Plush W.I.P

Started on the plush I have been wanting to make for some time and overall pretty happy with where it is going. Take in mind this is totally new to me so the way I approach things might be a bit unusual but it gets me to the same end result. Let's start with how this idea started and what it evolved into.

The plush originally was going to be a laying down one. I had drawn up a basic idea of what I wanted and was going to keep it extremely simple. But knowing how I do things I had an idea I was going to change this as soon as I started on it.

Decided to tackle making the head first. Drew up the profile around the size I wanted and cut it out of 1 inch foam. I needed only to carve one side since I was going to mirror it. 

Stacked the pieces together, hot glued them and started carving down until I got the shape I was after.

Drew the eye and mouth to give me a better idea of what the final idea should look like.

Put it against the body to see if I liked the overall size. This is where I decided I wanted to make a standing plush first, laying down one later.

Went ahead and taped the head to create a pattern. Sadly the pattern did not work out as well as I wanted and a little too big for the overall body. The head is something I going to re do in 3D and print in a few sizes to see which I like better. This way I can do it faster and get a cleaner look.

Since I switched to a standing plush I needed to work on the legs first. So drew a profile leg and cut out 2 pieces. Created a round piece for the bottom of the feet. When making these patterns I play around with sizes and sort of play with a trial and error sort of approach. Since making plush is new to me I am tinkering with ideas on the best way to make the patterns. This approach worked out really well.

Stuffed the leg tightly and created little toe divisions. I have been looking at my own plush here at home examining how things are put together. A lot of the plush have little toe divisions done with upholstery thread. Decided to try it and was pretty pleased with the look (even if mine was a bit rushed to get the point across).

Created a little bean like body shape and sewed the leg on. Take in mind when you are making a pattern the way you sew it on doesn't really matter. I wanted to quickly put things together to see what I needed to alter.

The plush needed an arm so drew a really simple arm shape. 

Refined the shape, made it bigger and added a thumb area.

Quickly made the other arm and leg, even though I did not need to since I was going to alter the shapes on the side I started with. I mostly did it to see how it would look like together and so it could stand on its own for photos.

Altered a few areas here with foam. Added more of a chest and shoulder, larger toes and folded the body more forward so it had the look I was going for.

Once I was happy with the shape I was able to tape it up and create the new pattern which will be mirrored.

Put the head on (even though I need to re design it a bit and make it slightly smaller) and drew the pattern on the duct tape. Created relief seams where it needed it and the main seams where I plan to sew all the parts together.

Color idea for when I start to cut the fabric for this one.

So what do I want to do next? The head, I need to work on the 3D print of the head to make a new pattern. I would like to do a different type of look on the eyes. I love embroidered eyes on the larger plush but want to give this one a slightly different look with a glossy eye. I plan to embroider quite a few pieces for this one but it will definitely be a mix of a few techniques.

I do plan to offer these in the future, for now I want to make sure I can get this one completely done and see what I may need to change. I want to make the head easy to move and do one with an armature body as well. I have a lot of ideas for these.