Making Studio

Part A: Plush Concepts + Prototype

My plush night light designs are based on the concept of collectible display toys. As someone who loves to collect limited items and arrange them as part of my environment, I wanted to create pieces that go one step further than being simple plushes. By incorporating light, these toys are going to transform into ambient objects and illuminate a space at night while also standing as unique collectibles meant to be displayed and appreciated.

Through the prototyping process, I realized the importance of sewing practice and precision, as craftsmanship plays a key role in creating a polished and visually appealing final toy, and this week, I realized I do need a lot of practice.

i) “SPIKEY” + Prototype

I started this project with a sketch, inspired by my love for incorporating spikes into my designs. This led me to create a monster plush concept, which was a challenging first design to sew.

While sketching the LED circuit, I realized I had two options for placement. The first was to put the LEDs on the spikes, which would highlight the shape and form of the plush and would include 3 LEDs. The second option was to place them in the eyes (2 LED’s), giving the monster a more eerie and expressive vibe.

After completing my sketch, Jay suggested that I cut the fabric slightly outside the actual outline of the plush. I adjusted my drawing to include a wider outline before moving forward with the cutting process. Afterwards, Yennie helped me with the sewing, guiding me through the steps and showing me techniques that improved the overall construction of the plush.

With the guidance of my peers, Yennie and Jay, I was able to improve my sewing skills as they shared their techniques and supported me throughout the process. This collaboration not only strengthened the final outcome but also helped me grow my craftsmanship.

If I move forward with this design, I plan to adjust the proportions by making the plush a little wider than it is tall. I would also enlarge the spikes to make them more prominent, enhancing both the silhouette and the overall presence of the plush.

ii) “BLUSH” Plush

For my second design, I explored a more spherical head plush concept. I decided to place the LEDs behind the cheeks so that, the plush would have a subtle ‘blush effect’ when illuminated. I thought this would create a softer, more playful character while still integrating the lighting element as part of its personality.

If I move forward with this design, I would likely use a thin, soft fabric that can easily wrap around and form a spherical shape. This would help maintain the plush’s smooth, rounded appearance while allowing the LED ‘blush effect’ to shine through effectively.

iii) YETI

For my third design, which turned out to be the most complex of them all, I experimented with creating a simple yeti-inspired plush. To enhance its mythical appearance, I planned to place the LEDs on the face, giving the creature a glowing, otherworldly presence.

If I move forward with this design, I would likely incorporate a variety of materials, such as fur and different types of fabrics, to enhance the visual complexity of the plush. These materials would help emphasize the yeti’s character and make the lighting effect feel more magical.

Part B: LED Circuit

This week, I became much more comfortable using a soldering iron, thanks partly to Sinclair’s assignment. I really enjoyed assembling this small circuit, and it was exciting to see the LEDs come to life as I worked on it.

The first time I inserted the batteries, the LED didn’t light up. After resoldering the connections a second time, the connection was more secure, and the LED finally worked as intended.

The Prototype (Bad Dog)

Proof that an idea is only an ‘idea’ until you execute.

My dog didn’t dog so well in the end. It would appear that all of the narrow forms and shapes that were easily defined in the hand sewing stage didnt make it through to the outside form upon flipping the fabric. In the next phases I will need to create more bodied shapes with less fine details in order to get the silhouette across effectively.

The Circuit Diagram

Plush Night Light Ideas

Piece of Toast

I often forget to eat in the mornings and therefore I’d be designing for myself a night light which is a piece of toast. It lights up in the mornings around 7am and sits in their space or at their desk as a reminder to eat breakfast in the mornings before work/school/starting the day in general.

Materials: Brown fabric for outer ‘crust’ and white for the inner bread area.
Light: The arduino box will be housed in the center of the plushie with lights glue to the box itself for easy access. The lights will glow through the fabric to give a warm/diffuse glow to the entire piece.

Kewpie

Do I even need to explain — Its a kewpie bottle for people who love cute cooking products. The front text and image will be embroidered into the fabric. This is a great opportunity to learn how to raster images in embroidery using the VFL tools.

Materials: White fabric for the body and red/yellow embroidery thread for the text and mayonaise portion
Light: The arduino box will be housed in the center of the plushie with lights glue to the box itself for easy access. The lights will glow through the fabric to highlight the kewpie logo.

Japanese Lamp

I personally don’t resonate with plushies and soft toys. I think this option would lean into that, using metal wire and sewed fabric to create a hollowed but still soft body lamp that can stand on a desk, table or shelf and illuminated from the center. I used to make Japanese paper lamps and always appreciated their structure and paper construction.

Materials: White fabric for the body and thick gauge wire for the overall strucutre. This option is devoid of internal stuffing as it relies on the wire for structure
Light: The arduino box will be housed in the center of the plushie with lights attached to the wire for stable housing. The lights will glow through the fabric to illuminate the space.

A. MAKING THE LED CIRCUIT

Soldering setup

Final LED circuit

After a careful and stressful attempt at soldering a LED circuit, I managed to successfully complete the circuit and get the white LED to light up!

B. PLUSH PROTOTYPE – ANIMAL FORM

Completed plush toy (Looks like a Mouflon on 4 legs to me)

C. PLUSH NIGHT LIGHT IDEATIONS

IDEA 1 – ‘Heart in the right place’ plush nightlight

• Target user – Children between the ages of 3-12 years of age
• Description – ‘Heart in the right place’ is a bunny plush made to appeal developing children, to make them more appreciative of their natural surroundings. The toy uses contrasting plain and patterned fabric to show the two sides of the world – with and without nature. The heart placed in the center has a soft illuminating glow that lights up to display warmth.
• Materials and parts – Potentially uses 5 yellow LEDs to help illuminate the heart. The main fabrics envisioned for this plush are Linen and Cotton to help soften the glow, making it subtle but present. Alternatively, I also envisioned using a patchwork of scraps to help give it more personality, promote crafts and help manage fabric waste.

IDEA 2 – ‘Matryoshka doll light’

• Target user – Children between the ages of 11-15 years of age
• Description – The ‘Matryoshka’ doll is inspired by traditional Russian dolls crafted in wood. The silhouette of the form is envisioned to be soft and huggable. The idea for this derives from my brief stay at Russia as a child, bringing me back to the nostalgic curiosity of the shape and stacking of these dolls. Traditionally, there are multiple sizes fitted one inside another, which can be thought of too. Essentially, I wanted to create a soft form that can be customized according to the child’s taste while still having some depiction of their cultural identity or personality.
• Materials and parts – Potentially uses 8 LEDs to help illuminate the neck and base of the doll. The form is made of fabrics such as felt or linen, while the customizable part can either be a zipper sleeve added externally or a whiteboard like material wrapped around it to enable the user to interact with the product.

IDEA 3 – ‘Tiffany lamp shade plushies’

• Target user – Not restricted to any specific age group
• Description – The ‘Tiffany’ Lamp shade is an age old glass cutting and forming method that uses tiffany glass, creating visually interesting and colorful pieces. This plush softens the same vintage art form creating a stained glass effect but in the form of a plush night light. I envision this piece to be a combination of colorful LEDs and felt fabric. This night light will not only create interesting patterns and have a vibrant appeal, but also, be a nice keep sake for people interested in the appeal of the traditional tiffany lamps.
• Materials and parts – Potentially has 10 LEDs in different colors to create interest and intrigue. The fabric thought of for this plush light is felt with certain cutouts in acrylic that can help disperse the light softly. The opacity of the felt fabric will help create a good contrast to the translucency of acrylic.

My character is a Japanese lucky cat from the anime show Dandadan. This cat has a very interesting backstory: a yokai named Turbo Granny is trapped inside of it.

I’ve created three different poses for Turbo Granny Cat, with the LEDs in various locations.

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Design 1

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Design 2

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Design 3

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I’ve also run some tests to see how different fabrics affect the lighting.

Cotton

White Cotton

Yellow Cotton

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Tissu

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Sherpa

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Felt

I’ve decided to use Sherpa for Turbo Granny cat’s hair and felt for the decorations, including the neck bell, collar, and gold coin.

Here is the test prototype for the glowing money coin.

For our night light plush and circuit homework for this week I’d like to start by quoting Einstein “I have tried 99 times and have failed, but on the 100th times can success”. I encountered quite a few challenges but I think part of these 99 failures allowed me to learn so much more than I would have if I succeeded immediately.

For my plush night light, I chose to prototype the cactus toy that ended up looking like a little boy. Going with the flow of it, I sewed but didn’t realize how much my sewing would end up shrinking the whole plush toy once sewn and additionaly even go on to tear the seams a bit when the fluff was inserted. The material I chose also wasn’t the neatest. This truly was a lesson in how important choice is right from the beginning. That being said, the transformation of my toy from emulating a cactus to looking like a mummy was definitely interesting.

Moving onto the LED circuit, after finally understanding how to Sodder and where each part went, my LED still wouldn’t turn on. I went to Kyle from the VFL and after some diagnosing we found out the battery pack itself had a fault and that the negative wire wasn’t plugged in. This was interesting again because I would have never known how to fix a wire on a battery pack had it not been for one of my 99 failures. I chose to include the LED lighting up with the heat strips cut off to show the process of investigation as we tried to figure out what went wrong with the circuit.

For my plush night light proposal, I was primarily thinking in terms of safety which ended up branching out into two fields – one for mental health and the other physical safety.

My first idea was to create a plushie based on one’s favorite pet (mine being frenchies) who’s ears or nose lights up to mimic box breathing.

The target user for this could practically be anyone but this was mostly intended for someone struggling with anxiety or to bring someone back to the present. I think this could also act as a comfort tool for those scared of the dark.

The parts and materials needed for this would be yellow led lights and fur fabric.

Following the same target user as the previous idea, I wanted to create a drum with drumsticks attached to it, that could be used as a sensory grounding technique. When hit, the drum would pop up a color and then the user would have to find objects in their surroundings of that color. This plushie could be a great way to create an experience while grounding.

This would require led lights of all different colors and soft fabric.

My last idea steered more into physical safety. I’ve noticed many people like to run or walk on streets that have no streetlights in the suburb. This can be very dangerous and sometimes it’s hard to hold your phone up to signal your presence. I would like to create a plushie that senses light changes and shines accordingly to signal your presence on a dark road.

This would require more of a harder fabric, bright white led lights and a light sensor.

Thank you!

Made a little fish for my sweet boy!

MY NIGHTLIGHT PROPOSAL

I cannot choose between 2 ideas, but good news is that I narrowed it down from 17:

Out of these, some standouts were the traffic light which could be used as a prop in the game: red light, yellow light, and the Michelangelo hands of god which could be displayed in a high school art class.

and of these, here are my two finalists

CRAB: Target Audience- Astrology lovers, children

Could be placed in a classroom, in a hotel room, or in a bedroom!

Crabs symbolize the Astrology Sign for end of June and beginning of july: Cancers! ♋️ This is my sign and I have lots of cancer pride. Ideally this stuffed nightlight would be part of an astrology series where everyone’s sign is represented.

I would use red, pink, orange, or coral colored fabric and create one shape for the body & legs, and another two for the pincher hands! I would also add eyes with buttons or something similar, and maybe sew a visible curve for the smile.

BDAY CAKE: Target Audience- People who do not like cake, but love their birthday!

I personally do not crave cake on my birthday, but I love birthday attention! This would be perfect for me, and for anyone who’s bday is coming up- as a sweet gift to them. I think it could be fun to add layers with different colors, and to embellish the top with different toppings. And of course, the diffused light can be inside the candle! I was inspired by the jellycat cakes- which are very expensive and are made under unethical conditions. This could be my ethical substitute for those popular and adorable toys, especially if I add a little face and a pair of legs!

Prototypes

1. Mushroom

2. Red LED Circuit

Three Ideas

1. Sunflower Cushion Night Light

Story: Like a sunflower that blooms toward the sun, this cushion appears as a simple sunflower during the day. When sunlight is no longer detected, the embedded light turns on, providing gentle illumination that follows the rhythm of nature.

Target User: People seeking digital detox and healing moments aligned with natural cycles.

Material: Soft short-hair fabric, light-sensing plate (Arduino), LED light bulb.

2. Sea Otter Shell Night Light

Story: Inspired by the way sea otters give cherished shells or stones to those they care about, this plush otter holds a glowing shell. When the user squeezes the plush, the shell light turns off, offering a stress-relieving tactile experience. After 30 minutes, the light turns on again, as if the otter is giving the shell back.

Target User: People who want stress relief and relaxation during short breaks.

Material: Soft tufting and fluffy fabric for the otter, short-hair fabric for the shell.

3. Cloud Wrist Rest Health Alarm Night Light

Story: A fluffy, cloud-shaped wrist rest that feels light and comforting. When the user continuously uses a mouse for more than an hour, the light turns on as a soft reminder to pause, stretch, and care for wrist health.

Target User: People who use a computer mouse frequently and want to protect their wrist health.

Material: Soft fabric with safe, supportive filling that can comfortably support the wrist.

Thank you for reading🌻

Since Halloween isn’t widely celebrated in Korea, I wanted to experiment with something related to it. I sketched a cute bat design, but sadly most people couldn’t immediately recognize it as a bat. Some said it looked more like a fish. To play with that ambiguity, I added eyes on one side to suggest a bat, and a button detail on the other side to resemble a fish.

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Quick three ideas

1. Boiling Egg Lamp 🍳💡

Inspiration
At night when I feel hungry, I often boil eggs as a quick snack. But I usually forget the time. I don’t like staring at the pot for six minutes, and if I lie down or check my phone, I easily forgot it. That’s why I thought about turning the egg yolk itself into a timer light.

How it works
Push the yolk → the light turns on.
After 6 minutes → it turns off by itself.

Even when I’m sleepy or distracted, I can still cook eggs easily. The glowing yolk makes the waiting time visible and playful, not stressful.

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2. Hanging Bat Light 🦇🌓

Inspiration
While making the prototype, I started to connect the bat with the red led(?) I was using. Later I found out that bat eyes are not actually red, but I liked the symbolism of it. The “red eye” feeling gave me a strong image to work with, so I used that as part of the idea.

How it works
Daytime → only the bat’s eyes glow softly.
Nighttime → the moon behind the bat lights up.

The lamp shows the rhythm of day and night in a simple way. I like that it can be seen differently depending on time and angle.

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3. Cat Paw for Calm 🐾🫀

Inspiration
I noticed that cat paw pads change color with mood. When cats are tense, the paw pads turn deeper pink. I thought this was interesting and used it as the idea for a plush lamp.

How it works
When you hug the plush, the paw pads light up red, like tension.
During 4–6 minutes the light slowly changes to light pink, guiding you to breathe and calm down.

The paw feels squishy and warm, so you naturally want to hold it or touch it. At the same time, the changing light makes you relax, almost like the toy is calming with you.

This project may also require an additional Force Sensitive Resistor.