How to Make a Felt Monkey Applique

Felt monkey appliques are good for a wide variety of projects. Felt monkeys can be used on clips for your daughter's hair, on brooches or as part of a sewing project. Felt monkeys are cute on quilts, napkins and children's clothing. Felt monkey appliques are easy to make once you get the hang of working with felt. When making felt monkey appliques, it's wise to make more than one at a time, because you'll probably want to use them on a variety of projects or give them to friends.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Pencil
• Scissors
• 1 rectangle of brown felt, 9 by 12 inches
• 1 rectangle of tan felt, 9 by 12 inches
• Needle
• Tan embroidery floss
• Black embroidery floss
• Red embroidery floss

1. Draw a circle with ears on your piece of paper. A good size is approximately 2 inches across and 1 1/2 inches tall. Ears should stick out of the circle about two-thirds of the way up the circle, near the top. This will be your monkey head pattern. Draw an oval shape on the paper approximately 1 3/4 inches wide and 1 inch tall. This will be the face of your monkey applique.

2. Using the circle pattern, cut one monkey head out of the brown felt. Using the oval pattern, cut one face out of the tan felt.

3. With a needle threaded with tan embroidery floss, sew a simple stitch around the edge of the brown circle, including around the edge of the ears. Sew the tan oval onto the brown monkey head at the bottom, just above the stitch at the edge. Your monkey now has a face.

4. Thread your needle with black embroidery floss. Above the tan face, sew two French knots. These will serve as your monkey's eyes. A French knot is sewn by drawing the needle up through the fabric and wrapping it with the floss three or four times. Holding the wrapped thread with your thumb, push the needle back through the fabric near where you drew it up. Pull all the way through and you will have sewn a French knot.

5. Using the same needle, make two small stitches on the top of the tan oval for your monkey's nostrils.

6. Threading the needle with red embroidery floss, sew a mouth on your monkey. He can smile or have a straight mouth according to your preference. Your monkey is now done. Repeat for as many monkeys as you would like to make.

Tips & Warnings

• Monkeys can be made larger or smaller simply by altering the dimensions of your pattern.

• You can make a monkey of any color to match whatever project you are working on.