Snaffle the Snuggle monster by Little Button Diaries

This not-so-scary monster is perfect for kids to cuddle up with during this time of year, and with Halloween just around the corner, it is a very easy, spooky sewing project that your children will love getting involved with!

Kids will really enjoy being part of the process, helping to pick out the fabric colours, sit on your knee and help guide the fabric as you sew, and what we find especially is that they love to help stuff their new toy. For younger children, it’s a nice idea to make the monster rattle by popping a rice-filled container into the stomach of the monster. And for babies and small children, you can easily replace the button eyes with felt circles to make it completely safe to play with.

For this project we used the Innov-is 20 machine by Brother. Just like the many other Brother machines we’ve tried, tested and loved, the Innov-is 20 is a pleasure to use and we couldn’t recommend it more.

For this fang-tastic project you will need:

• 25cm sq of purple fleece
• Approximately 30cm sq of pink fleece
• Some scrap white felt
• Two large, black buttons (these can be odd sizes)
• One small, pink button
• Tailor’s chalk
• Black, pink and purple sewing thread
• Pink embroidery thread
• 200g of toy stuffing
• Templates
• The Innov-is 20 sewing machine

1. Firstly, use the template provided to easily cut out the monster fabric pieces. From the purple fleece you will need to cut out two body pieces, four legs and two arms. Then, from the pink fleece you need to cut four horns and a pocket. Finally, cut out two teeth from white felt.

2. Next, place two black buttons onto one of the body pieces about a third of the way from the top of the piece and 6cm from each edge. Hand sew in place using black thread.

3. Use tailor’s chalk and your artistic skills to mark on a smile. From here, you can easily pin the teeth in place on each end of the smile and back stitch using pink embroidery thread, sewing over the teeth to secure them in place.

4. Now you will need to pin the pocket piece onto the main body of the monster, 5cm from the bottom. Using the blanket stitch on the Innov-is 20, you can then easily sew along the curved edge. In order to sew your button into place, you will need to mark 1cm from the top of the pocket in the centre and cut a vertical line the length of the length pink button. Mark underneath the slit onto the body and sew the button in place. 

5. Pin the leg pieces together, leaving the straight top open for stuffing. Sew all the way around with a 1cm seam allowance. Repeat for the horn pieces. 

6. Trim the excess fabric from the legs and horns, then make snips around all the curved edges to prevent puckering. Turn the legs and horns out and fill with toy stuffing.

7. Pin the horns onto the front body piece, with the raw edges lined up with the top so that they are pointing inwards. You will need to do the same for the legs at the bottom and the arms either side. Sew along the edge to hold the pieces in place.

8. Pin the sides of the two body pieces together. Sew all the way around with a 1.5cm seam allowance, leaving 7cm at the bottom to allow you to turn and stuff the monster. Trim the excess fabric from the body, then make snips around the body to prevent puckering. Then it’s time for you to turn the monster the right way round and reveal your spook-tacular creation, then stuff to your hearts content!

9. As a final step, hand sew the remaining opening shut using a slip stitch to finish your snuggle monster. 

We hope you love making this Monster as much as we did. We know for sure that your little ones will! Many thanks to our friends at Brother Sewing for sponsoring this post!

Tia and Laura, Little Button Diaries xx