Thursday 14 July 2011

Side Project: Animal 'Cuddlies'

I very much enjoyed an exercise we did earlier this year where we were asked to bring in various bits and bobs (recylcling, textiles, random useful found materials) and were then given a short time to make animals out of them.




First I made my crocodile. For the structure of his body and jaw i used pieces of a plastic bottle, joining them together with wire. The tail is made from pieces of egg box which i sewed loosely together so it can move around. I wrapped wool around the body and attached split pins for the lumpy scales. The jaw is covered in scraps of green fabric. The eyes are made from a piece of egg box, glued on with a glue gun. The teeth are made from a beer can, also attached with a glue gun. The legs were made from the same wire i used for the structuring. We were advised to use as little glue as possible, instead relying on wrapping/tying/stitching/fastening in other ways, but it became necessary because of the time constraint.


I posted this on my facebook and was particularly flattered when a fellow student on my course compared it to a Quentin Blake illustration!




For my reindeer I relied more on the textiles. I used a plastic bottle again for the main body, but i detached the narrow end of the bottle and tilted it downwards so that the head of the deer dips forward (secured with wire). I wrapped bits of canvas material around the body to conceal the plastic, followed by some brown wool which i wrapped around to help tuck in the fabric and maintain the shape. I added a piece of texted knitting on the top for the thicker coat of the reindeer. His antlers and legs are made from my favourite trusty wire. I cut out thin strips of brown fabric and glued them to the bottle head one by one to keep the shape, and attached a piece of egg box for the muzzle with split pins, which became the eyes. I glued on a piece of scrunched up red fabric for the 'rudolf the red-nosed reindeer' nose. The ears are just cut out pieces of brown fabric, along with the lacy piece around the head (I'm not sure why i needed this bit, it could be a lighter piece of the reindeer's coat or just decoration). And I finished him off with a scarf.


Since then I've been happy to carry on making similar creations in my spare time.
At the moment I am making friends and family their favourite animals. 


Taz the turtle
I made this for a friend for their birthday. This one took me about a day to finish.


Monty the moggie cat.
Currently working on this. It has taken me a few weeks of on/off work, as there has been a lot of knitting and sewing involved to get the pattern and features as accurate as i can.

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