DIY: Monster bag

I am a huge fan of homemade gifts, I also try to avoid giving only toys to the nieces and nephews. So when I found this cute monster bag on pinterest I thought it would be a perfect gift for my nephew Kyle. I used the basic concept from Marigold's blog Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! But modified it a little because I had the fabric laying around and used a pre-made bag instead of making the bag also.  It cut down on some time and maybe cost. 

You can check out the link above to get actual numbers for the pattern she used but I just winged it. 

I found a plain canvas bag at a local crafty type store. I had contemplated using one from the Dollar store that had something printed on it because it would be covered up anyway but wasn't sure how well the material would work. Not sure how to describe it but it had that 'plastic-y, waxy' type on the inside, which might have been nice for cleaning but I was afraid it wouldn't work well to sew on.  

These Crayons from Walmart

Anywho, on to the project. Like I said I had the green fabric laying around. I think I bought it as a small piece from Wal*mart. It was less than a yard that I had.    I used a piece of paper to get somewhat of an idea of how big I wanted the monster to be.  Because my Crayola Twist-up crayons were the long ones, I had to make it bigger than what the original was. So I laid the crayons on and marked where I wanted the "teeth" to stick out. I almost wish I would have made it so less sticks out but I think this will make them easier to get out and put back in. 

Once I had both the bottom pocket and the monster cut out, I sewed around the edges to make a nice hem. (This would be one benefit of using felt, you could omit this step.) Then I worked on sewing the crayon pockets.  Marigold had a great idea to use a piece of tape to measure how big the pocket would be. 

I had a 8 pack of crayons so I laid them out towards the middle to see how much room I would need and then made sure there was about the same amount on both sides. Then I stuck down my tape. Sewing as close to the tape as I could get I sewed on both sides of it. I worked from the outsides in because I had an even number of crayons. If you have an odd number it would probably be best to start from the center and work outwards so that it's centered. Once you sew on both sides of the tape, move it over to the other side of the seam you just finished and repeat the process till you are finished, making sure you have enough spots for all your crayons.  I ended up having wider pockets on the edges, but I thought these would be nice to stick in pencils or markers or something. 

When I had the pockets done, I sewed on the nose. For mine, I just used an oval I cut from an old green t-shirt.  I used a zig-zag stitch on it to give it some more character.   The hard part was sewing it on the pre-made bag, making sure I didn't accidentally sew it to the other side of the bag too. My sewing isn't perfectly straight but I thought that gave it more character too. I was okay with the bottom seam not being straight because it made the teeth different lengths. 

 I just used hot glue to attach the googly eyes I'm hoping they stay. But I wasn't sure what else to use. 

I think he's adorable. I'm hoping Kyle likes it and they'll actually use it. That's my biggest worry with making homemade gifts, that they won't get used but I have fun making them. I tell people I spoil other people's kids because I don't have any. :) 

Make sure you check out Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! She has a lot of really great other projects.

I have one other homemade gift up my sleeve for my other nephew. I'm excited about it too. You can bet that I'll post it when I'm finished with it!

~Enjoy!~