I was lucky enough to be one of the pattern testers for the Sweet Briar Sisters Spooky Spiders pattern, and thought it was about time I shared my spider creations with you.

I started with the Baby Spider, which is about 4 inches tall. Not only because I was short on stuffing, but I wasn’t too sure how much polycotton I had left in this colour, and didn’t want to run out before I finished sewing all those legs!

Meet Nigel the spider – Mum decided that he looked like he was wearing a suit, with the business-wear-colour polycotton I’d used, and thought he needed a traditional sounding name.

Apart from getting two legs facing the wrong way (he has a slightly knock-kneed look on one side), he came out really well. I deviated from the pattern and used a stiff cotton instead of felt for his eyes, adding some interfacing to the back of the polycotton so the zigzag stitch didn’t catch up too much.

Rummaging in my “I started making this but abandoned it” bag, I found a dress I’d started making from this orange leaf patterned polycotton. Realising that the dress wouldn’t suit or fit me, I decided to unpick it and turn it into a Mama Spider!

Turning the legs on Norma the Spider was so much easier than with Nigel! This time I had some white wool felt, so the eyes are stitched properly – I added another layer of fabric behind the eyes and mouth again to assist with the zigzag stitches.

Nigel’s mouth was hand sewn, but Norma’s was just zigzagged on the machine, which leads to a clearer line. I do need to hand sew some detail on her eyes, but so far the outer line is machine stitched, with a little pencil mark in the centre so I know where to sew!