by John Murphy

Blincubus Jackson
Blincubus Jackson has trouble sleeping. Nightmares of various
sorts have plagued him constantly ever since he began eating You Will Need
sugary treats right before bed. His wife, his kids, his best friend, J The Basic Creature Sewing Kit (page 9)
J 3 crew socks of similar thickness, stretchiness,
and even the neighbors have advised against this fiendish ritual. and fiber quality
J Supplies for Nice to T You eyes (page 32)
Maybe one of these days the sleep deprivation will outweigh
Blincubus’s desire for bedtime sugar. In the meantime, he will
have to navigate frantically through his own nocturnal issues.

Cutting Out Your Parts

Face
See figure 1. The cuts for Blincubus are a tad dramatic, but then 2 Arms
so is he. Figure 2 will help you identify each of the parts your
Ears
cuts should yield.
The first sock will become the back of Blincubus’s body and head,
and the back layers of his ears. The second sock will produce
Blincubus’s face, the front of his body, and the front layers of his
ears. The third sock will provide Blincubus’s arms, the interior of
his mouth, and the row of spikes for the top of his head.
Mouth Inte
Body Front Body Back
Face
Arms
1
Ears

Spike parts
Mouth Interior
Body Front Body Back
Sewing Blincubus
Let’s start with the ears. Grab a front layer and a back layer
of Blincubus’s ears, and align them with right sides touching.
Stitch the edges together, leaving an opening at one of the
points as shown in figure 3. Trim the seam allowance at the
point of the other corner, and turn the ear right side out.
Topstitch a seam 1/4 inch (.6 cm) from the edge to stabilize the
shape. Repeat these steps for the other ear.
Arms are next. Take the segments of toe you cut from your third
sock, and follow the Nabby Hands instructions, found on page
28 of the Basics section (figure 4). Stuff the arms, but leave 1/2
inch (1.3 cm) of unstuffed space at their open ends.
sugar
!!!!
Alright. To assemble Blincubus’s face, take the part you cut
for the back of his head and body, and lay it flat with the right
side up. Overlay the open end of one of the ears with the outer
edge of the face as shown in figure 5. Place the part you cut
for Blincubus’s face atop the ear with the right side down. Align
its outer edge with the outer edge of the back of the head, and
stitch the two edges together, trapping the ear in the seam
(page 23). Repeat these steps with the other ear on the other
side of Blincubus’s face.
Attach the front of Blincubus pretty much the exact same way.
Place the stuffed arms atop the back of Blincubus’s body where
you think they ought to go. Align their open ends with the
edge of Blincubus’s body as shown in figure 6. Place the front
of Blincubus’s body atop the arms and back, and stitch the
edges together all the way down, trapping the arms within the
seams. Leave a 2- to 3-inch (5.1 to 7.6 cm) opening in one side
for turning and stuffing.
To make Blincubus’s nubby little useless legs, flatten the
bottom edge of his body and pin the edges together. Stitch a
horseshoe-shaped seam to distinguish one leg from the other.
Notch that shape so his legs will actually separate (figure 7).
Figure 8 shows you how to stitch Blincubus’s feet together
from front to back. To do this, pinch his feet to match up their
seams, creating folds at the front and back of his legs. Stitch a
rounded seam in each foot from the front fold to the back. Trim
the corners of his feet.
Time to make the spikes. Take the parts you cut for Blincubus’s
rakish row of spikes, and align them as shown in figure 9 with
right sides touching. Stitch the matched edges. Open up the
attached pieces, and fold them again the long way with right
sides touching.
 4
3

5 6

7 8 9
 Rotate the row of spikes to arrange its folded edge upward
as shown in figure 10, and stitch a spiky seam in it. Keep the
downward points of this seam away from the bottom raw
edges by at least 1/4 inch (.6 cm). Trim each spike at its corner
and notch between each of them. Turn the shape right side
out, and topstitch a seam 1/4 inch (.6 cm) from the edges of the
spikes. This will stabilize the row and make it easier to manage.
So, let’s attach the spikes to Blincubus’s head now. Take
Blincubus’s body and flatten it onto its side. Insert the spikes
into the head, pointed edges first as shown in figure 11, and
match the raw edge of the spikes to the edges of the head.
You’ll need to bend the spikes to match the curved shape of the
head. Pin as you go to keep the matched edges in place. Stitch
the top of the head shut, trapping the spikes into place.
10 11
The last thing you need to do is get the interior of Blincubus’s
mouth stitched into place. To do this, look at figure 12, and
trim the rectangle you cut for the mouth interior into an oval.
You can look at Blincubus’s mouth and estimate the size oval
you need. It’s best to trim the corners of the rectangle and
continue rounding off the oval as necessary to make it fit where
the mouth goes in Blincubus’s face. Make sure you cut the oval
large enough to provide a seam allowance. When you’ve got
your oval to size, align its edges with the edges of Blincubus’s
mouth, and stitch it into place using the circumference method
(see page 21).
Finish Blincubus off by turning him right side out and stuffing
him. Close up his stuffing hole with a ladder stitch (see page 18).
Follow the instructions for Nice to T You eyes on page 32 of the
Basics section. (If you’d like a different kind of eye, pick one and
make it instead.) Either way, Blincubus will still have his bedtime
difficulties, so perhaps you should make him some eyelids.
12