Homemade Sock Monkey? Can. Do.

I love sock monkeys.  I never had one as a kid, but I always thought they were adorable.  I've been searching for an easy pattern of how to make one, but all I could find were crochet patterns. I knit, I sew, I paint, I do a lot of crafts...but I don't crochet. Yesterday the Hobby Lobby facebook page posted a really really easy pattern for sock monkeys.  After I got out of class yesterday afternoon I immediately went to Walmart, got socks, and started on my very first homemade sock monkey. :D

I took pictures to provide step by step instructions, but here's the link to the Hobby Lobby instructions. Hopefully between the two of us you can figure out the way that works best for you!
http://www.hobbylobby.com/project_inspiration/project_detail.cfm?projectId=1522

Okay, so there are two socks used for this pattern of sock monkey.  To avoid confusion I will refer to the sock that makes the arms, tail, mouth and ears as Sock X, and the sock that makes the legs and body as Sock Y. :)

Alright, so first you'll have to find some socks with long tops.  I went to walmart to find mine and found two super cute pair for $3.25 a pair.  However, I should note that the socks I bought were knee socks which made the legs of the monkey waaaaaay to long. Shortening the legs of the sock monkey added a whole lot of work, so I suggest getting socks that go up to mid calf.

When you have the socks turn both socks (X and Y) inside out.  

Draw two half circles on the bottom edge of sock X.  Hobby Lobby used a circle stencil. I don't have one of those, so I just used my KTB flower pot. :)

On sock X you will also draw a line straight down the middle of the sock that extends from the top of the sock down to the tip of the toe of the sock.  In addition to these straight lines, draw another straight line about 1/2 inch about the heel of the sock. It should look like something similar to this:

When sewing the half circles sew along the marked line.  When sewing the straight lines you will sew a seam on each side of the black lines.  Do NOT sew the black line that is about a 1/2 inch above the heel. Below is a picture of where the seams should be.

As you can see, the straight black lines are more like sewing machine foot guidelines.  Just line up the edge of your sewing foot against the black line on each side when sewing the stitches.  For the ears just sew along the black line. 
The right edge of this picture cut off the top of the sock, but below is a picture of how the seams should look at the top.

After all of the seams have been sewn on sock X you can cut all the pieces out.  Below is a picture of where all the cutting lines are. Notice that the ears should not be sewn along the black lines. This is become obvious to you once you see it up close because then you would be cutting apart the seams.

Alright, put all the pieces from sock X away and pull out sock Y.  Lay sock Y out in such a way that the whole heel is facing  up.  I couldn't really figure out a good way to explain this, so I took a picture of it.  In this picture I've also drawn (in red) the seams that should be sewn on sock Y and (in purple) where the cutting lines are.  Notice that the cutting line extends PAST the seam that goes across the bottom of the booty.  Go ahead and cut that seam in half,  this will create a hole for you to stuff the poly fil into, and to pull the monkey right side out. (cut to the left and right of the booty seam as needed to be able to fill the legs as well.  At the bottom of the leg seams, where the feet would be, sew curved lines just as you did with the ends of the arms.

Turn all pieces of socks X and Y right side out, and stuff the body, legs, arms and tail with poly fil.

When everything has been stuffed hand sew the little hole beneath the booty of the monkey. 

Take the heel of sock X that you cut off earlier. Fill the heel with a wad of poly fil and sew onto the front of the monkey.

I actually found it easier to sew the bottom of the mouth on, fill with poly fil from the top and then finish sewing the top of the mouth on.  After you've finished with the mouth figure out where you want the arms to be in relation to the mouth and hand sew the arms onto both sides. Then hand sew the tail just above the center of the booty of the monkey.

That's it! That's all there is to it! Easy right?  The mouth line the button eyes, the ears and any other accessories you want to add to the monkey can be added in various ways, so I'll let you use your imagination on those parts. ;) Here's my finished product:

 

The Perfect Match

http://ruffledblog.com/diy-strike-anywhere-match-jars/

I find the initial purpose of this craft slightly corny.  "Jack + Jill The Perfect Match" I was never really one for mushy stuff so we're just going to ignore that. But!  The craft itself is interesting and useful for the house! 

When you buy matches you basically have two choices
A) Buy a whole lot of little bitty boxes in a big pack and reduce the risk of spilling the whole box when you're trying to light one or,
B) Buy the huge box of matches and increase the chances of spilling them when you strike the match on the side of the box...not okay.

These super cute little match jars hold a lot of matches (depending on the size of the jar) AND, it's so much easier to light a match and not worry about spilling the matches everywhere.

It's incredibly simple.  It's just a small mason jar with some sand paper glued on the top of it...easy shmeezy, rice and peasy. 

Sew Unorganized...

Now, for a project that I intend to do very soon.  :D Whoop!

I've been searching for ways to organize my sewing things.  At the current moment finding the color of thread spool I'm looking for is a headache in the making.  Looking for the bobbin to match it...well, let's just not even go there.  I do believe I've found a solution though!  I'm still on the lookout for a sewing box to make, but as far as the spools go, I think I'm going to make this.

http://greylustergirl.blogspot.com/

I'm so stinkin' excited about this! I'm heading home for the weekend and I think I can pick up the supplies while I'm there.  My parents tore down an old barn on our ranch a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure I can find some tin and old wood that I can use in all of that rubbish.  Something I will be doing differently than the picture is that under each large nail I will be putting a smaller one so that the bobbin that goes with that spool can be placed underneath the spool.  Or perhaps the nail is long enough to hold both??  You know, I think it will be a better idea to use a long enough nail that will hold both.  The bobbins that go with my machine are clear plastic, so that way I could see the color of the spool underneath without having to pull the spools out.

Oh yes.  This is going to be awesome!  I'll take pictues of the process and post them when I'm done!

Crafty Kaitie

I have to admit. The purpose of this blog is mainly so that I can organize my ideas of fun things, crafts, books and etc. that I want to do, make or read.  I feel like I'm always coming across things that I want to remember to go back and look at and just never remember to do so. So, here is my solution. PUT IT IN A BLOG! :D
My name is Kaitlin, but sometimes I go by Kaitie.  I know the Kaitie is spelled odd, but that's how I've always written it, and I think that's because my brain still thinks it is writing my full name so it writes Kait and then just finishes with an ie.  Oh well. :)

I'm just going to start by sharing one of my favorite craft websites so far, Craftgawker.com. When I come to work, and have a little time to spare, I get caught up in some of the awesome ideas on this website!  I have a "favorites" page for this website. But, from now on I'll probably just post my favorite ideas on here instead. I'm super excited about this and can't wait to get started brainstorming!

The Giftwrap of Weddings...Who Wraps in Just Paper Anymore?

Two of my very close friends at getting married, (one week after the other...whew! Travel, travel!) and I really kind of want to be adventuresome with the wrapping of the gifts.  I'm still contemplating how to wrap Joe and Lauren's gift.  For Dustin and Lianne I think I'm going to take a few ideas from this:

http://www.stylemepretty.com/2009/12/16/diy-gift-wrap-by-grey-likes-weddings/



I really like the one in the center row on the far left.  Lianne's colors are whites, beiges and gold so I think I can make it look pretty awesome.  :) When I wrap it I'll take a picture of it and post it. However, that won't be until after their wedding in August! BUT! It's a fun idea I want to remember. :)