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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2017 7:42 
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It's probably a case of finding a fabric that has similar properties to what you will be making the toy with. But for cheap fabric for Mock up purposes you can always buy old bedding from car boots or charity shops.

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2017 8:00 
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I'll grab Mimi and ask but I think that there's a material called Calico which is a cheap fabric, or you can look for the £2.99 fleece blankets in IKEA and chop those up. Otherwise, your local haberdasher might be like ours and have an offcuts bucket where they sell all the ends of rolls in parcels for very cheap.

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2017 15:38 
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Both the answers previous are pretty much bang on. If you are looking to make a maquette just for the purposes of making sure that the pieces fit together correctly in your pattern draft, simple calico will fit the bill fine (as will sheeting. Second hand is free, though to buy calico is a lot cheaper than actual sheeting fabric). Ikea, for example, sell a light calico at £2 per yard. It's probably called something silly, but it's basically an unbleached, undyed cotton.

If you are trying to ensure your finished form will work with your chosen fabric, it's really only that fabric or similar that will demonstrate this. Assuming it is for checking of the pattern draft, go for the calico.

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 9:21 
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What-ho, chaps!

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Thanks a lot, i'll try to find some of that. :)

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 0:41 
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What-ho, chaps!

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After I posted pictures of my panda online, somebody asked me if I could make a toy based on Pabu from the cartoon The Legend of Korra.

http://avatarthelastairbenderonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Korra-Art-Book-3.png

I've never seen the cartoon and don't know jack about Pabu or how to design my own toys (the only toy I've ever made is the panda and she was just copied from a book). But y'know, why the heck not?

First up: You've got to find lots and lots of pictures. And then you've got to draw lots and lots of pictures.

Image

He's got three bits. A head, a body, and a tail, and four legs. Four bits.

Let's start with the body! It's basically just a tube, right? I'll sketch out the profile of it, and then come up with appropriate gusset pieces, matching the top length of the side to the side length of the top. The tail can be a trapezoid with a semicircular end. Sew a pair of them together and it'll squish out to a nice big raccoony tail!

ImageImage

How am I going to do his head? I originally planned on tracking down some esoteric Chinese software for making soft toy patterns that floated around a few years ago, but instead of losing myself completely down that vortex, I decided to do what I did for the cat head I made and make a foam form and take the pattern from the tape of it. The shape of Pabu's head is not spherical but with a slightly pudgier lower half and pointed cheeks. He's got a little snouto too.

ImageImage

The original tape design I took off the foam was too small to fit onto the body I'd made... I had to trace out all the shapes onto dense graph paper and blow them up* to get them the right size.**

(* I saw 'Honey I Blew Up The Kid' at the cinema when I was really young. Can you imagine my disappointment when they used the phrase 'Blew Up' to refer to it getting bigger? What kind of absolute square uses that phrase in common conversation.)

But how am I going to do his face? I can't incorporate it into the pattern since it'll be way too fiddly. I'm going to have to applique it on... but I don't know how to do that! Aaahhhh....!

But then a heroic Mimi saved the day by telling me exactly what I ought to do to make it look nice like other folks' Pabus. The mysterious overcast stitch - looks absolutely terrible in diagrams, but when you do it for applique you get a slightly notched-looking finish which lasts! To keep the pieces in place, I used iron-on web (Bondaweb).

ImageImage

And after fussing for a week or so trying to get the correct eyes (since my local shops doesn't have the right eyes or the right noses, in any of their many branches) I finally got 'em. All I needed to do to fit them was gouge a big hole through three layers of felt and two layers of glue. First pins, then miniature screwdrivers, then larger screwdrivers. Right through the eye. Poor guy.

ImageImage

Making cuddlies is a very exacting, very technical engineering challenge! Proper planning and pattern pinning prevents probable plushie production problems. Though I tend to use masking tape to keep the patterns on the fabric 'cause the pins tend to rumple everything up. Making the tail was as laborious as it looks...

** And now his head is slightly too big for his body since I blew it up. I had to put in a sneaky dart or two into the head gusset and chin to get the head to fit onto the body. This is what happens when you diddle with things! I think I got away with it.

ImageImageImageImage

With the head, tail and face all sewn, I can finally stuff the guy and then move on to getting his legs looking right.

How many cushions worth of stuffing does it take to fill up a Pabu? Just under three of Wilkinson's' finest £1.50 half-metre-square cushion bases!

ImageImage

And then some legs. The front pair are just two halves sewn together. The back pair have a gusset to chunk them up. Hand sewing them all shut after stuffing was a chore, but miraculously I seem to be getting better (or at least luckier) with my sewing. Not an embarassment at all.

ImageImageImage

And he's done! Hooray! ^_^ He is Pableu, Pabu's mysterious twin. Not a Fire Ferret, but an Ice Weasel. Simply because I got a metre of navy fleece from Calico for a pound, and the dark blue was thrown in for free. :)

Image

Pableu and Hotshot('s severed head), best of pals. Taking up table space and being annoying 'cause I have nowhere else to put 'em.

http://www.mrdictionary.net/stuff/2017/pableu/

Thank you Mimi. :smug:

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 7:15 
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That's superb. You've found your calling!


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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 7:40 
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Absolutely fantastic! Well done. :D

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 13:31 
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yeah, that's great stuff.

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 14:17 
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Pableau is an absolute triumph, Mr D. You clearly have amazing skills in being able to think in 3D, apply that to your chosen materials and then the handiwork skills to make an excellent job of the physical project, and I definitely deserve no thanks as your skills there far surpass what I could have done. Thank YOU for the excellent write up and pictures of your process. Very inspirational. Really hoping to see more in the future!

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 14:24 
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Superb.

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 14:27 
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You're very talented, MrD - great work!

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 15:29 
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What-ho, chaps!

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Thanks everyone :D Here's some videos I made along the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRhgPVCwpas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0ZGHCHHZGo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pgYPx8zLMs

Now I've gotta see if I can convince the guy to give me a million quid to make him a proper Pabu now I have a Pabu-rototype to show. :)

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 6:28 
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What-ho, chaps!

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I made a lion! (No really I'm telling the truth!)

http://imgur.com/a/VfgzV

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 7:10 
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Oh, he's amazing! Where is he (or, rather, his pattern) from? Is if a published pattern or have you been drafting again?

I picked up this book from The Works on Monday. The toys inside are quite traditional. Mostly dolls in the first section and a few other traditional style toys in the second section, but they are all very charming. Plus, it has long and detailed section about how to properly make and attach various forms and styles of hair, how to embroider eyes and faces most effectively, etc. All of the pattern pieces are provided in full scale on a fold-out section for tracing, too.


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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 0:12 
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What-ho, chaps!

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He is Leo the Laughing Lion from Cuddly Toys and Dolls by Jean Greenhowe. My guy is called Sunny, 'cause how could you not be cheered up by that face!

http://www.mrdictionary.net/stuff/2017/lion/

Leo and the ladybird are the only two 'sit on' toys in the book sadly. When I first saw him in the book, I was most curious about how they got the neat face and paw lines. They're bootlaces. :)

He's absolutely gigantic, he's got at least ten of wilkinson's large cushion's stuffings inside of him. The mane was a pain to put on, I put it off for over a month while I made a new Majora's Mask because I didn't think I had the dexterity needed to sew it on. And after I'd done it and put the face on, I put on a second layer of mane so it looked right!

Seriously, I think authors make their instructions vague on purpose...

I have no idea where to put him. Him and Pableu take up an entire shelf between them.

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 15:00 
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http://diycozyhome.com/shark-sock-pattern/

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 0:32 
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What-ho, chaps!

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I've just written a couple of billion words on this guy

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if you're at all curious :)

https://www.mrdictionary.net/cosplay/hotshot.htm

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 0:51 
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Too many cooks! Too many cooks!

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 8:19 
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That was an incredible read, and there was so much stuff I'd never considered, like the way you had to clip the fur back. And that was before you made all the accessories and patches. Great read, and a great make.

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 9:07 
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Enjoyed reading that.
Very curious about cosplay because it's not something I've done but is probably similar to one of my interests. When you're 'being' Hotshot, do you play a role and adopt certain ways of moving and interacting with others?


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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 10:02 
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I was a young man when I started reading that. Now the days grow short and dark...

But seriously, great read. You creative types amaze me.

AND! I can see Aberkans in Liverpool from the window of the room that I'm in right now! Spook!


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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 12:06 
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Those socks are amazing, Grim...! I missed them when you posted them. There are hat patterns out there in a similar vein, with the shark mouth around the top of the head.

I haven’t read Mr D’s piece yet but will do so tonight when I have s good long while to sit down and read at leisure.

Russell and Alan took Tanya & I to Aberkhan in Wales (the one near that random ship that’s dumped in a field...) once once on a weekend away. I’m pretty sure they both visibly aged whilst we were there. I’m also pretty sure it was one of the greatest days of my life.

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 17:30 
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Mimi wrote:
Those socks are amazing, Grim...! I missed them when you posted them. There are hat patterns out there in a similar vein, with the shark mouth around the top of the head.

I haven’t read Mr D’s piece yet but will do so tonight when I have s good long while to sit down and read at leisure.

Russell and Alan took Tanya & I to Aberkhan in Wales (the one near that random ship that’s dumped in a field...) once once on a weekend away. I’m pretty sure they both visibly aged whilst we were there. I’m also pretty sure it was one of the greatest days of my life.

Mostyn! :DD

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 18:15 
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Goddess Jasmine wrote:
Mimi wrote:
Those socks are amazing, Grim...! I missed them when you posted them. There are hat patterns out there in a similar vein, with the shark mouth around the top of the head.

I haven’t read Mr D’s piece yet but will do so tonight when I have s good long while to sit down and read at leisure.

Russell and Alan took Tanya & I to Aberkhan in Wales (the one near that random ship that’s dumped in a field...) once once on a weekend away. I’m pretty sure they both visibly aged whilst we were there. I’m also pretty sure it was one of the greatest days of my life.

Mostyn! :DD

Well, I wasn’t quite that excited, but it was great.

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Wed Sep 27, 2017 13:00 
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What-ho, chaps!

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Quote:
I haven’t read Mr D’s piece yet but will do so tonight when I have s good long while to sit down and read at leisure.
I hope you like! Don't feel the need to read it all in one go... it's 19500 words! Think of it more like getting the entire series at once on netflix or something. :P

Quote:
That was an incredible read, and there was so much stuff I'd never considered, like the way you had to clip the fur back. And that was before you made all the accessories and patches. Great read, and a great make.

Thank you very much! :D

I like that furry and costume stuff has become trendy enough so lots of folks are making thing and showing them off. There's a lot of stuff like that that's really useful to know that seems like black magic to spellbound kids trying to make foxy heads but is probably well known to Awesome Grans (or Awesome Mums or Awesome Sisters or Awesome Dads) (and actual professional tailors) the world over. I always read any toy or costume making book I find cover to cover even if I don't buy it.

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When you're 'being' Hotshot, do you play a role and adopt certain ways of moving and interacting with others?

I do, but unfortunately not as a result of being a good actor or having a firm grasp of what the character's like. I can't really speak in the head so I'd have to express everything with body movements, which is hard when you've got no peripheral vision (and you're a nervous oaf who definitely doesn't want to bump into folks). That jaunty walk I do in the video where I'm wearing the suit is partially due to the lack of forward vision; when I walk I have to move my head side to side constantly otherwise I can't see. Hotshot's got a (different!) slightly exaggerated confident strut as I'm going about the place, but that's about the extent of what I do.

MCM Comic Con events are always super crowded (except on the also-ran Sundays), so for the majority of the time it's all I can do just to try to get pushed along to the stalls that I'd like to see. There's not a lot of room for constant playacting (and you'd get on everybody's nerves). When there's an open space and folks want to take a pic, I'll strike a pose but I haven't got the practice for anything super mobile (as much as I'd like to... He's an action hero so it'd be martial arts and combat rolls if I could. I'm a lanky dude, but I'm about as agile as a lump right now.)

I know a lot of folks who do Cats musical stuff and they're all rolling about like nutballs in their shoots. I die of jealousy every time. I think I'd be good at that stuff, but I've never seen the show so making small talk is even harder than usual meeting new cats...

HOWEVER! When I'm Skull Kid, it's honestly hard -not- to do stuff! The old mask was really heavy so I hunched when I wore it and had to focus on not letting it slip off. The new mask is a lot lighter so I can do more acting, but the weight of it is focused on the front of my head, so I still have to move in a certain way. The massive shoes need a special gait too - they're pratically clown shoes, so I naturally fall into a cartoonish stomp when I wear them. I liked acting in the old mask, but I couldn't see reactions or the space around me so it was really difficult to know if I was doing it right. How I did the little flute dance (on the props page) I don't know! With the new mask, I can really turn on the spook and everybody loves it! I honestly dunno how Skull Kid is supposed to move, from what I've played of the game he spends most of his time standing or floating so I just make it up. Slow movements, head twitches, severe painful-looking head tilting, reaching forwards, swaying, that kind of thing. I've read the Majora's Mask manga and I take some of his moves from there too.

At Manchester 2017, I gave one woman the fright of her life as SK by doing absolutely nothing. I was just standing still in a queue for a t-shirt stand, and she turned to face me and it must've taken a second or two before she realised what she was looking at but she -screamed-. I wasn't even close. I probably didn't make things better by trying a little apologetic wave...

If you give other furries (rather than me cosplaying as a character with a furry head) a bit of floor space, they seem to know exactly what they wanna do though. Meanwhile, my brain's overheating and overthinking and "What kinda pose... ah... how about 'What the heck am I gonna do with this bunch of fools??' pose."

Image

I think I'd be good at acting and playing about in general but as an unpractised six-foot-tall goober in a not-cute style Hotshot and me wouldn't be able to pull off cute. I need practice, it'd be very easy to be overbearing. I would give it my all if I had an adorable costume, but the characters I'm interested in (or at least interested in making) aren't the kind that do that playing about for the most part.

Also, another difference between Hotshot's cosplay and these guys' furry costumes is that I feel like I'm sort of representing the game, so I definitely don't want to screw up. (Even though I'm not really, but it'd be rude to take a stranger's character, be the only guy who's ever played him, and be a goof, right? If I made my own character up then yeah it's full steam ahead.)

One thing that happened that was super rad was they had a 3D scanner frame where you could get your picture taken from many angles and analysed so you can order 3D printed figurines of yourself. (And of course I couldn't see the entrance so I tried to enter through the side and almost knocked the whole thing down...)

Image

I wouldn't pay what they're asking for one of these... but... aaaahhh I want one.

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2018 22:13 
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What-ho, chaps!

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I wrote full articles for the Panda, the Ice Weasel and the Lion on my website!

www.mrdictionary.net/toys/

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2018 22:59 
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Great work dude, and nice writeups :)


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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2018 23:06 
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Dimmers pointed me towards this and I thought you might be interested?

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/cosplay2-books

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 Post subject: Re: Mimi, check out my Awesome Panda!
PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2018 9:15 
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ugvm'er at heart...

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Mimi wrote:
Dimmers pointed me towards this and I thought you might be interested?

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/cosplay2-books


Ooooh! Thanks Mimi, just bought the lot :D


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