Goulish Monkey

Ghoulish Monkey
Sock monkeys have a long and lovely history in the craft scene. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel here, just adding a bit of ghoulish fun! Basic instructions for making a sock monkey can be found throughout the internet but here’s a good one.

Materials Needed:
– Halloween Sock Monkey
– Sewing supplies
– Black felt
– Orange felt
– Glue
– Bias tape
– Buttons (2)
– Black/White Paint
– Embellishment

Preparation:
1. Assemble your sock monkey if you haven’t already done so. My monkey has long arms and legs because I used knee highs.

2. Paint buttons solid black with white irises. Affix to head. Embroider mouth.

3. Cut out half a felt circle with a diameter of 5″. Wrap around your finger to create a cone and glue in place.

4. Cut another felt circle measuring 3.5″ from edge to edge. Place cone on center and trace around circumference. Cut out the center circle to create a rim.

5. Make small (1/4 inch up) cuts all the way around the bottom of your cone. Place a dab of glue on the top of each one of your tabs.

6. Slide the cone up through the rim and pinch glue tabs in place. I cut a piece of orange felt for the bottom of the rim to cover the tabs. You may or may not want to glue entire hat to your monkey’s head.

7. Cut a piece of black felt measuring 4″ at top, 10″ at bottom and 8″ sides. Sew bias tape to the top and tie in place.

8. The socks I used had small black cats glued to the sides. Luckily, they came off quite easily and I was able to glue one of the cats in the center of my monkey.

9. Don’t forget to feed him lots of Halloween candy or he just might try to steal it from the kids!

(originally published on Indie Shopper in 2007)