EEEEK, it's a MONSTER!

I swear, I am SO TIRED of fibromyalgia. Since I'm in one of those weird head spaces where I'm not sure if anything I write is going to make sense, or be rude or weird or boring or... whatever, I'm just going to show you one of the projects I'm working on to distract myself from the fun that is my life at the moment. (Gee, does that come across as sarcasm? I hope it does. I should start adding in tags or something that say, "Hey, read this in a sarcastic voice and realize I'm saying the exact opposite of what's going on here.")

So... monsters. I've been wanting to try my hand at making stuffed animals for ages, and so a couple of weeks back I went to the dollar store and got some adorable socks. $4 got me 8 pairs of socks- two sets of knee socks and 6 sets of anklets in coordinating colors. I like having potions, and making what looks like patchwork fabrics.  (Oooh, another good idea... might have to get out the sewing machine for that one, though...)


I've been handsewing all of this, so it's a V-E-R-Y   S-L-O-W   P-R-O-C-E-S-S. That's a good thing, because it becomes a sort of zen-like process in which I lose track of my body and just become this stitching process. It's very enjoyable, unless I sit for too long and end up hurting MORE because I haven't moved in 3 hours. Yea, no one ever said I was brilliant. :D

Now I'm at a point where I'll need to get some eyes for my critter, and start deciding where I want the various bits and bobs attached. It'll work though... this is what I've sewn so far.

NOTE: I have not yet attached eyes, nose, or horns to the face. These are Photoshop mockups of what could be. I love exploring like this, because it doesn't cost money and it doesn't make me swear like a sailor because I have to go back and rip out stitches when I change my mind about something.

The photo to the right is ... clearly only halfway cleaned up. I thought I'd removed all the loose threads in Photoshop, but clearly they're hanging right over the legs. Ah well... be aware that they were all across the head too, so... whatever.

This is one mockup I did, looking at where I could place things. The ears/horns can be flipped over to show a light blue back, and the curve can go either way(out or in). I stuck them on top to see what sort of long tall critter I could come up with. This guy would remind me of Piglet from Winnie the Pooh if he were all pink.

The green stripe at the bottom of the head is the upper lip, and the big pink thing is a tongue. I may go back and make it smaller, or I might just sew a seam down the middle to thin it out some. It's... large.

I've also got the legs there, but I haven't stuffed them. They are long and super-skinny, so that should be lots of fun! Thank goodness I have chopsticks on hand!

After I made this one, I decided to fiddle around and try and come up with another facial layout. I like this one lots more...

I may end up doing a seam along the center of the head so that it's not so long and skinny. The point here is that I've got all sorts of options, and nothing but time to explore them in. It's a very fun process, if I do say so myself.

I've got several other projects going right now, and I photographed them tonight. I figure I can share them with you guys bit by bit, and not feel so overwhelmed by looking at over 100 photos and thinking "OMG WHAT DID I DO HERE???"

So what do you guys think? Would you want to try making a monster of your own? It seems lots more intimidating than it really is. I waited for weeks, then finally said to heck with it and jumped in, and I'm loving it!!

Monstah feets, I like those monstah feets!

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