Sunday, October 7, 2012

Candy Corn Zombie


We all know that Halloween is October 31st, but do any of you know what anticipated scare day comes before that?  That’s right…October 14th; the season premiere of AMC’s the Walking Dead.  This week’s DIY combines those two days into one completely silly confection of undead delight.  Read on if you dare to make the Candy Corn Zombie (insert scary organ music here)…

What you’ll need:
Three felt squares in coordinating colors (I chose what all the undead are wearing this season: black, cream and putrid green)
DMC pearl cotton 5 in black (it’s the thicker thread, but you could also use 6 strands of their regular embroidery thread)
Craft paint
Small paintbrush
Sewing machine
Needle and thread

Cut two pieces of each of the three felt colors and using a ¼” seam allowance sew them together (I cut the black and cream each 3” and the green 4” and ended up with a pillow about 8” tall).


Using a piece of paper draw a candy corn shape making sure to add a bite mark somewhere on the pattern and after cutting it out place it over the wrong side of your sewn felt.  Trace the shape onto your felt.

Following the trace marks sew your candy corn together; leave the bottom open.  Carefully trim and clip around your bite mark.  At this point you can sew a straight seam across the bottom or add a bottom piece to give your pillow extra dimension.  To get the correct bottom size just adjust your pillow to the dimension you want, set it on a piece of paper and trace around it.  Cut a piece of felt to that size, pin it on the bottom and sew.  Don’t forget to leave an opening to turn your pillow right side out.
 











Using a stuffing tool, or your handy chopstick, carefully push out the points of the bite so that you can see the detail.  Stuff your zombie as loosely or firmly as you like. Mine is somewhat squishy, all the better to grip and cover my face during particularly disturbing Walking Dead scenes (like every time Rick’s wife Lori speaks).  Using a ladder stitch sew up the bottom of your zombie.

Now comes the fun part.  It’s time to gore up your zombie!  I decided to make some eyes for mine to bring even more dimension and silliness to my poor little candy corn.  All it took was two 2” circles of felt.  Sew a gathering stitch around the edge and add a little stuffing and pull the gather tight.  I sewed one eye in place and loosely attached the other with some red embroidery thread.  The hooded eyelids were made by cutting two half moon pieces out of the green and hand stitching them over the eyeballs.  Making one long horizontal stitch and then short vertical stitches over that formed the mouth.  It wasn’t until I finished that I realized that I had sewn my poor zombie’s mouth shut.  How sad that he will have to eat his brains through a straw, although to be fair I’m not sure he had teeth to begin with.  I painted some dark red and green to highlight those teeth marks and thinned the red and let some drip on to make my zombie even more gruesome.  Using a toothpick I drew thin little lines to create the bloodshot eyes.
 


Your zombie candy corn is now ready for a brain feast.



                                   


                                             Look out, Max!

Monday, October 1, 2012

LBB (little black bat)



It's October!  How do you not like the time of year when cobwebs are cool instead of a sign that you didn't dust?  Time to embrace the scares, the pumpkins, the candy and your inner witch.

We all know how the LBD (little black dress) belongs in every wardrobe, well the LBB (little black bat) is every bit as important during the halloween season.



What you need:
Bat pattern
2 scraps of black fabric 8 1/2"x11" (I used some vinyl, you can also use cotton)
Fiberfil
Stuffing tool
Sewing machine
Eyes (optional)






Start by printing the bat pattern and cutting it out.  Place your two pieces of fabric right sides together and on the wrong side of one of the pieces of fabric trace out the pattern.  Using a small stitch sew the two sides together leaving a spot for turning out.










Being very careful clip your corners and curves on the bat and turn right side out.  Be patient – you don’t want to lose the detail in his ears or wings.   

Using your stuffing tool to gently ease out the points will help.  Don’t have a stuffing tool?  Go enjoy some Chinese food and grab an extra set of chopsticks; they make great stuffing tools!

Very loosely stuff the wings of your bat.  Go back to the sewing machine and add the wing detail; now you can stuff the rest of your bat as loose or firm as you like.  Once you are happy with how he looks you can sew his bottom shut.  I left a little opening so I could place him on a stick.  If you like you can add eyes.  I sewed on two small buttons, but you could glue on eyes if you choose, or leave him truly blind with no eyes.

He’s done and ready for business!  Here he is hanging out as the weathervane on a house and just nestled as a sweet surprise in the bathroom.  How fun would it be to make a few in different sizes strung up on a piece of wood?  Your very own “batmobile”!!
 



Happy haunting!