Sew Your Own Octopus

Sew Your Own Octopus!

Fresh from his adventures in the Whispering Sand by Ian Kenworthy comes Annabeth’s faithful
sidekick, Glob! Yes, you too can own a Biscuit-Snitching Octopus!

Using this new improved pattern you should1 be able to create a soft toy version of everyone’s2
favourite waterborne biscuit botherer! It’s not really ideal for beginners but if you can use a needle
and thread I’m sure you’ll have at least some degree of success! Within a week3 he’ll be and making
the blancmange in the toilet!

I made this pattern from scratch so any
comments and suggestions would be greatly
welcomed. You could also send me your
pictures, details of how to do so can be
found at www.iankenworthy.com

So, what do I need?

Along with this pattern you’ll need a piece
of material (approximately 40 cm square),
two buttons, pins, a needle, thread and
something to stuff him with. Whilst Glob
usually stuffs himself with chocolate cakes
this will make your toy a little slimy. For
increased longevity try something more
suitable, like foam available from any good
craft shop.

I’d also like to point out that making Glob on a sewing machine is preferable. Eight legs is a lot of
stitching by hand! But I managed it, so I’m sure you can!

Doing this on the cheap?

For the more frugal of you why not try these suggestions. Bearing in mind that the results will vary
accordingly.

Stuffing: Shredded paper, old tights, spare material not used in the body, rice or other dried foods.

Material: Old t-shirt, old bed sheet, t-towels, raid the charity shops.

So how do I make my own Glob?

Well, simply follow the instructions below and cross your fingers!

1
Yes, should, I’m not promising anything.
2
Except Grandpa. You try having an octopus eat you out of house and home and see how long he’s your
favourite for.
3
Again, I’m not promising anything.

Designed by Ian Kenworthy, author of The Whispering Sand. www.iankenworthy.com


Method

This makes far more sense if you cut out the patterns on the following pages so that you can see
what I’m on about.

Okay, first thing’s first. Make sure your material is laid out flat and if possible iron it. Or get a parent
to help if you think you might have a flat fingers accident.

Once you have nice flat material, then we can move onto step 2. Cut out the patterns on the
following pages. Don’t worry about cutting off the letters and arrows. Those are only there as a
guide. You can always look at this file if you can’t remember where you went. So you’ve cut out the
three outlines. You should have a head, a bottom and a tentacle. They are labelled to keep it simple.
And before you start complaining one of each paper pattern will suffice!

Okay we’ll start with the bottom. We only need one of those. So as close to the edge of you material
as you can put the bottom template down. Then pin it in place. All pinned? Good, cut out the
bottom using sharp scissors. Watch your fingers of course. There’s lots more cutting to do and we
don’t want to call the ambulance just yet.

Right, now for the head. We need two of these. So, same as before, pin the head template in place,
then cut around it. Then repeat. See, we only needed one template. And if you fold the material in
half you only have to do it once. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re an expert. Somehow the
material always gets wrinkly and goes wrong.

Now for the legs. The template is for one complete tentacle. We need eight. So pin it in place, again
near the edge, and cut out.

All done? Big job wasn’t it? So now we should have one bottom, two heads and eight tentacles. So
onto the tacking.

Tacking? I’ve never heard of that.

Basically it means pinning the pieces of the octopus together (using pins, just so we’re clear) so that
when we sew them the material doesn’t go all squiffy4. So, each tentacle is made up of one piece of
material. What you need to do is lay it flat. Then fold it in half, lengthways so that you have one long
folded piece with a point at one end. With this done lay a line of pins along its length. Repeat on all
seven other legs. Sewing the legs is easy. Just start at point A and continue until you reach B. Behind
this point (Between C and A) there is just a big enough gap for you to put some stuffing in. It doesn’t
matter how neat your stitching is because when the octopus is finished you won’t see it. Why not?
Read on.

BUT FIRST! Turn the tentacle inside out. It’s a little tricky, a bit like turning a sock inside out. But
there you have it. All your stitching is hidden and you should have a lovely neat seam. So then fill the
tentacle with your chosen stuffing material. When you’ve done that, possibly poking it into place
with a pencil, you can stitch up from C to A! I’d recommend sewing that bit by hand, even if you’ve

4
A technical term which here means ‘so wonky you have to throw the whole thing in the bin.



been using a sewing machine so far. And that’s a tentacle done. When you’ve finished them all it’s
probably tea break time!

Now for the head. Two head pieces. Now this is a little trickier as there are a few bits
you need to leave unsewn. So tacking first. Put the two head pieces together like the
bread in an unusual shaped sandwich. Remember you will be sewing this inside out.
Then tack from D to E. Now from F to G. And now you can sew it!

A bit more fiddly wasn’t it? Well you’ve not seen anything yet. Because now it’s time for
the bottom! Yes, the fun bit. And what’s fun about it? Well the bottom is the fiddly bit
because this is where you attach the legs. So, now for the hard part.

You need to sew the legs so that they will be on the outside when you turn the body
inside out. So the legs need to be sewn inside.

Get the bottom and tack four legs on either side. At this point they should cross the bottom and
meet in the middle like a collapsed tepee. Then you need to tack the bottom onto the head. Attach
parts E-F to the bottom. Now this is a great opportunity to turn him inside out to see if you’re on the
right lines. If you are then sew away!

Okay, done that? Confusing wasn’t it. Sorry about that. But that hard part is over and any moment
now, dun-dun-dun... Turn the octopus inside out!

Now this is the moment of truth. You should have a head shape, with a bottom and eight dangling
legs. If you’ve made a little bit of a miscalculation then unfortunately it’s time to unpick it. If not
hurrah! We can carry on.

Now it’s time to finish off! So firstly we need some stuffing. Fill your octopus with your stuffing of
choice! There should be a nice gap, between D and G. So now Glob should be starting to look like an
octopus. But there is a hole in the back of his head! To sew him up you need to do a posh stitch like
this:

What you do is sew either side of the gap. Like the picture above, then get another piece of thread.
Loop it through the first stitches then pull it tight. Shown below:



And finally, we need some eyes on our octopus. Buttons to be precise. Where to put them? That’s
up to you. Test it out. Move them up and down until your octopus looks suitable cute. Then attach
using small stitches. And there you have it! One cute, extra cuddly biscuit-snitcher octopus. All ready
for adventures.

Thank you for trying this. I hope you enjoyed it and that the results were pretty good. Please share
this with your friends and maybe steer them in the direction of my website.


E
F
C

G

D Head

Sew this way

Bottom

Sew this way
A C

Tentacle

B

Fold along dotted line


Sew Your Own Octopus

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