Monkey Update

Well, it took several hours of seam ripping, over an hour of cutting, and several additional hours of sewing and ironing, but I think it was worth it.

Before:

After:

Not only does it look better, but the additional inches of navy sash really helped the size turn into something I'm happier with.

Now comes the usual fight of trying to come up with a back piece I like. In dream world, I would have enough of any of my textured fabrics for the back. Ideally, either brown or cream. Sadly, in reality, I've dug through my box of scrappy textured pieces before and I know I don't have enough of those pieces. It's unlikely I have enough of any of the others either. It's equally unlikely I'll purchase any new fabric (especially at something like $12-16/yard - something I can't justify just for fun. Now, if I end up with a special recipient before I figure out a different back option, then I might be able to justify it. Might.).

I also figure it needs to be bound in red. Maybe I'm wrong, and I'm going to take it slowly so I can avoid another long date with the seam ripper on this one, but it just feels like it could use another pop of color.