Birth!

                                                        


                                                How Monsters are born.
                                                          
Some of you might not know this , but in addition to being the Headmistress here at the Orphanage for Wayward Monsters , I also teach a lot of children how to sew.  Sometimes they ask me funny questions about monster making like , " How do you do that?" .  The answer is that my heart tells my hands what to do , but that is  not a very detailed answer.  The following story is how a monster was born this evening , the long version.

This is the desk in my sewing room. If you look close I bet you will see some familiar things ( but don't look too close ok?)  

This particular birth began over coffee this morning before work. I drew this little critter in my notebook.  I don't always draw first , and even when I do , that doesn't mean the monster will turn out like the drawing. You'll see.

Next I pile all the fabrics I want to use on the desk. These come from another pile that I was too embarrassed to photograph because it is so messy.

 

Then I sit at my desk and I stare at the pile. I think about the shapes I will need to cut out. It's probably best if you imagine numbers and algebra type symbols spinning around my head. In reality , I was singing a few lines from a Belle and Sebastian song that was stuck in my brain all day. 

I cut the shapes. This is everything except the belly of the worm critter , because I have no idea what to do about that part at this point.  

  Across the room is my sewing machine. I only have one chair , so I drag it over here.

                 

    I always make the teeth first.

The I start sewing the stripey body.

This is part of the face.

                                                            

Ah , there we go ,  almost a real face.

                                                 

And then the bottom jaw.

                                                            

The eyes are next. I call them "eye sandwiches" because it's 3 layers of eye material.

             

This is a good stage because now the monster sort of has a personality and I start to feel not alone.

I start to think maybe it needs feet so I make a few.

                                        

I decided to use yellow fur for the belly and sewed it together , but Eeek! I forgot the feet I made!

 

 

     

So I just turn the feet into antlers , problem solved!

                                        

Now I stuff the monster , through a hole I left in its head. Yikes!

                            

I sew the hole in the head shut by hand , which means I move the whole operation onto my bed so I can be closer to my computer ( that means I am watching TV) .  There are tarot cards scattered on the bed because I am also an Oracle.

I sew pom poms on its back because life is too short.

                         

The monster is born! I hug it and give it a big kiss because my heart made it and I love it. I place it the Orphanage next to Raccaroo for the night so he won't be lonely. I will have to wait until Angela comes home before I name him. Angela is my best friend and she is really good at naming monsters , I think it is a gift.

 

 

 

 

 

 And that is it. This monster took a little less than an hour and a half , including the time to take the pictures.  Hope you enjoyed it! I know I did!




                                                                                The End