description

Bring a picture of your favorite animal and I will show you how to easily create a 3D huggable version. We will use string, muslin, and stuffing to soft sculpt the shapes you need to make your finished piece. Then we'll hand stitch fabric scraps to your new animal, making it the sweetest whimsical creature ever! Whatever your style, choosing fabric scraps to enhance the little creature’s features and markings is a delightful exercise in seeing and feeling 3D form.

Note -- Depending on the intricacy of your patchwork, and the size of your stitches, there is a chance you'll take your animal home unfinished, since so much hand stitching is required -- but if you work large and loose, you’ll get it done in one day.

Workshop bonus: The materials list is short and inexpensive (recession-friendly). You probably have this stuff already!

Soft Sculpture Animals

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supply list

• A picture of your animal to work from
• Three yards of cheap muslin or something like it
• A ball of cotton crochet string
• A 3-inch needle
• An embroidery needle
• Two bags of Fairfield Poly-Fil stuffing
• Fabric scraps to make patchwork directly on the animal (My advice is to stay with one color to aid in bringing out the shapes of the animal. Too many conflicting colors will distract the eye from the animal’s form.) Do bring various patterns, shades, and textures of fabrics in the color(s) you choose!
• 6-7 small skeins DMC embroidery thread in a few related or contrasting colors
  
  
• Optional: Buttons, ribbon, silk flowers, as you wish
• Optional: A sheet of craft foam could come in handy (see my penguin’s toes and the pig’s ears).

My name is Jen McGahan. I’ve been making things all my life. My enjoyment of tactile handiwork has landed me in the fiber arts world (and craft in general). Attending the first ArtFiberFest in ‘05 really got my juices flowing! I enjoy making dolls and animals, and bringing their characters to life in 3D; I’m beginning to make art quilts, now, too. Over the past year I’ve begun to show my work in local galleries and shows, and to lead art workshops, which are a blast!