Cerberus Plushie
While learning the basics of plushie construction, I wanted to create a piece which contrasted the inherent cuddliness of stuffed animals with a subject that was anything but soft. In Greek mythology, Cerberus guards the gates to the underworld to prevent the souls of the dead from leaving. This plushie would serve a similar role, guarding its owner from whatever scary things lurk in the dark at night.
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I started with paper and tape mock ups, to get a better idea of how to construct the overall form. These helped me to begin to understand what would soon become the crux of the project, the spot where all three heads connected to the body. Getting the heads to stand up on their own and meet in a meaningful way was hard enough in paper, and would only get harder when I moved to fabric.
My initial sewn mock up did not go perfectly, but I learned some valuable lessons on how to construct the plushie going forward. I essentially put every piece of the pattern together in the wrong order, but this helped me understand what the right order would be. I also learned in this stage that the fabric that I was going to use for the final, which this purple fabric acted like, was going to be far to stretchy and that I would need to back the areas that the eyes and nose came through.
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Next, I worked on a more finalized version of the plush, editing my pattern and trying to make a mockup that would be as close as possible to the final product. Here I introduced the zipper panel to the stomach which would later hold the souls of the dead, as well as a more complicated ear.
This final mockup helped me to figure out exactly what was going on with the heads, as by doing three in a row I could test out different eye sizes, nose shapes, and ear attachment techniques. From there I was able to make a final pattern cut list and get ready for the assembly of my final version.
The final piece is made out of a interfacing backed velvet, with some batting in the ears and a polyester fill. If I were to continue to work on this project I would work on the neck attachment area, to try to lift the heads up more, and give more definition to the feet.
