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demiveemon — Plush commission - Porcupine fish
Published: 2014-01-09 16:08:13 +0000 UTC; Views: 3479; Favourites: 95; Downloads: 2
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Description
Aside from doing Pokémon related stuff lately, I've been working on and off on this custom commission. He's a Black-blotched Porcupine fish and measures about 21 cm/ 8½" from from the tip of his nose to the end of his fin. This has been a fun and interesting project to work on. The markings and fins gave me the opportunity to really explore and utilize the possibilities the embroidery machine I got for my 30th birthday has to offer. It has also been a taxing plush with more than 100 work hours behind it, as many of the of the embroidered parts had to be assembled by hand and they were really though material to sew in. I had to use pliers multiple times, just to push/pull the needle through. xD Ah, and I also discovered Organza fabric, which has been ideal for the fins with it's transparent, yet stiff qualities. And liquid stitch, which has been a total life saver for the delicate fins, as they would never have survived the essembly, if it hadn't been for it, securing the edges and keeping them from fraying. If you're into plushing and working with delicate fabrics, I really recommend this product (Dritz Fray Check Liquid Seam Sealant ).Materials:
Faux suede, Organza, looooots of thread, plastic safety eyes and polyester filling
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Comments: 73
Thank you and happy you like him.
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I knew from those WIP pictures in the past, that this plush will be awesome in the end! But i've never imagined it to be THAT awesome! WOW!
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Aww, thank you, dear! 
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"Hug me please? I promise not to hurt you too much."
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Haha! Take it gentle and don't scare him. %D
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This is far too cute <3 you did an amazing job with this fish! It honestly looks like something I would go buy in a store, I'm blown away <3 i can't even wrap my head around what it takes to make things with this much detail, I really hope I get the chance to buy a plushie from you someday soon!
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Thank you for your lovely comment. I appreciate it a lot and I would love to hear from you again sometime in the future.
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Oh wow! Just the details... I've seen embroidery machines used for small details, but never like this!
May I ask how you got the pattern? I can see that you used clay, fabric and pins?
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Thank you for your kind comment. I use nonedrying clay to build up the desired shape and then cover it with inexpensive felt to get a raw pattern.
From the derived raw pattern I then sew a felt prototype and make any necessary changes. In this case I also used the prototype to draw the body markings on it, before disassembling it. I later transfered those markings on to paper and scanned them in (expecting it to be easy to turn them into a working embroidery pattern, which it turned out not to be xD)
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Aww. I'm happy you like it!
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He's beautiful! I'm thoroughly impressed with all your detail!His eyes are my favorite part! But I just can't get over all the thread! Omigoodness it's a lot but it's all worth it, since the detail is just so exquisite! And it's even more amazing that if I just glance at I would believe it's a real one! You out down yourself!
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Thank you, dear. If it wouldn't have been for the embroidery machine, I would never have been able to get the markings down to this level of detail. It did take a lot of thread. The brown spool of thread was very chubby before I got started on the embroidery part. Now it's a very slim looking spool. xD Your last words is the highest praise I could possibly hope for.
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You are quite welcome, friend. I can imagine, doing that all by hand would have been quite a challenge as well as very difficult to keep the shape correct. But wow, that is surely a ton of thread xD And you are welcome again, I know how much it of a compliment to hear that your work is mistaken for the real thing which again is why I'm so impressed
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Yeah, I couldn't have done it without the machine, or rather, wouldn't have attempted it. xD
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That's quite true, but thankfully you had the machine to bring your beautiful porcupine fish to life
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Awww this is awesome! And you've made it all by yourself? I'm speechless...
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From scratch. Using clay for the model helps a lot when designing the pattern. :3
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Really nice! It looks soooo complicated design.
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For the most part it has a pretty straight forward pattern with few pieces (my elephant pattern has over 90 pieces when everything has been cut out xD!!!), but the embroidered areas and fins made it tricky and time consuming to make. I love the result though. Adding fins to plush is pretty tricky though, I've discovered, as they are often large and of more delicate fabric. I was really worried, that the fins would end up destroyedin the process.
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The result is truly great. Do you always use embroidery/sewing machine when making plushies?
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Oh God, no! xD I wish though. Aside from one simple embroidery on the bottom of one of the commissioned chibi pangolins, this was the first time I used embroidery on any of my plushies. In fact it was the first time I created an embroidery pattern from scratch, using my own drawings and software on the computer. I had to get to know the program first too, so this fish has been a constant learning curve for me.
I would really love to use the sewing machine more for sewing my plushies, as it would really save me a lot of time. But for one or another reason, my patterns don't work well with the machine (too small/narrow, pieces with differing size that need to be fitted together or one layer being tugged out of position when sewing). So I end up sewing most by hand and then only get to use the machine on the a few fail proof areas. In some cases I've tried to use the machine, by sewing together all the easy pieces first, but then it always came back to bite me, during the rest of assembly. The only plush that go well with the machine are the owls (except their markings) and Nelly was sewn almost all the way with machine (I felt so awesoma after tha feat. xD)
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Wow and I thought the majority were sewn with the machine!
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I wish. The good thing with sewing by hand is that you have much better control. The downside isthat it takes longer and the occational stab in the finger.
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Was there any plushie that turned out much different than it was in your mind?
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Hmm... What stands out most in my memory would be my very first plushing attempt. My mom had brought home a piece of scrap fabric and I wanted to turn it into a floppy kitten, based on a plush from a childrens book I had always adored (especially for the sake of its floppiness). It didn't turn out floppy, and it didn't look like a kitten either. xD I scrapped it. Feeling bad for the ruined fabric, I used the bits and pieces for those tiny critters I told you about earlier. It was also the reason for my sudden interest i those plushing classes.
The other plush that would come to mind would be my first p-chan. The model looked like something straight out of a horror movie (I still have it somewhere) and the finished plush looked like a drowned rat. In it's case it mostly was bad choise of material. The fabric I used was too soft and unable to keep the shape. I have a picture somewhere in my gallery.... Ah, here: demiveemon.deviantart.com/art/…
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So it's true the right fabric choice can make a huge difference.
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It can indeed. Even the direction of the same fabric influences the end result. If you have a stretchy fabric for instance, turning it in one way will make the plushy elongated, while turning it 90 degrees will make the same plush appear shorter and a bit more plump. :3
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Wooow, I didn't know that one. o.o
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Of course, if the fabric you're using comes with fur, the fur will dictate the direction. You can still turn it around 180 degrees though, which would mean that instead of lying slick along the body, you could have it ruffled up instead. But I think that it's only a few plushies where that would work well. With Henry, who has a very short fur, I turned the fabric sideways, since I wanted his fur to look a bit coarse. It made it hard to figure out how to place the pieces of the pattern though. xD
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So many things to care about! o.O
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Hm, maybe you should look at it in another way. Instead of worrying about getting it right, think of it as a way of adding variation and fun twists. :3
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You're right. That's probably the only way how to look at it if you are serious about making plushies.
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Atleast you shouldn't let it intimidate you. When i create a pattern that will be using fabric with fur, I make sure to mark the default fur direktion on the pattern as a reference.
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Sounds like you don't let anything happen by chance when it comes to plush making process.
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Haha. Well, I do try to forsee most of the problems, but I still end up underestimating things, or I justassemble in the wrong order, which can make it a lot harder. From experience however, I know that you forget things over time (which you wouldn't think that you would ever forget) and then it's nice to have notes like that. I also often return to photos from making the prototype the first time, when I get unsure about the assembly order or where parts meet.
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Nobody is perfect. At least you're aware of that and know how to react.
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I was wondering. First time hearing of a liquid stitch... Can you actually sew without threads and needles? Like can you make plushies like these fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/i/201…
with liquid stitch? ; v; the link is just a reference (i pulled up whatever plush I could find). Is it strong? ; v;
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I'm not sure if it could be used for an entire plush (it would probably get messy, especially with furry fabrics, and would be more expensive than using traditional thread and needle.) From what I've read about it, it's strong and can endure laundry once dried. In some cases it can replace sewing (if you have a cut or need to combine two pieces of fabric) and probably works well in spaces that are too narrow for sewing. The product I bought was specifically for anti-freying, as that was the problem at hand.
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Yes. It is used along the edges of vulnerable fabric, keeping it from unraveling/fraying. If you get a hole or a cut in your clothing, you can use it to keep the whole from growing larger.
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