Spooki is a plush jack-o-lantern night light that I created for this project. The target user is young kids of any gender ages 5-10 that like Halloween and stuffed animals (or if you are like me and still love stuffed animals it is for all ages hehe). Spooki is meant to sit on any surface and act as not only a fall decoration but a Halloween themed night light for kids. I hope that this night light makes kids feel safe in the dark but gives their room a cozy fall feeling.
To create this pumpkin plush I used a thick cotton orange fabric for the pumpkin body and a thinner light orange fabric for the cut outs of his jack-o-lantern face. The stem is a very thick brown denim material which I think makes it look much more realistic. Inside, of course, is the stuffing to make him soft and the circuit with three yellow bulbs covered in ping pong balls.
my circuit and corresponding diagram
I really enjoyed the process of sewing Spooki and I found that my sewing only improved as time went on. However, it was a very long process and there were many more pieces to it in the end than I expected going into this project.
sew sew sew sew sew sew sew sew sew sew sew sew sew sew sew…
started with 5 and decided I wanted more!
Spooki is made up of 9 leaf like shapes that are sewed together and then opened up almost like a beach ball. One thing that I tried that was new stitching on the small pieces of fabric that up make his face using small individual stiches that you can see. I wanted him to have a fall scarecrow vibe which I think I achieved.
comparing light under fabrics
My biggest challenge was apparently not making my knots big enough. I had a lot of stitches come out at the top and bottom so I ended up reinforcing it with a circle of fabric on both ends. It definitely helped with that issue and made the whole thing look much cleaner.
jack-o-lantern face coming together
If I had more time I would have loved to make him bigger and put more stuffing in it. I think he is the perfect size for a desk night light but he turned out much smaller than I pictured. But he is Spooki, and Spooki is perfect.
Meet Dhou Fu (Tofu), the silken-tofu-meets-silkie-chicken-inspired study-buddy night-light.
Dhou Fu was created for students who like to do deep work, and need quiet focus in order to tap into this part of their brains.
Dhou Fu lives on his owner’s desk and serves as a study-guardian. When his owner wants to do deep work and avoid interruptions, Dhou Fu turns blue, to let others in the shared workspace know that his owner is deep in thought, and to please not interrupt them.
Above: Dhou Fu in his natural habitat.
Dhou Fu is designed with magnetic toes and pipe-cleaners inside his feet, to help him attach to various objects, and ideally, hang from a desk lamp. He also has cute little eyes that gaze encouragingly toward his owner, seeming to say “you can do it!”, because who doesn’t need a little bit of extra support every now and then!
Top: Dhou Fu hanging out. Bottom: Dhou Fu guarding from the clouds.
Materials and parts used:
faux fur
cotton plaid fabric
blue plastic eyes
a 2-LED circuit
pipe cleaners
fridge magnets
embroidery thread
stuffing
The Journey
Creating Dhou Fu was not difficult but it took a lot of time and attention to detail. I had ever used faux fur fabric before in any creation, and it presented a few challenges, and there were a number of things I had to do to make him look his best:
1) cutting very close to the base of the fabric to avoid cutting any of his hair;
Above: Trimmed edges of early prototype compared to the final product after sewing.
2) folding the fur in and away from the edges as I sewed the seam of the body;
3) pulling out any hair that was sewn down, which was really tedious but ultimately incredibly worth it. His hair is glorious!
Above: Pulling out small sections of hairalong the seam.
I also made chicken feet for the first time, which had a lot of twists and turns and was an involved process. However, I’m really pleased with how they turned out, I think they add a lot of character.
Top Left: a foot in progress. Top Right: a finished foot. Middle: Dhou Fu with feet (left) versus the prototype (right). Bottom: Dhou Fu’s feet gripping my metal lamp base.
I think the most difficult part of this whole process was that at the end I decided to add buttons, like a crazy person. Here’s why:
After securing the LEDs and battery pack in place with stuffing, I began sewing in Dhou Fu’s legs. As I sewed them in place along the bottom line of the body, I became concerned that if I were to cut the seam open in the future to replace the batteries, I might compromise the seam holding his legs in place. I decided that having his bottom seam open instead with buttons would be a good way to keep everything in place but make the batter pack more accessible.
I did a test with a button and sewing a button hole on some scrap fabric, and once I felt confident that it would work, I made 3 button holes on one side of the opening, and added 3 buttons to the other side. I also “finished” the edges of the fabric openings with embroidery thread to give it a cleaner look.
The Future of Dhou Fu
With more time to work on Dhou Fu, I would replace the magnets in his right foot. They’re a little smaller than the magnets in his right foot, which I didn’t realize until I started working on the left foot, and the layers of fabric started interacting with them. In his left foot, I put stronger magnets, which fortunately are strong enough that he can hang from a metal object by just one foot if the right foot fails.
Above: Dhou Fu’s toe magnets in action.
Above 3 images: Dhou Fu’s toe magnets in action in various locations.
Dhou Fu’s Circuit:
Here’s a quick look at Dhou Fu’s circuit diagram, and the making process. On Becky’s advice, I used 2 blue LEDs to ensure that he was as bright from the back as he was from the front, as blue LEDs are fairly directional in the light that they emit, and I wanted to make sure his blue light was visible from all angles. Thanks Becky!
Dhou Fu Gallery: The Work in Progress
And lastly, here are some additional shots of the making process:
Above: Prototyping and testing feet shapes with stuffing and pipe cleaners.
Above: Preparing my work station.
Above Images: Cutting a larger pattern based on original prototype shape.
Above images: Finishing the feet and constructing the body.
