Monkeys Monkeys Monkeys

We've been monkeying it up here at Casa de hipp.

The color is a bit off in this photo. Koigu is hard to capture in artificial light, and I wasn't ready for photo time until late in the day. This colorway is gives a bit of a twist on my Monkey Sock Swap pal's preferences. She likes pastels, which is a major departure from my stash of crazy bright colors. This colorway has the desired soft pinks and blues but with an occasional shot of electric blue for me! Love love love it.

Part of yesterday afternoon was spent on the monkey-themed goodies to go with these socks. I pulled out some pretty pink fabric from my pile of soon-to-be-thrifted clothes and sewed up a little project bag. Don't worry, the thrift pile clothes are all very clean!

The outer fabric used to be one of Mr. Hipp's striped shirts (too big) and the inner fabric used to be one of my dresses (also too big -- do we think we're fatter than we really are?). The ribbon came wrapped around a blanket I bought on sale (of course!) at Target. I sewed two rectangles together on three sides for the outer layer, leaving a 1" opening near the top of each side seam. Then I sewed two rectangles together on three sides for the inner layer, this time with no side openings. I put the inner inside the outer and sewed them together around the top and also about 1/4" below the side openings. Thread the ribbon through the side openings, cinch tight, and done!

This is by no means an original design, but if anyone is interested in seeing more detailed directions, let me know and I'll write up a mini tutorial.

And of course, the monkey face. Ah, I love it! It's an iron-on from JoAnn's. A pack of two was only 99 cents, so the backside of the bag has the same little monkey face on it.

Free fabric + free ribbon + 99 cent monkey face iron-ons = happy skinflint crafter.

Oh wait, is this supposed to be a knit sock exchange? I'm getting distracted by all the other monkey craft fun. Second Monkey sock, here I come!