<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

New wave of monster crafts are frightfully fun

The Columbian
Published: October 11, 2010, 12:00am
4 Photos
The Zombie
The Zombie Photo Gallery

Adapted from “Beasties,” by Diana Schoenbrun. Tip: Make your zombie from old, recycled clothes.

Supplies

o Cotton fabric.

o Felt, assorted colors.

o 1 large pom-pom.

o Gauze, bandage wrap or clothing scrap.

o Synthetic stuffing.

o Craft stuffing.

o Craft glue.

o Thread.

o Scissors.

o Sewing needle.

o Paper.

o Chalk or fabric marker.

o Pins.

Assembly

  1. Draw a simple outline of a body shape — with only a torso, head and legs — on paper. The body should be approximately 10 inches tall and 4 inches wide for sewing ease. Draw the arms, feet and ears separately. Cut out paper shapes for patterns.
  2. Use patterns to cut two body shapes from fabric. From felt, cut out four arm shapes, four feet shapes, and two ear shapes. Cut additional eyes, blood droplets and teeth from felt.
  3. Sew body shapes together, right sides together, leaving about 2 inches unsewn. Turn body right side out, fill with stuffing, and sew body closed.
  4. Sew felt pieces to make two arms and two feet. Fill with stuffing and sew closed. Sew arms to upper body and feet to legs.
  5. Embroider a mouth. Sew ears to head.
  6. Sew pom- pom and felt eyes to the head. Glue on blood droplets and gauze.

An avalanche of new books for knitters and sewers shows that one of the crafting world’s big trends involves making “friends” — traditional, stuffed animals, for sure, but also oddball critters and monsters. Just in time for the spooky season, here’s a roundup of the most recent, clever ideas for crafting cuddly — and beastly — critters.

A puppet maker by day, author Diana Schoenbrun, of Brooklyn, N.Y., found her love for creatures spilling into her personal life. What emerged from research into mythology and monster tales is a personal take on the creaturely in “Beasties” (Perigee, 2010).

Schoenbrun, 27, thinks she’s not alone in her fascination with monsters.

“I think people like that certain element of mystery, and the storytelling” inherent in monster tales, she says. “It’s exciting to believe in something, to think, ‘Is it possible there’s something here that’s tangible?’”

While some of Schoenbrun’s monsters appear to have nasty temperaments, they’re all huggable, soft and squeezable.

Adapted from "Beasties," by Diana Schoenbrun. Tip: Make your zombie from old, recycled clothes.

Supplies

o Cotton fabric.

o Felt, assorted colors.

o 1 large pom-pom.

o Gauze, bandage wrap or clothing scrap.

o Synthetic stuffing.

o Craft stuffing.

o Craft glue.

o Thread.

o Scissors.

o Sewing needle.

o Paper.

o Chalk or fabric marker.

o Pins.

Assembly

  1. Draw a simple outline of a body shape -- with only a torso, head and legs -- on paper. The body should be approximately 10 inches tall and 4 inches wide for sewing ease. Draw the arms, feet and ears separately. Cut out paper shapes for patterns.
  2. Use patterns to cut two body shapes from fabric. From felt, cut out four arm shapes, four feet shapes, and two ear shapes. Cut additional eyes, blood droplets and teeth from felt.
  3. Sew body shapes together, right sides together, leaving about 2 inches unsewn. Turn body right side out, fill with stuffing, and sew body closed.
  4. Sew felt pieces to make two arms and two feet. Fill with stuffing and sew closed. Sew arms to upper body and feet to legs.
  5. Embroider a mouth. Sew ears to head.
  6. Sew pom- pom and felt eyes to the head. Glue on blood droplets and gauze.

Not only are some of the patterns doable by new and young sewers, Schoenbrun thinks her “beastly brigade” will foster imaginative play. Kids can “be active and make up stories with the characters.”

The same goes for the knitted critters in Anna Hrachovec’s “Knitting Mochimochi” (Watson-Guptill, 2010). While studying in Japan a few years ago, Hrachovec became familiar with the cute creatures that permeate that country’s culture. She recalls businesses had cute, crittery logos.

“I spent a lot of time there in stationery stores and toy stores, marveling at the many characters,” says Hrachovec, 29. “I love how the cuteness in Japan is not just for kids.”

In Japan, a “mochi” is a sweet made of sticky rice, and “mochimochi” refers to something that is “sticky” and “squishy,” like chewy bread, says Hrachovec.

The Brooklyn knitter has come up with 20 designs that fit her improvised “mochimochi” bill — sweet, soft and cuddly. Her pigs wear wigs, her bunny is a “neck nuzzler” and her squirrels have wheels.

She also offers patterns for “nano knits” — micro mountains, tiny human “beans” and a petite pencil. They’re all forms of amigurumi, the Japanese word for crocheted or knitted stuffed animals with human characteristics.

“Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts” (Potter Craft, 2010) also provides instructions for several clever plush-toy-making ideas, including how to design and sew a creature of your own making with fabric scraps.

Loading...