DIY a Brain Slug magnetic head accessory! You can turn anything you’re wearing into an instant halloween costume with this one accessory.
What you need:
- Green Felt (Brain Slug body)
- White Felt (eyeball)
- Black Felt (eye)
- Rotary cutter or a cutting machine like a Cricut Maker
- Green thread
- White thread
- Hot glue gun
- Super magnet(s)
- Knitting needle/hook or chopstick
- Sewing machine or sewing needle
- Pins
- Stuffing
- Metal Barrette
- Glue dots (optional)
- Cutting mat (optional)
I use my Cricut maker for all fabric cutting, especially when making multiples. Download the pdf document that you can use for your Cricut or other cutting machine. When you print out your template, size the template for the size you want. Use the underbelly size to estimate how big you want your brain slug to be. I found that about 4.5 inches across is the perfect size.
I love my Cricut Maker! Super fast cutting with less waste. You will need the head (x3), belly (x1), antenna (x4).
If you don’t have a Cricut Maker, you can cut out the shapes using a rotary cutter.
Pin 2 of the head cutouts together as shown in the picture. Hand sew or use a sewing machine to sew from the edge marked green to the edge marked red. See the markings in the picture as a guide.
Repeat sewing the heads together for all three pieces.
Match the underbelly with the tentacles on the head. Make sure that the head remains wrong side out. Pin the underbelly and sew from the green to red points. Make sure the gap is at the butt of the brain slug and it’s big enough the flip the slug inside out.
If you’re using a sewing machine, go slow!
I like to use a wide supermagnet to ensure that I get a lot of magnetic surface for the barrette or the fridge. Hot glue a super magnet on the underbelly inside (wrong side) surface. Use a supermagnet – not a regular fridge magnet!
Pin the antenna and sew just inside the edge. Don’t sew too far inside or you won’t be able to flip the antenna inside out!
Sewn antenna. You need 2 of these unless your brain slug is a mutant.
Use a knitting hook or a chopstick to carefully flip the antenna inside out.
Carefully poke in some stuffing or a pipe cleaner if you want to make your antenna positionable!
Flip the brain slug inside out carefully. Hand sew the antenna by folding in the open ends and secure the antenna.
Use white thread and hand stitch the eyeball in place. If you don’t wan to stitch the eyeball, you can hot glue gun it in place.
Carefully push the felt remnants into the brain slug. Tip: use the knitting hook to push the tentacles into shape.
I use glue dots to secure the pupil so I can move the eyeball around. Hand sew the brain slug closed. The magnet inside the brain slug will stick to the barrette. You can choose to sew the brain slug directly onto the barrette for added stability.
