flying caterpillar

I made a little something with some cotton fabric, sand, feathers ,thread and a twig. My idea of a flying caterpillar:)

a furry something

I made a toy with fur and filled it with sand. The legs are made with a thinner cotton fabric and filled with sand too. This makes the toy tactile. I have been worrying lately because most of the work i have done in the past has been cutsie and sweet. I was quite disappointed once i started making. To make something NOT cute is quite a challenge for me.


















































I went to my previous college (Wigan & Leigh) to meet my friends and discuss my ideas with the faculty. I was talking to my faculty about my concerns - not being able to create anything not cute. I showed them the toy and to my surprise, the first reaction i got was "EEEEEEEEEEEE WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" apparently it looked like a dead rat or some dead creature and the fact that it was heavy because of the sand, it felt more and more like a real creature. I noticed the tendency to pull on the fur and squeeze the sand filled legs. She called it sick but didnt part with it for a long time either:)I then decided to show it to some of the students. The reactions were overwhelming. It felt great each time someone looked at it and said 'what the hell!' or 'thats just gross' or 'its really creepy-it looks like a hybrid of a caterpillar,cow and a rat' or 'disgusting'. they also said they didnt know if it was meant for children:)I was soo relieved at their reactions.
it worked well without facial attributes.
the fur evokes tugging/pulling.
the fact that it heavy makes it seem a bit realistic.
the sand filled legs makes one want to press/squeeze.
this was interesting- they determined the head and the rear end of the toy based on the direction of the fur:)

some experimentation

In the first toy, I used fur for the body, and the stuffing is the rubber squishy purple toy i bought. For the legs, i used cotton fabric and used sand for the filling.


















































I used cotton fabric and filled it with sand.


















































I made the same thing in white fur and filled it with polyfill, and the head is filled with sand. The body is light weight and the head(red part)is slightly heavy and droopy.

Material exploration

I visited Raja market, JC road, Kalasipalya to buy some material. From Raja market, i bought fake fur which cost me between Rs.150-200 per metre.
From Kalasipalya, i bought waste scraps of cloth which was sold by the kg. One pile was of waste cotton cloth scraps which cost Rs.50/kg, another pile was of banyan scraps which cost Rs.16/kg. These looked so colorful and eye catching and i was really curious about what its used for. It's used by mechanics/drivers to clean.
From JC Road, i bought artificial leather upholstry for Rs.120/mtr.
I also got some waste coir which they use as stuffing for matresses.
I got a sample piece of industrial carpet to experiment.

1.artificial fur
2.cotton cloth scraps
3.banyan cloth scraps
4.coir
5.industrial carpet
6.artificial leather



































































































































I used a couple of things as stuffing just to try out. I used slime(which i bought at the toy store),polyfill,sand,a rubber squeezy toy and scraps of waste cloth.

texture exploration

Here's some textures i tried to create with some waste fabric i had.