So I’ve had this darling monkey pattern for months and have wanted to make it but had never found the time . . . my little niece had her first birthday and it was the perfect opportunity to make one! I am so pleased with how it turned out. In fact it was really hard to put it in the mailbox especially when the girls were all swooning over it!
- I found the free pattern over here at mmmcrafts
some corduroy fabric in my stash and a few coordinating prints in fun colors. Molly really came together nicely without too much trouble I would say a beginner could do this project.
I made the shoes as I do when I make baby shoes with felt and fabric. I will add a free tutorial for that and link it here if there is interest. Let me know in the comments below. The pattern called for a small little felt embellishment, but I love to blend textures, so I made little crochet flowers to dress up the shoes. I could add a tutorial for that too, so let me know in the comments if you would like that.
The closest thing I had to tan or brown in my felt pile was a textured piece of felt in a cappuccino tone. I didn’t really like the texture, but trying to be economical and make it work, I decided to turn it over and use the wrong side. Fantabulous!! Just a subtle texture that added nice character! The face piece is glued on and I used a blanket stitch around the edge.
- I found nice instructions with photos for a blanket stitch here at the futuregirl craft blog
The eyes and ears are glued on and next time I would do a small machine stitch around the edge or if I felt ambitious, I may even digitize the face and machine embroider it on. The nose is two french knots and the mouth is a running stitch.
- Tutorial for a french knot here at stitch school
- Tutorial for a running stitch here another page at stitch school
I had some extra fabric left so I made a matching knot dress too!
because that’s what I do with everything! My niece is 1year old and the tutorial was for size 4/5 and 6/7 so I measured a dress in a 12mo size and then altered the pattern accordingly. Really it was just the bodice piece I changed and then made all my other pieces based on the 12 mo size dress. That’s clear as mud!! Basically the length and width was estimated from the size of the 12 mo dress I had.
I think she’s cute! What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.
~Lia
This project is featured in the following link parties: funky polkadot giraffe, not just a housewife, tip junkie, running with glitter
Tags: crochet flower, fabric, free, monkey, pattern, sewing, stuffed animal, toy, tutorial