The monkey is so close to being finished it is ridiculous! Temporary strings on him at the moment but you get the idea. Meg really loves him!!!
She spent ages just watching him dance before the camera when she got a hold of his dreads.
Front view
Back view and just about to start the dance. Meg watching closely
The head is now finished, onwards to finishing the body, sewing on the hands and feet and the chest piece. I hope to get him done by the end of the day.
Dowels and fishing line. these are the main tools i am going to use to make strings for the puppet.
The original monkey picture did not have eye lids or ears, but i decided that my monkey needed them. Inner ear in light wool and the outer ear in fur fabric. pipe cleaners to be used to enable the ear to curve.
Eye lids. fabric folded in half, sewn around, cut out and snipped on one side only to turn right sides out.
Pinned on the monkey. All to be hand stitched into place. I think that his face is a little less scary now.
Side profile of monkeys face. This is how he looks so far. I have still to do some needle sculpting and although on the original picture the monkey has no ears i will be adding some. His neck is not yet sewn onto his body, just pinned for the photo. I will be sewing that on when i have finished his body.
His hands and feet have to be sewn on, the safety pins are where the strings will be when i am ready to do that. I have bought some fishing line and some dowels for that part of the project.
This is a close up of the finished dreads on his head.
Front View of Face.
Side View of Face, but as you can see it is taking shape quite nicely.
This is how i am making the dreads for the monkey.
Having gotten the fibers now stabilized i am ready for some more vigorous felting to happen. I lay it onto some bubble wrap, bubble side up and lay the semi felted fiber on top. fold over the bubble wrap over the roving and roll the top of the bubble wrap backwards and forwards matting the fibers together. Let me warn you, this takes time! and you get a good work out on your arms in the process, What a bargain!
When it is done to your satisfaction, rinse it under cold water until soap is gone. squeeze out the water,
take it to a towel, fold the towel over the now made dread and press out the excess water. Put aside to dry naturally. This is a close up of the felted roving.
This is the head. I have pinned, tacked and now have to sew it on the machine. Making sure i have left a gap un sewn for the neck. I will then be turning it out the right way through the neck opening and stuffing it. I will then add some sculpting stitches to hold it all in place, more on that later.
This looks odd i know! It is however the back and front of body with the now sewn limbs turned right sides out and sandwiched between the two layers. I have the limbs poking out from the top of the body where the neck post will go and also for stuffing the body.
This monkey is going to be a marionette. I need the arms and legs not to be floppy or too heavy so i have decided to make a skeleton of the limbs. They are made from coat hanger wires and the elbow/knees will be a brass ring that i had in my bits and pieces of jewelery beads. I need to make 4 of these. Two for the arms and two for the legs. They will be positioned just inside the limbs. I have not yet decided if the limbs will be stuffed or not. 
A close up of the elbow joint.
This is the mouth assembly in cardboard. This shows my design process. This is the side view.
Mouth cut out ready to sew together. I will be tacking it all by hand and sewing on the lines then taking it to the machine for final finish.
The monkey will be having an open mouth. This is is a first for me. The pattern pieces for the upper jaw to be connected to the head top piece, the pieces are all connected to each other and lastly the jaw is connected to the lower head front. the head and back will then be sewn around together leaving an opening in the bottom for the neck. This will be a half a covered piece of toilet roll tube covered in fabric which then will also be in the body too. ladder stitched into place.
The limbs will be simple tubes of fabric, lightly stuffed and the feet and hands added on after. The tail will have wire to bend it up and defy gravity.
The hands and feet have a back side in dark fabric and a light side too. Just make sure you have a left and a right for each. The hands will have an opening at the wrists for the arms to be sewn to and the feet are going to be sewn all around, then cut out, make a slit on one side of the fabric to turn through and that is where the legs will be ladder stitched onto. After turning out the right way top stitch in the fingers and toes. Lightly stuff the hands and feet. then sew them to the limbs.
Just like my previous projects i got out my designing tools of cardboard, scissors, pen and masking tape i got to work.
The eyes are made of felt. The whites are on doubled felt, template sewing (sewing on the line). snipped on one side and turned through, remember to snip the edges to make it smooth. Repeat these steps with the blue felt, and they will be ladder stitched together. Finally the whites of the eye, single layer of felt for highlights. Make sure that you make both eyes the same, especially the positioning of the highlights.
This picture shows the body pieces (dark brown)and the breast piece (beige).
This is wool roving i have had for some time, just waiting for the right project. This will be his dreads. Also shown is a felting needle and piece of foam rubber. More on that later.
Underneath the cat Tilli, on the computer/sewing chair is all the things i have gathered together to work on Monkey Business.
My Youngest son came home with his hair newly done, (he wears his hair in dreads) with a new product. I just fell in love with the logo. I am going to re create him into a 3D toy using recycled wool coats. Meanwhile i am working on the charity dolls and thinking on how i am going to get him made. Once i have all the "bits" in my head i will start him.
