Meow Wolf collectible keychain plush characters

As Meow Wolf has grown to several locations I thought it could be fun to have an item that you collect as you go to each different spot. I pitched this concept of small plush with keychain attachments using some of the Meow Wolf characters and the design team was into it. The first one we developed was the classic Meow Wolf cat wolf. 

 

 

At Convergence Station in Denver, there are some pig toadstools growing in a cave. I showed a couple variations for this one, but the ball style was chosen to develop.

 

At the House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe is the creature known as Sarah. This one was complicated as the face has several different forms coming together. I used a combination of shaped pieces, appliqué,  and embroidery to get the feel of the real version, but round and small.

 

Sookie the Crab was the first project I worked on for the Houston location of Radio Tave that opened in 2024. I got some custom printed fabric to replicate the background body dots, then the other body swirls were embroidered on top.

"Sookie the Crab lives in the Glowquarium at Radio Tave, an endless expanse of vibrant coral inhabited by friendly creatures that bathe in its eerie violet glow.

Now you can adopt a Sookie of your own with this cute and vibrant plush keychain. Stick it to your keys or on your bag with the carabiner attached, and let everyone you pass know of your time visiting the Glowquarium!"

Check these creatures out at their various location and you can buy them in the Meow Wolf Store.

Meow Wolf Yawlp Puppet

 At Meow Wolf's Convergence Station in Denver lives Yawlp, a mysterious rat monster of sorts. I was tasked with taking a creepy, mysterious monster and creating a soft puppet version of it.

When I work on plush toys I usually don't have to think about the interior, that is typically stuffed and that supports the exterior shape. With a puppet though, I have to think about different hand sizes being able to manipulate the action, while also keep the exterior look intact.

Yawlp reference images

Yawlp is a mysterious creature that has had many sightings so there are lots of different version of what this monster looks like. Like most plush things I make once it fabric,the puppet version softens the sharp teeth and spikes but still shows the character of Yawlp.

It took a couple rounds of prototypes to get the right body size, as well as the flexible arm movement and the ability to easily move the mouth that also has a lot of teeth in it. The mouth can be manipulated to open and close and you can put your hand into the arms around to bring the Yawlp puppet to life.

Buy a Yawlp Puppet in the Meow Wolf Store.

SuiFrens Plush Shark, Capybara and Narwhal

Last year, I was contacted by Sui Foundation to turn their SuiFrens digital token characters into real life plush toys. They already had the three characters: Narwhal, Capybara and Bull Shark, so I took their illustrations and built out the plush patterns.

 

The ultimate goal was large versions of each character, about 30 inches tall, to take to a conference in France. To build out the pattern, I first needed to make the small versions of each character then scale them up.

 

I turned in the sketches and worked with a US representative of Sui, so I was able to ship the samples as I made them and get feedback. A lot can be done digitally, but feeling fabrics and holding the samples in hand is very important.

Capybara

With the Capybara, we ended up changing both the head shape and the nose details from the character illustrations because in plush it wasn't reading as cute or correct.

Narwhal

There was back and forth with the Narhwal design to get the roundness of the head just right.

Bull Shark

Once the small versions were approved, I enlarged the pattern. The dimension of 30 inches tall would have made their head circumference 57 inches! That was getting into the territory of needing an interior support instead of just stuffing. I went with about 22 inches tall because all three of the character were longer and wider. They are all still very big!

Narwhal large version with small version

 

 

I also made four pieces of each character so they could give a couple away at the event.

 

I have made a couple XL versions of plush characters before but that is usually long after I've made the small version so it's just enlarging the pattern and adjusting those details. This was the first time making a small version with the final product being the large version. Scaling up in this case isn't just increasing the height you have to think about all the proportions so that it looks good. Plus the knit minky fabric has some stretch so that changes with different sizes. Sui was flexible with the end dimensions, so we came to good size together.

Meow Wolf Fig Sloth plush toy

 

At Meow Wolf Convergence Station in Denver, Colorado there is a sloth named fig. I was tasked with turning the large installation sculpture into a plush that you could wear on your shoulder.

Fig Sloth at Convergence Station

 

The Meow Wolf product team sent me lots of reference photos and I worked up my own sketch of what the plush version would look like. The desired feeatures were hands and feet with velcro so they could stick to each other and a magnet in the bottom with a special leaf that could make Fig stay on your shoulder.

 

Final prototype

 

Meow Wolf provided the fabric design that I then had printed through spoonflower on their minky fabric. With the magnets, I added a interior fabric pocket so that magnet stays where it's supposed instead of getting lost in the interior stuffing of the plush. That way when you place Fig on your shoulder and the leaf inside your shirt they stick and stay.

 

Magnets are always fun because Fig can also stick to any metal surface!
 

 

The velcro on the hands and feet lets Fig wrap around places like chairs.

Final factory version of Fig.

Fig Sloth is available in the Meow Wolf Store.

Meow Wolf Snurtle Slippers

At Meow Wolf's Convergence Station in Denver, there is a truck called Snurtle that is covered in lights and you can sit in the front our enter the back and go on a trippy journey. I was tasked with turning that large vehicle into house slippers!

The truck is very angular with lots of triangles and lights, as well a various intricate images painted on the sides. I started with a sketch to figure how a foot would fit into and how to break down those hard metal shapes into soft fabric that could make up a slipper.

 

I use my sketch to draft the pattern shape. First building it out of muslin, then making a sample version in finish fabrics. I had worked with long chenille fabrics making some pet toys so I though that material would work well to replicate the feel of the cleaning fringe on the truck.

I used a combination of machine embroidery and appliqué to define the different sections on the truck. In my first sample I didn't have the intricate image that would later be screen printed on. I also added some rhinestones to mimic the lights.

The real truck has a light up antenna so I tried to replicate that with a removable light. This way you could snap off the light to wash the slippers.

 

 

Once the in house design team at Meow Wolf is happy with the pattern and sample I've created that is usually the end of my involvement. So what comes back as the final factory piece is often a surprise to me. There are a lot of design and cost decisions that come in to play working with the factory to get to a point where everyone is happy with the product. For the Snurtle slippers, they dropped the light feature, switching it out for a sequin ball that is no doubt simpler to construct. They switched out multiple panel piecing for a simpler construction with fewer pieces and a full back instead of the slide in slipper. They also printed all the images and dropped the front mirror pieces. Even with changes it's always cool to see the final result.

Factory Finals

Available in the Meow Wolf Store