Plush Commission Info - Felties

Felties

Made of felt (primarily) as the name implies, Felties are small, simple to make, and less expensive than my normal plush, perfect for someone on a budget, wanting a small gift for someone, or even someone that might want a lot of plushies but that doesn't have the money to spend on the bigger or more intricate kind.

Felties are made in a "two-and-a-half dimension" style, meaning that they will have a front and a back and aren't meant to be viewed from the sides. Some will have a right side and a left side, but aren't meant to be viewed from the front or back. This all depends on the design of the plush.

I make two kinds of felt plushies: animal-form or human-form.

Animal Form Felties:

Size: 4" tall or wide
Price: starts at $10
Estimated make time: 1-2 days 

While the price generally stays around $10, designs that are simpler will be a little less, while more intricate designs, if they are possible in the style of the plush, will be a tad bit more expensive. I can make just about any Pokémon or animal, though some may be difficult in the relatively simplistic style of the plush.

Examples:
 


Click here for many more examples.

Humanoid Felties: 

Size: 6 inches tall 
Price: Starts at $20 
Estimated make time: 1 week 

Humanoid felties are exactly like the other felties, except a little bigger and, well, human or humanoid characters. Because there are generally more details for a humanoid feltie, including hair, facial features and clothing, humanoid felties are more expensive. However, like with all of my plush, simpler designs are cheaper, more detailed ones are more expensive. The pictured Britannia Angel feltie, for example, would probably be around $15 due to the relative simplicity of the design. As with the other felties, I can attach string to the top or the back so that the plush can hang.

Cosplays of 2012 - Kamen Rider Fourze-tan

Originally, I made this costume for Anime Weekend Atlanta 2011, and wore it. I was a hit there, but I wasn't quite satisfied with the costume - it was a rush job. I fixed up parts of it and wore it again at Momocon 2012...but still wasn't satisfied with it. Finally I decided to change things up with a different wig, better boots and a different style for the arms and legs and now I am finally satisfied with the costume!

This was really just another excuse to wear the black wig, but I think it works much, much better for the costume than the white wig did.

Cosplays of 2012 - Gym Leader Erika (Pokémon)

   

Originally worn at Momocon in March, this kimono was handmade, hand-dyed to the beautiful (if a bit inaccurate) golden yellow base color, and all of the leaves, orange patterns and Pokéballs were painstakingly hand-painted onto the kimono. The obi and headband were similarly painted. In closeup shots, the white hearts on the headband and obi are barely visible.

The wig for this costume is also my favorite cosplay accessory. Just, ever.

Cosplays of 2012 - Chimecho (Pokémon)

 

Worn at Momocon 2012 back in March, Chimecho was a nice, simple costume with an elegant design. I didn't get recognized in-costume, but I got a lot of compliments on the kimono, so that worked out well enough. 

Archive Posts - Plushies of 2011

2011 wasn't a very productive year for me, plush wise. I spent a lot of it making more generic "cute" plush - fried shrimp, sushi, rice balls, the works. I also started a new, full-time job, robbing me of a lot of spare time to make plush in. What few plush I made include:



Hungary from Axis Powers Hetalia - almost entirely fleece, with some felt (the gloves, boots and facial features, most notably). I think this is my best UFO style plush to date.


I wish I had a good enough camera to capture it on film - this Spiritomb glows in the dark. I painted all of the green and yellow spots with watered-down glow in the dark paint! It also has plastic beans in the "rock" part so that it can sit on almost any surface.


Hands down my favorite, and my most successful plush to date - my "fuzzy Joltiks". They are life-sized at around 8 inches long, and are made almost entirely out of fur, with fleece "feet" and hand-painted stone and glass beads for eyes. I've made seven of them, and sold all but one - the short-haired one, which was a gift for a friend.

Archive Posts - Cosplay of 2011

2011 was an interesting year. I went to ten conventions total throughout the year, but only cosplayed at about five of them, and only made new costumes for four of them. I ended up repairing, updating and re-wearing many old costumes, including Tao Jun, Touko, Sabrina and Twilight Suzuka. In total I had six completely new costumes, including:


Platinum/Dawn/Hikari from Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, in her Platinum outfit. This I wore to Katsucon specifically because I wanted a costume I could wear in the snow. And...there wasn't snow. Well, there was a large pile of snow, but that was about it.

2010 Plushies part 2 - the Felties

For the month of November, 2010, I did something a little insane. I decided that instead of trying to write a novel, I would try to make one plush per day - specifically, one feltie plush per day. I didn't quite make it to all thirty in the month, but I made quite a lot.

 
Before I could take commissions for the felties, I needed some examples, so I made a few favorites. Articuno, Oshawott and Snivy. Trivia: Oshawott and Snivy still have their Japanese names, because when I made the plush the games were only out in Japan and had no English equivalents!

During November (and parts of December), I managed to make:

Archive post - 2010 Plush (part one)

2010 was the first year I sold at a real Artist's Alley (I'd sold at NashiCon's before, but not actively). As a result I focused on a lot of small, cute, generic plush and in a way lost some of the focus I'd had the year before.

I started the year with more plush commissions:

I still consider the Ponyta to be one of my best fleece plush.

Archive Post - 2010 Cosplays

If asked to pick one costume that completely defined 2010 for me, it is this one:

While there have been many cosplayers of Touko/Hilda/White since, this photo was taken just two weeks after the first pictures of the protagonists for Black and White were leaked onto the internet from CoroCoro magazine. I was the first cosplayer outside of Japan, if not the first cosplayer period, to complete and wear this costume.

Archive Post - Plush of 2009

So, six conventions and eleven costumes in 2009 - with all that happening, surely I wasn't making plushies left and right as well, was I?

Of course I was.

My biggest accomplishment, in all senses of the word, in 2009 was undoubtedly Tadpole Jackson.

Archive Post - Cosplays of 2009

Ah, 2009. If 2008 was "busy" with the 8 costumes I wore, 2009 was insane. In 2009 I attended: Katsucon, Momocon, NashiCon (as staff), Animazement, Otakon, and Anime Weekend Atlanta, for a total of six conventions and twelve new costumes. This was not including all of the older costumes I re-wore to various conventions!

If there was one big thing that happened in 2009, it was Soul Eater. I did three different SE costumes:

















 
Eruka Frog at Katsucon

Archive Post - Plush of 2008

2008 was a busy year in terms of cosplay, but...not plushies. I only made three plush over the course of the year: 

    

Two versions of Boota, the pigmole from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and one plush that I still consider to be one of my true masterpieces:

 Carbunkle from Final Fantasy 8. I made this with something called "fun fur", which is the crappiest material ever, but very soft and it really took marker well. The entire plush was made with the same fabric, I just sharpied the darker green and aqua blue parts to the correct color. The eyes and jewel on the forehead are felt. The thing is huge, a good 15 inches tall, and was entirely handsewn.

Archive Post - 2008 in Cosplay

2008 was the first year that I really started going to conventions and cranking out cosplays. Proof: I went to three conventions and helped run an additional one-day convention over the course of the year, churned out 7 new costumes and remade one!

In March I went to my first ever Momocon and wore my finally updated Lillymon:

 

Organizating Fabric

This is one of the corners of my room, specifically the corner where I store all of my fur, fleece and felt for plush-making purposes. In the time I've spent making plushies and related crafts, I've amassed fabric. A lot of fabric. Different colors and lengths of fur, different shades of fleece and felt, in big chunks or small scraps, and everything in-between. How do I keep it all organized? Like this.

These are thirteen banker's boxes. You can find them at any office supply store or at Wal-Mart/Target/K-Mart/etc. I bought big packs of them and got them for a nice low price. :3 You have to assemble them yourself, but once you get the hang of it they aren't all that bad at all. (Though if you're anything like me you'll feel really dumb after realizing how easy it actually is).

After assembling the boxes I just sorted out my fabrics by color, cut a little swatch of each fabric that was in a box and hot-glued it to the outside of the box, so I'd know what was in each box. I can also make notes beside the swatches, such as what I'm using a fabric for, if I'm low on it, etc. I also have each box clearly marked, ie "Orange furs" "Pink, Red and Orange fleece", etc.

Helpful Links

Even though I am just a fifteen minute drive away from two different craft stores and a fabric store, I still like to order online for a lot of my projects. So here are some helpful links!

Eyes:
I used to use shank buttons as eyes (mostly for my plushie tempura), but now that I've discovered safety eyes, there is no turning back. Ever.
http://www.suncatchereyes.net
http://www.clothdollsupply.com/CategoryProductList.jsp?cat=Doll+Eyes+And+Joints
http://www.harveyshobbyhut.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=2

Shrinkable Plastic and the Like:
http://www.dickblick.com/products/grafix-shrink-films/
http://www.consumercrafts.com/store/details/catalog/kids-craft-basics/3-2000d : cheaper than above
http://www.planetjune.com/blog/shrink-plastic-ring-tutorial/ : how to make rings with this stuff. Awesome.
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/01/07/how-to-make-shrinky-dinks-with-recycled-6-plastic/ : okay, so this is really cool. I didn't know you could color and bake salad containers like you can with shrinkydinks. 

Cell Phone Straps;
http://www.brightlingsbeads.com/cell-phone-straps.html

Candlemaking:
http://www.peakcandle.com/category/Waxes/Paraffin-Wax.aspx : so far the only website that sells wax less than 50lbs at a time oO