The animals I created for this event didn't need to be strictly life-like, which gave me a lot of freedom in my design. As it was a children's dance recital, I wanted to stylize them enough to be really cute, while not making the kids feel too young or silly. I also focused on how the piece might interact with the child's movement to make the movement more animal - like. For each animal, I chose one or two features that made it unique. For the lion: the mane. First things first: a base to form the shape and keep everything together. As I don't have a head form, I sized it on my own head and shoulders, then cut it down to the child's measurements. A piece of elastic to go around the chin and distribute some of the weight finished this section. (And a little secret: I used part of an old sheet for this. Sturdy, soft, and very inexpensive!) My second step was to get it ready to add the streamers that would form the fur. Since I was using hot glue to attach everything, it had to keep everything still without my having to hold it. A small lamp worked perfectly. The next step of the lion will be coming the next week! And an elephant is born! This originated as a plaid wool skirt - you can still see the outline, with the waistband at the left side of the picture. The two pieces gathered at the edges will end up as foot covers, and the piece on the right will become the trunk.
And finally, the beginning of the giraffe. Thin, flexible plastic tubing forms a base for the head. Remember those bamboo lawn candle stakes pictured in the last post? Those will be used as the neck to suspend the head, resting on the person's shoulders. To make sure the ends of the stakes don't dig into the shoulders, I repurposed a pair of shoulder pads, hidden inside the wide sash that ties it on. Once the head was covered, I added a pair of ears and a pair of horns, supported by more of the plastic tubing. That's it for now! Watch for Part 2 in the next few days, to dig into a few new animals and get updates on these!
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