Octopus Reading Light Hat Progress

I started out with some research into octopuses (octopi or octopodes) by visiting Eataly and checking out their seafood section.
My initial prototype was large, ungainly, and looked too much like a Rastafarian hat or a jelly fish. I did another form exploration before settling on a final shape. The second prototype looks like a colorful, striped hot air balloon, but has a better octopus-head shape.

After deciding on my body shape pattern, I started to sew the tentacles and large body sections. The picture above shows inside of the “chin strap” tentacles. They each have half of the magnetic snap, which is soldered to a long stranded wire for later use.

I will work on my LED circuit and sew the whole octopus together over the next few days!