project: spooky spider friends

Do you want to make some spooky spiders to decorate your house? Of course you do! Actually, these are probably a bit more kooky than spooky, but that's how we do things around here.

These are pretty quick to make, so you may find yourself making a whole flock of spiders. Flock? Gaggle? Herd? A whole bunch...let's just go with that. Anyway, I made mine in quirky colors, but you could go more traditional...or even more wacky!



Here's what you need:

Fabric (about 5 inches square per spider)
Perle cotton
Embroidery floss
Thread
Stuffing
Scissors
Needle
Template (optional)



Here's what you do:

From the fabric, cut a circle out that's about 4.5 inches in diameter. I found a small container to trace around, or you can download my template with markings.

Cut a length of perle cotton. This is going to be how you hang the spider, so choose a length that works for you. Mine is about 18 inches. Tie a knot in one end and thread the other end through a needle. ("Chenille" needles are an excellent size for threading perle cotton.) Find the center of the fabric circle and bring the string through the middle. The knot is the wrong side and the string is the right side. Remember that!



Stitch a face about .75 inches from the center of the circle on the right side of the circle. That's as opposed to the wrong side. A face is included on the template, but since this is just two french knots and a little scallop, you may find it just as easy to freehand it.



Thread your needle with regular sewing thread. Fold the edge of the circle toward the wrong side of the fabric a little at a time, taking large running stitches right along the folded edge as you go. Each of my stitches is about .25 inches long, which is what you want. This is the same process you use for making a fabric yoyo.



When you've made it all the way around the circle, start pulling the thread to gather it. Before you've pulled it tight, fill the little pouch that's forming with stuffing. You don't need a lot, just enough to make your spider friend a little plump.



Now, pull that thread nice and tight to close up the body. Secure the opening with a few stitches across the gathers, and then with a knot or two that you can hide away in the folds.



It should now be looking something like this. Awww...what a cutie! But she still needs some legs.



Grab your perle cotton again and tie a knot about 1 inch from the end, then thread the other end through your needle.



Push the needle through the bottom so that the ends of the string will hang out on each side as legs. The knot you tied and the tail you left will be one leg.



Tie another knot close to the spider body, and trim off the excess perle cotton so you have a second leg that's about 1 inch long.



Repeat this process along the bottom of the spider body until you have 4 sets of legs.



Ooooh...spooky! Let's not talk about the fact that when I look at this, I think both "spider" and "jellyfish"...mmmkay?



Much better! A web helps take away the under the sea effect.



And now that her friends have dropped in, it's a regular spooky spider fest around here!

By the way, I made one of mine without a face, and it still came out pretty cute. I think if you did these in all black, leaving off the face would take away some of the kooky factor. Oh, and I haven't tried it, but I have a feeling that you could make these in other sizes pretty easily...you might just want to try that, and swap in some yarn legs for a bigger arachnid!