Upcycle Inspiration: Plushies

The inspiration for my upcycling project started with the numerous stuffed animals I have lying around my house, particularly the cute, mouthless style of Hello Kitty.

Hello Kitty has a very iconic style: bright colors with various amounts of embellishments, cute black, simple eyes. I heavily enjoy the playful, childish appeal of the products and the design, but I also recognize that making such a product may be a little too time intensive, though I still wish to emulate that very cute, simple, friendly face.

After searching on the internet for plush designs, I stumbled across what seemed to be an adorable, simplified bat plush by BeeZeeArt, both with that colorful “look” that Hello Kitty emulated, but also a slightly simpler design and less polished material.

So I decided I would like to do something similar to that.

My materials will be old used clothes, stuff that no longer fits me. Old jewelry or trinkets will be utilized for embellishments, as there is a lot of that around. I will be using doll eyes, either from old plushies or utilize a new set. Thread and needles will of course be used as well.

The overall design look I am going for is something fairly polished, but with a worn feel, especially from the old recycled materials. I don’t want something overly complex, therefore I would like a very small product with simple shapes, such as the bat.

 

Image Citations:

[1] Hello Kitty 45th Anniversary: https://dpegb9ebondhq.cloudfront.net/product_photos/76652585/file_bccd63519f_1000w.jpg

[2] BeeZeeArt Etsy Store: https://www.etsy.com/listing/582450733/purple-galaxy-bat-stuffed-animal-plush?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=bat+plush&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&bes=1

[3] Old Clothes: https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/sierra/articles/big/SIERRA%20Clothes%20WB.jpg?itok=y94Hrqyb

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2 Comments. Leave new

  • miles radakovitz
    February 3, 2020 7:14 am

    It will be interesting to see how this comes together. When I first saw your post I thought you might be upcycling the plushies themselves, but making one seems like an interesting challenge. Do you have any experience with sewing, because if not the idea forge has a sewing course that may help? Also, do you plan on upcycling any of the plushies maybe taking some of the fluf from inside a few and putting that toward the new one you are making?

    Reply
  • Emi, I am very excited to see your final project! I’ve always found the idea of using old clothing to make new items (such as blankets, pillows, etc.) to be a very interesting and practical one. Depending on what clothing items you have to use, I’m sure you can come up with some interesting patterns, such as the use of any logos or symbols as the focal point of the new plushie. Do you have much sewing experience, or will this be a new skill you will be learning for this project?

    Reply

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