For my plush night I was inspired by my dog – Coco. I only get to see my dogs during the weekend and it made me think of how humans experience “separation anxiety” of sorts when they’re away from their pets – and vice versa. Although I haven’t come up with an idea with how to deal with it for our pets yet, I wanted to create a plushie that reminded you of the feeling your pet gives you.
Here is Coco!
I created this plush night light for those needing an extra “hug” or comfort when they’re away from their pets. The two LEDS lights I placed were on his nose but I was hoping to create a snore pattern of sorts in the future. Something that mimics not only the way your pet looks but also how it makes you “feel”.
Introducing SnootZzz!!
I was inspired by the way coco looked to create this plushie. It definitely doesn’t look exactly like him (and is missing ears) but I do think it conveys the message.
To create this, I needed –
-Brown fleece
-White fleece
-White fabric
-2 Yellow Leds
-Resistors
-Wires
-Battery Pack
-Digital Embroidery
The digital embroidery and applique was perhaps the hardest part for me because I had never done it before. Understanding how to shape of the dog would be affected by the embroidery, how to scale it etc was also very challenging for me. I tried to leave extra room after the embroidery for shrinkage but it meant not perfecting the rounded face. I also underestimated how much the applique would end up shrinking the material. I noticed once I stitched on the applique, the ears ended up shrinking so much from my pattern! This is something I will keep in mind in the future.
For the LED lights, I chose to use two yellow lights that would light up on his nose. This was also challenging for me as I struggled for it to show up once the embroidery was on because I used cut away fabric underneath it.
My circuit diagram
This is what the plush light looks like with the lights on! I hope to find a way to position the lights better next time.
In the future, I want to understand how to be more mindful of shape when adding applique, embroidery etc and how to navigate these with shrinkage and lights.
Despite the ups and downs though, I really enjoyed creating this plushie because it was about something that meant a lot to me and I hope to continue to learn and create many more 🙂
Please find my presentation on this link!
Thank you 🐶