, I’m Katie Seage, and I’ve been helping at Calvary as the youth intern since August. I’m from Jackson, Mississippi, but live in Memphis and am a sophomore at Rhodes College, at least until recently. Due to the effects of the Coronavirus, Rhodes students were given a week’s notice to vacate campus and continue our classes online. This was a sudden shock for so many people - we all of a sudden had to leave the lives we’ve made and adjust to new habits. This applies to so many professions and ways of life. We are all learning about this “new normal” together.

One thing that I thought about while making plans to move back home to Jackson was that at least I’ll have my people here: high school friends, camp friends, and even college friends that live in the area. However, as the pandemic spread and more and more news was issued about social distancing, the idea that I would still have a community at home quickly left. This is probably the only time you’ll ever hear me say this, but thank goodness for social media. Because of this, we still have the ability to communicate with our loved ones, friends, and connect within the communities we’ve built for each other.

I grew up going to Camp Bratton Green in Mississippi, and one activity we did in arts and crafts was puppets, but not just any kind of puppets: making sock puppets for the friends you wish could come to camp, but couldn’t. Coming home so suddenly made me take into account just how much stuff I have collected throughout the years. While organizing my closet, I found at least eight socks without pairs, so I decided to start crafting. I missed my friends, and while I could FaceTime and text them as much as I wanted, I was still getting bored. So, I decided to make sock puppets of my friends that I couldn’t be with.

To do this, I took all of the socks without pairs from my closet, and got to work. I found embroidery thread and googly eyes in my craft bin, plugged in my hot glue gun, and got ready to go. I put my hand inside the sock to make the shape of it, and glued the eyes and hair (embroidery thread) where they seemed fit to go. I then drew on glasses and a mouth, and my friend Katy was there in sock puppet form! To make it easier, it would also very easily have been done with pens and sharpies, drawing on the features. 

Doing this reminded me of all the communities I’m surrounded by: my friends at Rhodes, those from home, Camp Bratton Green, and everyone I have met at Calvary. While making sock puppets of your friends may sound strange (actually, it doesn’t sound strange, it is), it’s a special way to keep yourself entertained, get creative, and remind yourself about all the amazing people in your life. Even if you can’t see them, they will always be with you, and there to support you. This is a crazy, chaotic time, but what keeps me comforted it knowing that this is temporary, and even with all that’s going on, we have people and support systems to turn to.

Also, shameless plug - follow me on instagram to see the adventures of my sock puppets @katie_seage! Who knows, you may even get a puppet made of you ;)