Make it Monday

It's back to school time! Here's an idea for something extra special to send off with your little monster on their first day. Having something this cute and handmade will remind them at school how much they are loved. Super soft minky makes the perfect monster fur, and the shop is full of so much adorable minky right now! I brought my 3rd grader with me into the shop to pick out her favorite color. I think this fuzzy pink she picked is perfect!

For your supplies you'll need a third of a yard of minky fabric, a fat quarter for the lining, a colored zipper for the mouth (the shop also has lots of fun bright colored zippers to choose from!) 2 button eyes and some scraps of felt.

Before I began, I used the scraps of felt to make some eyes, teeth and horns for my monster. I drew these little pieces free-hand.

Next, trim your fabric to 10 x 14 inches. You'll need one 10 x 14 inch piece from the minky and one 10 x 14 inch piece from the lining fabric.

Iron the 10 inch sides of both fabrics in 1/2 inch, like you see I've done below. Minky can be a little tricky to work with and iron. I placed a separate piece of cotton on top of the minky while I ironed it to keep it from melting. It also doesn't like to hold a crease, so a bit of starch might help.

To sew on your zipper I used a very simple method. I didn't want to have to cut my minky any more than I needed to (the stuff can get pretty messy!) so I kept it to just one piece. In order to sew your zipper in this way you'll have to top stitch it in place. Lay your two pieces of fabric WRONG sides together and slip your zipper in between the two fabrics (on the 10inch side, where you just ironed your 1/2 inch seam). Make sure that the pull of your zipper is facing the minky side, or the outside. Pin your zipper in place. See picture below for help.

Next top stitch your zipper in between your two fabrics, like I've done below...

You'll now bring the other side around (so it forms a tube) and do the same thing, pinning it to the other side of the zipper. It helps if you unzip the zipper!

At this point I added my little monster's features.

Position your zipper so it is about in the middle of the face, I did mine a little lower, where a mouth would be.

Get creative with the features. You could have one big eye and one little or maybe even 3 eyes!

Turn your monster inside out and unzip your zipper about half way...

Sew the sides closed...

(as your are sewing up the sides you can add some horns if you like. Just slip them into the seam and sew straight across)

You can sew straight across your zipper. Just make sure that the end of the zipper that is open meets up together. Trim off the excess zipper.

Now turn your little monster right side out through the open zipper.

Don't forget, once she's done she'll be hungry for some brand new school supplies!

Here's to a great new school year! You can check out a picture of my daughter with her brand new Minky Monster Pencil Case on my blog at mycottoncreations.blogspot.com