Taggie Monster

Look at this little guy! Too Cute right?  I found the idea over here at Craft Schmaft.  You can download a free pattern there. I just wanted to highlight a few changes that I made to make it suit me and my needs better.

I started out by tracing the pattern and making the legs part of the pattern, so the whole monster would be two pieces. ***NOTE: Make sure you add a seam allowance when you trace the pattern. I didn't the first time I tried and the result was disastrous! I added half an inch.

I was also worried that when I washed this little guy, which is an eventuality in my house, all the ribbon would fray and I would be left with really long strings wrapped around in my washing machine. Can you imagine that nightmare?  I decided to enclose all the edges of the ribbon. I just cut a rectangle that was wider than my monster's middle. I hemmed the top and bottom, then sewed on the ribbon.

Fold the top of your fabric over and sew another seam...

Open it up and sew another seam to hold it open and repeat until you have several rows with all the ribbon edges enclosed.

I sewed it onto the top piece of my Monster, then pinned all the ribbon towards the middle. Right sides together, sew the top and bottom piece together leaving an opening between the legs. Turn right side out, it helped to use a pencil and turn the legs into the middle before trying to turn the rest.

Stuff and close up between the legs by hand.  I used felt to make the face and hand stitched the eyes and mouth on.  I liked the look better than the original tutorial shows.

Of course, having three little boys who each needed their own Monster, I have now made several. One for each of them. I had to distinguish whose was whose, and so I stitched an initial into the backside.

Credit to Claire at Craft Schmaft.  I hope you like what I did with your pattern! I know my boys loved it!

*Note: Please forgive the blurring on some of the pictures. My camera is on it's last legs.

The Hobo Sack

Have you even been over to MADE?  Dana has some great stuff and provides easy to follow Tutorials.

My Best friend growing up just had her third baby, a little boy to join her two beautiful daughters.  And I wanted to send a very personal gift.  But I also know young kids who have had their world turned upside down with the addition of a sibling. (Yep, I did it recently, in Nov '09). I wanted to give her girls something to make them feel involved and special. I decided to make them their own cinch sack, but to save myself the time of figuring the measurements and trial and error, I headed right over to see what Dana had done.

Here is my bag:

Her original tutorial can be found here.

There were only a few changes that I made.

I wanted the cinch ties to be straps so it could be worn like a backpack.  So I added twelve inches in length to each one. I also made small tabs that hold a D ring, which I sewed into the seam of the outside (right sides together) close to the bottom.

I also added a vinyl name/emergency contact card holder into the lining. I did this before any bag assembly took place, just make sure that it is on the RIGHT side of your lining.

Dana did a great job with this one!