There's nothing quite like a good tentacle and, judging by the traffic we get on any squid or octopus-related posts on Crafty Crafty, you quite agree. But there's one set of tentacles that are more coveted than most, The Kitschies Award Tentacles! And now you can learn how to sew your own!
For those of you not familiar with The Kitschies, they are a literary award presented by the Pornokitsch website (possibly one of the best authorities on geek chic culture out there). The award is for genre novels (think sci-fi, fantasy, detective, zombie apocalypse, romance, horror etc) that best "elevate the tone of geek culture."
The most important thing is, the winners each receive a hand-made, squishy, huggable tentacle when they win (as well as cash and the prestige of the award, but clearly the tentacle is the best bit).
There are four coveted cephalopod limb prizes: the Red Tentacle (best novel), the Golden Tentacle (best debut), the Inky Tentacle (best cover) and the Black Tentacle (special award).
Right: The fantabulous Inky Tentacle in all its glory.
But you don't have to write a genre-elevating novel to get your mitts on a tentacle on your own. One of The Kitschies official organisers, Anne Perry is the maker of the longed-for lovely tentacles, and she has agreed to show you How to sew your own a Kitschies Tentacle. Take it away Anne!
How to Sew Your Own Tentacle
Greetings from your bouncy friends at Pornokitsch and The Kitschies! Haven't you always wanted your very own squishy, huggable tentacle?
Well, today's your lucky day. Turns out, they're as easy to make as they are fun to squash, and you don't even need a sewing machine. Let's get cracking!
Difficulty: This project is not difficult at all!
Materials:
• 1/2 meter of fabric
• 1 piece of chalk
• Needle and thread
• 1 bag of stuffing per tentacle
• Lots of buttons OR
• Fabric glue and sequins OR
• Anything else you might want to sew or glue on as suckers
Time: Half an hour or less, if you use a sewing machine and don't add any suckers or an hour or more if you sew by hand, and if you add suckers.
Size: Your tentacle can be as large or as small as you like. We make ours so that the finished product is between 1.5 and 2 feet long (50-60cm), and these instructions correspond to a tentacle of that scale.
Project instructions
Step 1: Fold your fabric in half, with the side you want on the outside of your tentacle facing in. You can use one very large sheet of fabric folded in half, or two different fabrics - whatever makes you happy!
Step 2: Draw a fat, curly tentacle-shape with your chalk! You'll want it to taper in size a little, so it's bigger at the top than at the tip, but you'll have an easier time in the end if you make the tip round and blunt. A narrow tip is hard to turn inside-out.
You'll also want to make sure your tentacle is fat - maybe twice the width of your forearm at the top. That'll make it easier to turn inside-out and to stuff.
Step 3: Pin your tentacle! Pin on the inside of your chalk outline.
Step 4: Cut your tentacle out! Leave about an inch of extra material outside your chalk outline.
Step 5: Get sewing! Start down one side, going from top to tip. You can use a sewing machine for this, but it's just as easy (and only a little slower, really) to do it by hand.
I suggest a backstitch, if you go the by-hand route.
Note: If you want to sew buttons and sparkly stuff to your tentacle you'll need to check out Step 6 before you begin to sew. If you want to glue them carry on to Step 7.
Step 6 (optional): This is where it can get kind of complicated. If you want to sew buttons or spangles on your tentacle, stop stitching once you've gone a little beyond the tentacle tip. Unpin the tentacle and turn it rightside-out.
Decide which side you want your buttons or spangles to be on, and sew them on by hand. Be careful to leave some room between your buttons and the tentacle's edge, or you might find yourself sewing suckers into the seam of your tentacle!
Depending on what and how many you're doing, this can be pretty time-consuming. I suggest putting on a nice period drama to have going in the background. North & South is my preferred sucker-sewing-on movie.
Once you're en-suckered, flip the fabric inside-out again, and pin it back up. Be sure all the buttons or spangles are on the inside of the pinned-up area!
Step 7: Sew up the rest of your tentacle! But be sure to leave the top open.
Step 8: Stuff your tentacle! Start with the tip, and make sure you get a lot of stuffing down in there. Don't be afraid to use a lot of the fluffy stuff, for maximum huggability.
Step 9: All stuffed? Great! Now you get to sew up the top. Fold the fabric that makes up the back of the tentacle over the stuffing.
Next fold the fabric that makes up the front of the tentacle over the fabric you've just folded over the stuffing. Pin the two together where they fold and sew it all up. I prefer to use a slip stitch.
If you've never done a slip stitch before, it only looks scary. Practice on a little extra material first, and then try it on your tentacle. I promise it's really easy!
If you don't want to risk it, just sew the tentacle shut in whatever way you prefer.
Step 10: If you want to glue suckers on, now's the time! Follow the instructions on your fabric glue and have fun! You can also paint suckers on - whatever makes you happiest!
Let everything dry for 24 hours. (The gold tentacle shown above has suckers made of fabric and sequins, which I glued on.)
Hey, you're finished! Now hug your tentacle.
Here's a very nice picture of 2009 Kitschies winner China Miéville posing with his Red Tentacle.
Anne Perry is part of the team that runs the Pornokitsch website and organises The Kitschies each year.
Pornokitsch (work-safe, we promise!) is a geek culture blog founded after an evening spent watching Outland and that bizarre animated version of The Return of the King.
The Kitschies are Pornokitsch's annual literary award, presented to the year's most intelligent, progressive, and entertaining genre novels.
You can see 2011's Kitschies Winners here.
Anne ends by telling Crafty Crafty "People often ask us, "Why the tentacles?" The question should be instead, "Why not the tentacles?"." We quite agree.
If you do make a plush tentacle we'd love to see pics. Give us a shout down in the comments. Go on.
