Pip the Otter Plush

Jen de Oliveira contacted me to create a plush to coincide with the release of her comic Pip & Pals #1 Otter Space! Pip is the main character so we worked together to make the cute plush version of this awesome otter.

Pip & Pals #1 Otter Space! just came out in July. Check it out through Random House Graphic.

 

Even though I often work with creative folks who can draw, it's different turning that into a working sketch that I will use as a direct reference to create the pattern shapes and prototype. So I still do my own sketch to get the feel of where the pieces will connect and how to make the pose right.

Jen can draw Pip doing anything, but we had to pick the main pose to create.  In this case, because Pip has a big head and body, but little legs, we went with a sitting pose. It was important to Jen that when you put Pip down he stays sitting instead of falling over, so I added plastic beans to his bottom. That along with the tail position makes sure that Pip sits when needed. 

 

We went back and form with a couple of prototypes until I got the look just right. The bandanna is custom printed fabric via spoonflower to make sure the color and stripe match the book.

 While there is currently only one Pip plushie, go check out the book and you can find all of Jen's awesome work here: jendeoart.com

Chocolate + Cashmere Teddy Bears

Last year I connected with the local company Chocolate + Cashmere. They knit their own cashmere hats, scarves, serapes and much more. But sometimes the knitting machines have a run error in the knit or other mistake that can't be corrected to be sold. This left them with a pile of knitted cashmere fabric. 

The owner, Haleigh already had a vision for some sort of teddy bear, and when we connected I was the right person to work up the design and custom pattern. 

After making some muslin mock ups and mock ups in similar non-cashmere knits, I made the first prototype using the actual cashmere fabric. This one worked out well but Haleigh decided to felt the cashmere for the next batches. The nice thing about this is the is kept the softness but make the pattern pieces easier to sew together for me and the bears come out more consistently in shape.

Each bear is made by hand by me and they are all unique in the combination of solids and stripes. It's been very fun to get a pile of fabrics and have the freedom to combine the patterns in a way that looks pleasing to me. The faces are hand embroidered so that also adds to each one having its own personality.

Chocolate + Cashmere is New Mexico based, with stores in Santa Fe and Taos and they just expanded to Boulder, Colorado. The bears are only sold in stores so check them out there. And the chocolate is delicious too!

Meow Wolf Felix the DJ plush

I worked on the plush version of the big fuzzy creature known as Felix who is located at the Radio Tave location of Meow Wolf in Houston, TX.

Here's the Meow Wolf description of this creature:

"Felix is a creature with mysterious origins who wandered into the ETNL community radio station from the Glen and asked if he could do a show. Is he a creature of the Glen? Is he an abandoned imaginary friend? Maybe a misplaced mascot?

What we know is that his show, Twilight Felix Is an Evening Radio Show (a clunky translation from the language Felix speaks), is one of the most popular on ETNL. Felix is a big, sometimes controversial, personality, but he gets along with everyone at ETNL just fine, even if only Isidora can understand what he's saying. Because he does his show at night when others are sleeping, Felix spends his days snoozing on a couch in the Green Room. No one seems to mind; he's out of the way and his snoring isn't too loud." 

Felix's creators were actively building the life size version when they gave me various reference images to start on the plush version. I started with my own sketch and some fabric options based on samples they gave me.

At the exhibit Felix is sleeping, so I shared some different eye option of what Felix's eyes could look like and be made of for the plush version.

Felix has long arms with weighted beans in the paws so you have move them around a bit and he has beans in his bottom so he sits well too.

 

Felix has double ears on each side of his head along with horns, so it took some manipulating to get them in the right place. 

The final version of Felix is about 9 tall and 8 inches wide.
 

 

Find the final Factory version with radio station t-shirt in the Meow Wolf store.