Pillows
As we are unable to source mock up pictures of the pillow, since its quite a specific design, we’ve decided to make an actual prototype of the pillow, photograph it and use that for the presentation.
The pillows are to be based on the characters from the animation (without the legs and arms). I first made a basic pattern using the characters Chelsea had drawn as a base. I tweaked them slightly to make them easier to cut out and sew. I then printed these out, cut them and sewed them together.
Unfortunately the suppliers in NZ have a limited range of colours for the polar fleece materials I used for the pillows. Ideally, they should be lighter/pastel to match those on the computer screenshot above. However, for this prototype they should be fine. Hopefully we can tweak the colours on photoshop once they have been photographed. If this were to actually be produced, there are overseas suppliers who have the correct shades needed, or it would be easier to source the correct colours if it were being made in large quantities.
The size of the pillow is approx. 30cm in size. Ideal for children to hug. It was a bit on the small side for me. But I think it would be the perfect size for young children.
I also made a label that would be attached to the pillow. This serves as an anchor to attach the swing tag, as well as promotion of the UpsideDowns logo.
The swing tags were relatively simple. An image on one side and the information on the back. They are attached with string currently, but depending on manufacturing they could be attached using other methods, like those plastic cables.
Overall, the pillow-making process was rather fun. What I took out of this was learning how to make those labels. I now know I can print on fabric! I have made plush toys before, so I was already familiar with how to make a basic pillow. That wasn’t too hard. I guess the only difficulty I found was trying to sew the leaves and stem of the apple/orange onto the main body. This resulted in one of the oranges having its leaves positioned as bunny ears (upright) rather than leaves (tilted to the side). What I did notice was the pattern can be improved to made the leaves shaped more like leaves. Because the process involves sewing the shape and turning it inside out, smaller pieces tend to lose their edges. I would probably solve this by making it bigger, therefore more obviously pointed and leaf-like. Overall, I think the apples turned out best. The oranges, were in fact actually harder to get right since its a circle. A lot of the process involves sewing and turning it inside out before filling it up and sewing it closed, which means a lot of how you align the parts together for sewing is back to front, which makes it trickier to align. I’m pretty sure several tests and prototypes of the pillow would be needed in order to bring it up to a standard people would really want to buy in stores. But as a proposal for this uni project, I think this level is sufficient enough to get the general idea across.