Molly Monkey Pattern Improvement
I love you guys. All you brilliant crafters out there who are constantly coming up with cool stuff. Especially stuff that helps me out! I learn so much from you.
Crafter Nzaloo wrote me to suggest an easy solution to the tight tangle of limbs as you sew Molly’s body back and front together. This can be especially difficult if you stuff the limbs very firm. My original Molly has nicely squashy arms and legs, so it was manageable, but this suggestion will allow you to stuff your Molly to whatever firmness you like without wanting to strangle me as you sew it. Here it is!
Instead of leaving an opening in the side, leave an opening in the back seam above the tail. That way, when you sew the body front and back together, the arms, legs and tail can stick out that hole and leave you with a lot more room to maneuver. SO MUCH EASIER! Brilliant.
UPDATED NOTE: This trick along with leaving the limbs unstuffed before you sew improves the situation greatly. See details here.
Thanks, Nzaloo!
Note: The pattern has been updated with this new method. Get it here.
Awesome idea! I just finished sewing together the body of Colby’s monkey and had quite the time. I stuffed him a little too tight. Oh well, at least that part is done! Now onto the face and clothes…
oops, just sorry this suggestion wasn’t in place in time to help! But future Mollys will be much easier!
hey thanks!! i can’t wait!
I cannot wait to try out this suggestion! Such a great idea, I’m so excited! I did stuff my limbs pretty firm and I did want to strangle you while sewing the body together ;). I got it together and then took it apart the next morning to try again, I was too tired and frustrated to take it apart the night before :). I’m so going to do this. Thank you! Thank you!
That's what I did when I made my first monkey but I tried to only leave a 2.5 inch hole in the back & it wasn't really big enough. I had a tough time sewing & turning the body. So word of advice…leave yourself a good sized hole, at least 3 inches but 4 would be better.
Thanks for sharing this pattern tutorial! I spotted 8 yards of chocalatey brown corduroy at the charity shop, which I promptly snatched up to make monkeys as gifts. I had such an awful time with that corduroy though! It unraveled easily and everytime I tried to sew two pieces together, it would inevitably slide so the pieces were no longer matching up some how!
I tried & tried to make the pieces stay put but it just would not. I finally scrapped the cord monkey in favor of brown fleece, but I hated to.
Do you have any tips for keeping the pieces matched up as you sew? I've never had this kind of trouble with a fabric before.
Once again thanks so much for sharing this sweet monkey pattern!
Birdie, hi! man, what a score. 8 yards! Yes, corduroy tends to shift because of the nap, and the deeper the nap (the larger the wale) the bigger the shift. I really noticed that when I made my green katy, which was with large wale green corduroy.
The way I dealt with that was to start off pinning the pieces together about 1/8 inch apart and then by the time I pinned it together completely it had shifted to be just right. It takes some experimentation! I'm sorry you were so frustrated. Fleece will still make some cute monkeys!
I'd recommend using only small wale corduroy, because the shifting will be much less.