With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I wanted to make a new design with a love theme. I felt it was time to make something completely different than anything else I had made, and the first thing that came to mind was a love monster!
If you know me well, you may have noticed by now that I really like pockets. I decided to switch things up this time and instead of giving my monster clothes with pockets, I made his mouth into one. His mouth pocket is perfect for holding love notes, candy, gift cards, or even an engagement ring! (I’m guessing not everyone is a weirdo like me, but I would have totally said yes to my husband if he had proposed with a stuffed animal!)
The pattern came together fairly quickly. I only went through two prototypes this time before feeling comfortable enough to cut into the organic fabric. This is the second one I made. (I’m lazy when sewing prototypes and rarely change the thread colors, so he has purple stitches peeking out through his teeth.)I dyed both hemp/organic cotton fleece and organic cotton velour for this project. Pictured here is the organic cotton velour. It’s incredibly soft but a pain to work with. It’s so slippery that a lot of the pins wiggle their way out while sewing. It’s also difficult to sew over multiple seams with this fabric. My Kenmore Ultra Stitch 6 has sewn through 16 layers of duck canvas before, but this fabric proved to be a challenge for it. Even with a walking foot, my machine had a hard time grabbing all the slippery layers piled on top of each other. I broke a few needles sewing over the arms and pocket. I tell myself “never again” every time I use this fabric, but I inevitably forget that as soon as I feel how soft it is.Ever since finding ethically made glass eyes, I have wanted to use them on almost everything I have made. Some of my characters look best with embroidered eyes, but I think the reflective quality of the glass really helps bring the face to life in some cases. I embroidered the eyes on a few of the love monsters to make them child-safe, but I ended up making most of the monsters as collectibles with glass eyes.I was going to photograph the process of hand stitching the heart on, but one of my gloves broke while dyeing fabric and left my hand looking like a love monster had been gnawing on it.The first batch of love monsters all lined up.
The love monsters have made their way into my Etsy shop and are ready for new homes!
2 Responses
Alison Kelly
So cute and I love the velour!!!!
fluffmonger
Thank you, Alison!