Monster Curtain Tiebacks

It has taken us 2 years, but we’ve finally decorated our son’s bedroom. Anybody who didn’t see the mural I painted in the last house, you can find it here. Whilst I was thrilled with the result, I vowed blind that I would never do anything like it again!

I must have forgotten.

Well, what actually happened was that I started with a nice, simple idea an I just got a little carried away. The boy ended up with a checkerboard wall, red chevrons chasing round the other three walls and a cloud boarder leading to a blue sky ceiling complete with aeroplanes.

Like I said, slightly carried away.

Note to self, a full room mural isn’t any better than a part wall one. And painting on the ceiling is really awkward, tiring and frustrating.

He got a brand spanking new carpet in royal blue, new lampshade and curtains. One thing I had forgotten to buy was curtain tiebacks. So I had some fun with the beautiful Women’s Institute yarn, which I absolutely adore, and made him some monster tiebacks.

I wanted to share with you the pattern, so have included the basic monster body shape and some ideas for eyes, eyelashes, claws and horns. I suggest you play around with these, add more or less depending on what the recipient wants. I am dying to do one with loads of eyes, a tutu and bow!

 

Materials

 

Dk yarn in red (100gms) dark blue, light blue and white.

3mm hook

yarn needle

scissors

stuffing

 

Abbreviations

 

ch            chain

dc            double crochet

slst            slip stitch

yoh            yarn over hook

htr            half treble

tr            treble

rnd            round

dec            decrease

Pattern

 

Body in red

rnd1                        Magic circle, 8htr into centre and pull to bring together.             (8)

rnd2-7                        working in htr, increase 8 evenly every round                         (56)

rnd8-22            continue to work even in htr                                                (56)

to shape legs

htr24, then htr into 1^st of these htr to create the first leg. Continue in htr, working even for 15 rnds. Dec2 until 6st remain and use end thread to sew up. This completes the 1^st leg.

Back at open end of main body, miss 4 st then rejoin yarn, 1ch. Into same st, htr, and continue to htr until you have 24. Htr into 1^st of these htr to create the second leg. Continue in htr, working even for 15 rnds. Dec2 until 6st remain and use end thread to sew up. This completes the 2^nd leg.

Stuff body through hole between legs.

To cover hole, reattach yarn in st next to leg, 1ch, htr into same st, 3htr. 2htr into top of 1 leg, 4htr in sts at other side of base of body, 2 htr into final leg. (12) Dec2 until 6st remain and use end thread to sew up.

Arms (make 2) in red

magic circle, 8dc into centre, pull to tighten.

Increase 8 st evenly each rnd until you have 16. Work 40 rounds even. Stuff and sew to body using photo for reference. Not that one is places further forward than the other which helps your monster look over his shoulder rather than straight into the curtain.

Eyes in white

small

magic circle, 6dc into centre, pull to tighten.

Increase 6 st evenly each rnd until you have 18. Work 3 rounds even. Dec 6 evenly each round until you have 6 remaining (remember to stuff before hole gets too small), use end thread to sew up hole.

 

big

magic circle, 6dc into centre, pull to tighten.

Increase 6 st evenly each rnd until you have 30. Work 5 rounds even. Dec 6 evenly each round until you have 6 remaining (remember to stuff before hole gets too small), use end thread to sew up hole.

 

Eyelids in dark blue

big

magic circle, 6dc into centre, pull to tighten.

Increase 6 st evenly each rnd until you have 24. Work 4 rounds even.

Small

magic circle, 6dc into centre, pull to tighten.

Increase 6 st evenly each rnd until you have 36. Work 6 rounds even.

 

The eyes sit inside the eyelids.

 

Pupil in bark blue

Magic circle, 6dc into centre and pull tight. Slst into 1^st dc to finish.

 

Lip in dark blue

magic circle, 4dc into centre, pull to tighten.

Increase 1 st each rnd until you have 12. Work 15 rounds even. Dec 1^st every rnd until you have 4 left (remember to stuff before hole gets too small), use end thread to sew up hole.

 

Long tooth in white

magic circle, 4dc into centre, pull to tighten.

Increase 1 st each rnd until you have 9. Work 4 rounds even. Dec 1^st every rnd until you have 4 left (remember to stuff before hole gets too small), use end thread to sew up hole.

 

Horn in light blue

magic circle, 4dc into centre, pull to tighten.

Increase 1 st each rnd until you have 12. Work 3 rounds even. Stuff and sew into place.

 

Claws and eyelashes.

These are made up of a line of crochet triangles.

 

ch a line of 3 times the number of triangles you want.

3ch, *yoh, hook into 4^th ch from hook, yoh and pull through work (3 loops on hook) yoh and pull through 2 loops on hook (2 remain). Yoh, hook into next st, yoh and pull through work (4 loops on hook) yoh and pull through 2. Yoh pull through remaining 3.

2ch

slst into underside of 2^nd ch from hook, 2slst down the side of the triangle, 1slst into the next ch st. **

2ch, then repeat from * to ** until last chain st on foundation row. Slst into it ad finish.

I suggest sewing the face on slightly to the side and over one shoulder so your monster isn’t facing into the curtain he is hugging, and sewing the arms on slightly to the side (see photo) to allow your monster to look more easily over his shoulder. How you sew on everything else is up to you, be creative and enjoy giving your monsters their own personalities!!

Once finished, you knot together the super long arms to tie the curtains back.

 

Lgl xx

26 Feb This entry was published on February 26, 2017 at 7:50 pm. It’s filed under amigurumi, crochet, murals, pattern, toy and tagged amigurumi, craft, crochet, design, handmade, homeware, kids, monster, yarn. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.