Scrap Monster Sew Along: Day 3

Day 3: Monster Mouths!

Monster mouths are one of my favorite parts of making monsters. So many choices. The simplest I've made was to cut pointy teeth out of felt and sew them in to the face. There are two ways to do this. One is by pinching the body fabric where you want the mouth to go, then sewing the pinched part with the teeth sticking out. The other is to sew 2 separate pieces of fabric together and making the seam the mouth. Again with the teeth sandwiched in between like the little yellow monster below.

The larger monster is my zipper pocket mouthed monster. Make a pocket out of scrap fabric and sew the opening of the pocket and the mouth opening together with the zipper sandwich in between. I had hoped to make my own monster version of a zipper pocket tutorial, but since I haven't yet you will have to find one of the many tutorials online for how to sew this kind of pocket into a bag. I used the same method here.

You can also embroider a mouth. I would recommend embroidering once you have the monster somewhat put together, but before stuffing. If you have at least the front and back of the head sewn together you will have a better idea of where the mouth should be and how it's all going to come together.

This time I went for a wire edged mouth. I haven't done this before but when I started playing with my piece of triangle shaped fabric I knew it needed to have a posable mouth.

First I cut a square of fabric for the inside of the mouth and sewed 2 corners to the two corners of my triangle pieces and then together where they met at the corners of the mouth. I used 5/8" seam allowance so that I'd have room to attach the wire to the allowance

I measured and cut a piece of wire equal to the perimeter of the green square pieced I had cut for inside the mouth. Then, using the longest and widest zig zag setting on my machine, I basted the wire to the seam allowance.

It was a little funky turning everything right side out. The wire at the point of the "beak" needed to be bent the opposite way it had been. I made sure that the corner where my wire was twisted together ended up at a corner of the mouth, not one of the beaks, so those corners were easy to reshape. Once turned I pinned all around the outside wiggling the wire as close to the seam as possible and used a zipper foot to top stitch around the whole mouth, securing the wire in place.

In order to keep the inside of the mouth from popping out when the head was stuffed I decided to learn a new skill and used my blind hem foot for the first time ever. I did not get a truly blind hem, but I did get the inside of the mouth securely sewn to outside and I'm happy with how it looks.

Now I need to figure out where to go from here. This turned out a little different than I imagined so my monster is going to be a little more involved than I originally planned, but I really love it so far.

Scrap Monster Sew Along Day 2: monster limbs

Today's post is so very late because a certain little one (who has decided to give school a try this year) needed some extra mama time tonight. She is doing well and liking school, but commented that it does make it harder to do ALL the things you want to do with your mom...

Come. On.

She knows my weaknesses so well. Anyway, she has been fed desserts, cuddled, read a story, given some undivided attention, and tucked in so now, on to the monster making!

Day 2: Monster Limbs

Do you have some long strips leftover from quilt making? or a bit along the selvage? I am using the long thinnish pieces to make my monster's limbs. I'm still not sure if they will become arms or legs.

To aid in turning the long tube of fabric right side out, I tied an oversized safety pin to a scrap of yarn, fed it through the inside-out tube of fabric, sewed the end of the yarn into the end of fabric, then pulled the safety pin to turn the tube right side out. It takes a little finagling to get it started but is super smooth once it's going.

One of my favorite extras to add to the limbs is wire. wrap it in the stuffing or wiggle it in after the piece is stuffed and you now have a poseable limb. My wire was a little too thin so I wrapped it around itself until I had a strong enough wire to hold a pose when put into the limb I had. The thinner the limb or the less stuffing the thinner the wire can be.

Some other fun ideas for the limbs would be to use a tapered piece, or add "fingers" of yarn or felt. These can be added when you sew closed one end of the limb before stuffing, just turn the raw edge under slide some yarn scraps or pointed felt pieces in and top stitch closed.

If you are planning to piece together your main monster body that can be done with this step.

OK, tomorrow I should have some more time for monster making. If you have any questions about this step (or any others) please comment below or send me a message. I did plan a more detailed explanation for this step so I may add some later. Night everyone. Remember to snap some pictures of your progress, tag, and share #monstersewalong

Scrap Monster Sew Along

Want to join me in a little Halloween Scrap Monster Sew Along? In an attempt to encourage myself to use my art/craft/making time more productively I have decided to invite you to make with me :) I have never done a sew along type thing so any tips will be appreciated. The plan is to post a video, along with short blog post for those who don't love watching videos, of the steps I go through to make my cute monsters. [edited: We have been having some technical difficulties with the videos. :( I might get up the nerve to do a live Instagram thing so follow me there if you must have videos, or you want to see what a goof I am]

Day one: Gather your supplies

If you sew you probably have all sorts of scraps available for your scrap monster. My favorite scraps are the oddly shaped leftover bits that seem useless for most projects. If you don't sew regularly you can use old clothing or buy remnants at a fabric store for a discounted price.

This is a great project for trying to work with fabric you've never used before because really anything goes. If you twist your knit fabric, it only adds to the character of your monster. If your needle pulls threads on a fine satin and it runs, it gives a bit of gruesome wear and tear to the monster. Plus you get a lesson in choosing the proper needle.

The point is don't over think it and have fun letting go of the usual rules for sewing. This is really my sewing happy place. I love making a perfect piece from a perfect pattern, but a carefree, rules free project like this gives my creative mind a nice big stretch. So gather any bits of ribbon, fabric, scavenged zippers and buttons and start playing around with a design.

Supplies List:

• Fabric scraps
• Fabric scissors
• Stuffing
• Thread
• Embroidery floss
• Needles
• Pins
• Sewing machine (unless hand sewing)

Possible extras:

• Bits of lace or ribbon
• Wire
• Zippers
• Buttons
• Beads
• Felt
• Fusible interfacing
• Leftover biased binding
• Yarn scraps

Gather your supplies and start brainstorming. I like to use the odd shapes in the scrap fabric, you know that corner left behind when you cut out a skirt, or the curved part from a sleeve. Use the shapes of your scraps to help determine the shape of the monster. Most important remember to have fun, there's no wrong way to make a scrap monster. (If you haven't figured it out already you don't really need me but it's fun to sew together anyway right)
 

Snap some pictures and share them on Instagram, or FB, or Twitter, or the comments here. Make sure to #monstersewalong so we can all share in the fun.