Marvin the Sock Monkey

Meet Marvin the Sock Monkey! You will probably already know that I have been making cuddly toys for years (take a look at my Monster Magic page if you didn't already know) but I have never ventured into the world of sock creations. There are two reasons for this, firstly that I much prefer the idea of using plain fabric, I think I decided it was less restrictive. Secondly, and more importantly, I have a good friend who makes sock creatures and is much better at it than I will ever be. She does make them to sell so if you are interested in purchasing a sock creature, or just want to have a nose at her brilliant work check out her Socksy Beasts page on Facebook.

 
Anyway, back to Marvin, why did I made a sock monkey? well because I was gifted a sock monkey kit of course! A great excuse to take a sneak peak into the world of sock creations. The kit is from www.sockcreatures.co.uk and contains everything you need to make your very own sock monkey. Of course they don't just do monkeys. there is a huge range of sock creature kits from a sock fox to a sockasaurus, you really need to take a look to really appreciate how many different kits there are.

So, what do you get in the kit? Well, the bag contained a pair of socks (doh!), I have to admit the colour put me off making this for a while but never mind. You also get some printed instructions on how to make the sock creature, stuffing, thread, needle, accessories to decorate your creature and some sweeties (which really do help the creative process!).

The instructions were very easy to follow and the kit was a doddle to use so I would recommend this. It would be a brilliant gift for a young child to help them learn to sew, but is also a bit of fun for adults too. There are however a couple of comments I would like to make about this particular kit. Firstly, why they sent neon orange/black socks with lilac thread I will never know, the stitching is really obvious. Secondly the pattern shows the arm being cut the wrong way round. The diagram implies you cut the arms with the ribbing close to the body, I did this and it looked really daft as the ribbing on the legs and tail are all at the opposite end to the body. So I had to chop the end open and re-sew to make it look less daft. Apart from that a very lovely kit.

After following the instructions to make the sock monkey you are then left with the option of customising your creation. Now as he is a very dapper monkey, and orange and pink are one of my favourite colour combos I made him this lovely giant pink felt bow tie <3. I think it makes him look very sophisticated!


So what do you think to Marvin? I hope you like him, even if hes not the most perfectly sewn.

If anyone would like to adopt him he is free to a good home, I will happily cover postage, just leave me a comment at the end of the post expressing an interest. If I get more than one response we will do a random number generator by the following week. Please don't post your address details in the comments I will get in touch with you for more details. I should point out though he is not brilliantly sewn so should not be given as a toy to very small children as he is not CE tested for safety.