41_Seymour the Lemur

With his stripy body and his huge round eyes in my house now lives a lemur.

Used to be a sock, now he can even walk… everybody welcome Seymur.

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

Seymour the Lemur is easy to make. It will take you about an hour if you have a sewing machine, maybe 31/2-4 if you don’t.

You’ll need:

_A sock, the longer the better.

_4 big buttons. Try to get two of them slightly bigger than the other two.  (these will be the huge round eyes)

_2 small buttons (to make the nose and belly button)

_thread and needle

_scissors

_filling (it can be cotton or a synthetic filling. try to get a washable kind, Seymour might need a bath every once in a while!)

Making Seymour the Lemur:

PARENTS: KEEP AN EYE OR HELP OUT YOUNG CHILDREN WITH THE SEWING.

1. Cut the end of your sock, where your foot goes in. Don’t get rid of it; we’ll use it later.

2. Turn what’s left of the sock  inside out and draw the shape of Seymour. Ears at the top and legs at the bottom. We’ll take care of the arms and tail later.

3. Sew the legs over the line you just drew.

4. Cut the sock about 5mm from the stitches.

5. Cut the top about 5mm from the ears/head line. Don’t sew yet.

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

6. Turn the sock right side out.

7. Grab the 4 big buttons and one of the small ones and sew them to make the eyes and nose. Remember lemurs have huge eyes so we’re sewing a big button on top of a bigger one for each eye. Sew the eyes as far from each other as you can to give Seymour a very lemur-like expression.

8. Sew the other small button further down, closer to the legs to make a belly button. It´s starting to look like Seymour, isn’t it?!

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

9. Fill the sock with the filling. The legs can be a bit tricky cause they´re so thin, so put little bits at a time.

10. Sew the top of the head to close the whole thing up.

11. Get the tip of the sock and cut it, length wise, in 3. The middle part should be thicker to make the tail.  The 2 ends will make the arms.

12. Turn the arms inside out and sew the edges. They are probably very thin so you might not need to feel them (I didn’t). Turn them right side out again.

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

13. Get the body and cut 2 slits round about the middle on each side. This is where the arms will go.

14. Insert both arms, about 5mm-1cm,  and sew the slits close.

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

15. Get the remaining bit of the sock, turn it inside out and sew the sides.

16. Turn the tail right side out and fill it. The tail is thin too so remember to do it little by little so that you don´t end up having bumps and lumps of filling but a nice soft and even fluffy tail.

17. Sew the tail on the back of Seymour’s body, about the same height as the belly button.

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

Ta da!!!

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

Look at him, so cute, with his big round eyes and stripy body.

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

Have fun and take good care of Seymour the Lemur.

19_Vomitones

Ever wondered what would happen if you puked so hard that you turned yourself inside out? Not a very nice thought, but just in case check this Vomitone guys…

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

These’ll take you about 1.45-2 hrs. (way less if you have a sewing machine)

You´ll need:

_2 old socks. Better if they’re from a different pair.

_Scissors

_Thread and needle (I only used black but you can choose the colours you want depending on the colour of your socks)

_4 buttons (try different colours and sizes; these will make the eyes of your Vomitones)

How to make ’em:

1. Cut the bit-were-you-put-your-feet off each sock.

2. Cut the straight parts you’re left with the same lenght.

3. Turn one of them inside out and slide it inside the other, making sure both their ends meet.

4. Sew both ends. You`ll be left with a closed sock rectangle.

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

5. Grab the rectangle from both sides and stretch it, as if you were trying to open a pack of crisps of something similar. Make sure you pull both socks in each direction.

6. Grab your scissors and cut both socks on one side. Check the image below to make this clearer. This opening is the Vomitones’ mouth.

7. Sew both socks on each “lip” of the mouth. To make it nice and neat, fold the ends in between the socks and then sew them together. You should now be able to turn the socks inside out and back again through the mouth.

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

8. Sew a couple buttons on one side, above the mouth.

9. Turn your Vomitone inside out and sew the other 2 buttons.

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

That´s it! Now you’ve got a friend that can puke itself inside out to become another!

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

Imagine other characters, maybe with more or less eyes, or try adding arms and legs… have fun and please, don´t try turning yourself inside out!!

15_Mr. Tea

I had a dream, that a bunch of tea towels with big eyes and black shoes marched towards me. Let me introduce you to Mr. Tea…

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

It will take you around 3 and a half – 4 hours to make. Much less if you have a sewing machine.  I recommend a lot of adult help/supervision.

You´ll need:

_To download and print these files:

If you have an A4 printer:

mrtea_printA4_1

mrtea_printA4_2

If you have an A3 printer:

mrtea_printA3

_2 tea towels. they can be ones you’re about to discard. This is all about recycling.

_An A4 piece of black felt.

_A felt tip pen or marker (to draw on the tea towel)

_A white colour or silver marker, something that shows when you draw on the black felt.

_A small pack of cotton or polyester filling.

_Scissors.

_Glue stick.

_Black thread and another colour that matches the colour of your tea towels, I used red.

_Needle or sewing machine.

How to make Mr. Tea:

1. Print the files above and cut all the shapes over the continuous line.

2. If you printed the A4 files, stick the two halves of Mr. Tea together using a glue stick.

3. Using the pieces of paper as templates, draw the outline of Mr. Tea , the shoes and eyes. You´ll need to draw:

– 2 outlines of Mr. Tea on tea towels.

– 4 shoes on black felt

– 2 eyes on black felt.

4. Cut all the pieces out.

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

5. Cut the templates over the dotted line and draw the new outline inside of the shapes you’ve cut. The new line indicates where you’re supposed to sew.

6. Join the shoes to the bottom of the tea towel Mr. Tea shapes. Note that after sewing everything together you’ll flip Mr. Tea inside out, so make sure that the seams of the top shape are facing up, and the ones on the bottom shape are facing down. Check the image below to make this clearer.

7. You should have 2 Mr. Teas with shoes. Put one on top of the other and sew everything together. Leave one corner open, big enough for your hand to fit comfortably.

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

8. Turn Mr. Tea inside out. It can get a little tight when trying to do the shoes…be patient! and if you need a little help you can use a pen or round scissors to help you push from the inside and flip everything out.

9. Get the cotton or polyester filling and start filling Mr. Tea, small bits at a time. Make sure the shoes and the tips of the arms are really full. Keep adding filling until it´s full; try to make the filling even.

10. Sew the remaining corner of the tea towels to close Mr. Tea.

11. Place the eyes about 4 cm from the top and sew them with black thread.

Mr. Tea is ready to play!!!

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

© 2011 Fernanda de Uriarte

So this character came out of one of my weird dreams… how about turning one of yours into a real friend?