Halloween Bobs

In the ongoing saga of Tonya being unable to let go of Halloween...

Here are some Halloween Bobs. That's just my name for these simple little folkarty creations. I just completely wing them - cut right out of fabric (well, okay sometimes I chalk an outline first). You've seen these eyes before - way back in August when Finn was wondering what kind of eyes to give her Frankenstein (hmm.. don't think we ever saw that project again, Finn). This is my Witch Bob, completed last year.

I start by cutting out the face in a vaguely face-shaped shape. Then comes the nose: this was the first time I made one with separate fabric - in a cone shape that I stuffed with batting. After the face comes together, I lay it on top of a double-layered fabric I want for the body and then roughly cut out the body shape. For the witch that included the pointy hat. I attach the face with a straight stitch to one layer of the body, adding some batting for emphasis under the cheekbones perhaps - I like how that gives it a lumpy effect tho I figure over the years it'll slide around to some other part of the face.

Once the face is attached, I sew the body up right-sides-together on the sewing machine and stuff. I actually use all the leftover bits of batting from around the edges of my quilts as well as all the selvages and trimmings from fabric - there's all kinds of junk in there.

The hair is a piece of purple fabric that I doubled up then roughly rotary-cuttered "hair" leaving half an inch at the fold uncut. Got it wet and threw it in the dryer to fray. Then I roughly hand-stitched that down on either side of the face (too lazy to make it big enough to go all the way around the back of the head. Here's a photo of the work in progress - you can get a good look at the nose as well as how the hair went on. I almost left the witch like this, but decided to sew a hat brim on, which was a pain in the ass. The brim is another double layer of fabric, surrounding a layer of batting, that I very roughly attached around the head.

Next up is a Devil Bob. Made very similarly to the witch, but this time the face is all one fabric. I actually liked this guy so much I made another one like it for my friend Rachael.

Last up is a picture from my folks' house. I showed you this quilt before, but boy, you can actually see the quilting detail in this picture. Plus, here's a Ghost Bob I made for them this year. Actually, he's not a true bob because he has arms, but that's neither here nor there. The copper jack-o-lantern was actually made here in Cairo, a gift from last year as well.