Elvis is back!

It took long enough but I finally finished the Elvis monkey! Isn't he adorable? It took a lot of tweaking to figure out how to get the flared pants and sleeves just right as well as the collar and hair but I'm pleased as freaking punch with the end result.

Since the toy wasn't intended for a child I went a little bead crazy and sparkled up his bell bottoms and belt. I also used this awesome metallic embroidery thread on his arms. I changed the ears up from the ones I normally do and I'm so digging the new ears. They're just so dorky cute. It's killing me. The pompadour took some trial and error. A few years back I made a tiny Snooki doll and her poof was my inspiration for the pompadour and I think it worked out well. 

When I initially decided to make an Elvis monkey back in June I had thought it would be something I'd whip up quick and maybe even sell but since it took me a whopping six months to  finish him he didn't make it to the etsy site and I ended up using him as a Christmas present to make up for how woefully behind I was on the Christmas crafting. I took a few notes and a lot of pictures so I hope that I can replicate the guy. I also hope that I can do it in less than six months. Maybe if I can fuss out a proper pattern I'll post it up on here. I hope you like him. I think he's pretty damn sweet.

Monkeys for a Good Cause!

I'm shocked that I was able to whip out a pirate monkey and a superhero monkey in just about a week! A co-worker let me know last week that she was pulling together an auction and dinner to raise money for her father's medical bills. She mentioned that she and her husband were planning to walk around the local shops and see if they could get some donations to auction off. 

I volunteered my limited crafting skills since I knew I couldn't afford to donate money and I went with my tried and true monkeys. They're a guaranteed crowd pleaser and I figured that they would appeal to people looking for cute Christmas gifts. This was the first time that I used the safety eyes that I got at Mary Jo's.  I've always used buttons before since they were the only thing I could find in New York. I was a little thrown with having to put the eyes on before I sewed the head to the body since the safety eyes have backing pieces that go on the inside. I'm so used to those details being the very last bit which allowed me to fuss and fidget with them more.

Sorry for the terrible camera phone photos but I snapped them quickly before running into work. 

Coming Soon: the Elvis monkey that I've been working on for about six months. I'm only a leg and a pompadour away from finishing him up.