Professional pwnage.

[spark]

speaking as someone who recently bought one of Sparks LOVELY plushes (an off the rack dragon I think she under charged me for), the pictures do not BEGIN to do it justice!

side note....spark....I'm almost scared of the eyes you used on the Dragon.....they follow me around the house.

Mwa ha ha ha ha! I love the slit-pupil dragon eyes. I was originally going to use a set of plain eyes that were a little larger, as I like the cute, big-eyed look. But then I realized that no, I needed to use those. And I'm really glad you like it!

[bainsidhe]

A perfectly professional response:

Thanks for your input. I too enjoy making customers happy, which is why I offer my goods for such a reasonable price. A great deal of time, effort and skill goes into making each quality product, and I find that my happiest customers are willing to pay what it's worth.

[DeltaSierra]

Possible yes. Do I want to? Noooooooooooo! It's a huge nightmare of extra work and loose hair everywhere.



"Difficult" is the barrier here. It has to be rooted in the plush securely. I don't *quite* have to do it one single hair at a time, but I can only do it one tiny hank at a time, and so it takes hours. And hours. And more hours. I can spend four or five hours re-rooting a customized MLP toy, the little four inch high things! Rooting a full size plush takes ridiculous amounts of time.

Gotcha - I wasn't thinking about that.

[Tora]

Hot damn, that plush is impressive. And I can certainly back you up on just how much work it is to make those things yourself. Even working from a pre-made pattern, it takes quite a bit of skill to put them together, especially if it's a small or complex pattern.

This guy was a complete and utter wanker, so kudos for not laughing in his face. :P

[RealUnimportant]

Okay, so wait - he barely adds any margin so he can keep people happy, and then wants advice on how to make more money?

The stupid, it burns!

[spark]

Okay: that's method 3.

I was thinking of using fringing, or of using already-rooted doll-wig material. And sourcing either of those which is up to your standards is likely to be a problem and a half on its own.

Plus doll-wig material is unlikely to be the right sort of hair for a plush's mane.

And fringing is far, far more likely to be suitable for fringing dresses (for those who don't know: think 'cowgirl outfits' or '1920s flapper dresses') than for manes and tails.

Yeah, fringing wouldn't be very brushable since the brush might just fray the fibers. Most fringing isn't long enough either, though I'll admit I've seen some that's pretty darn long.

I'm not aware of what's out there for pre-rooted doll wigs. Most dolls I'm familiar with are the style where there are small holes in the plastic, which plugs of hair are rooted in. (Which is also the way pony toys are done.) I mean there's also wigs meant for human use that do have strands of pre-rooted hair, but they are difficult to deconstruct and you'd waste a lot. I haven't run into any pre-rooted strands of material meant for dolls. If it's out there I wouldn't know where to begin looking for it. Or if they'd be long enough if I did, since a pony plush is a lot bigger than most dolls, so I'd need longer hair. The one pony I have rooted I actually used fiber meant for making human hair extension weaves with. But that just comes loose in bundles.

[Nemesis44UK]

I do not know anything about plushes, but I can say that those pics on your blog look amazing. If there is any justice in the world, you should be paid megabucks for your work.

[Kogarashi]

Awesome plush, Spark.

Don't you just love the types who are all, "I could do this same thing just as well as you for half the cost, I just choose not to, but I could so you should obviously do it for the same price."

The second is 'defraud and cheat'.

Let's not give the SC any ideas, now.

I'm not aware of what's out there for pre-rooted doll wigs. Most dolls I'm familiar with are the style where there are small holes in the plastic, which plugs of hair are rooted in. -snip-

About the only other thing I can think of is creating wefts of the doll hair (or other fiber of choice) before sewing it in, but I have pretty much no experience with how well that would work. What I know is mostly what I've gleaned from various Google searches, mostly because I want to try my hand at making a plush of one of my original characters, but I want full-coverage hair on their head rather than just the outer hair line with a huge bald patch in the back that's hidden by a ponytail. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

[Seraph]

<looks at pics>

<dies>

<resurrects>

CHICKEEEEENNNNN!!!

[MournBlade]

Your work looks awesome. When I'm working again I will have to comission you to make some minions from Desicable Me for my kiddo.

[AccountingDrone]

Awesome plush, Spark.

Don't you just love the types who are all, "I could do this same thing just as well as you for half the cost, I just choose not to, but I could so you should obviously do it for the same price."



Let's not give the SC any ideas, now.



About the only other thing I can think of is creating wefts of the doll hair (or other fiber of choice) before sewing it in, but I have pretty much no experience with how well that would work. What I know is mostly what I've gleaned from various Google searches, mostly because I want to try my hand at making a plush of one of my original characters, but I want full-coverage hair on their head rather than just the outer hair line with a huge bald patch in the back that's hidden by a ponytail. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

Hm, perhaps a ghiordes knot with a small clump of the hair fibers being manipulated? I can think of a couple ways to manage it by threading a needle and using fine stitches [literally about the equivalent to 22 hardanger fabric length] and working with the grain of the plush. I know it is normally done as part of the weaving process, but some embroidery techniques are similar. I had a piece I did where the leaves were a satin stitch, but the flower petals were florettes made with the petals as fringework. They did look rather like batchelors buttons =)

[PepperElf]

there's always my version of a quilt. unfortunately it's limited to the size of the original fabric so it's usually best as a lap blanket.


i take 2 yards of backing, 2 yards of filler, and 2 yards of a fabric pattern i like.
then i "quilt" them together, sewing around the design in the fabric.

i call them "cheater" quilts.

[Seraph]

Congrats spark, you made it onto EQD again with Chicken!! <3

[Crossbow]

Congrats spark, you made it onto EQD again with Chicken!! <3

And getting a lot of positive comments on it, too. "Giant Scootaloo is the best Scootaloo."
Yeah, I'll agree with that.

Great work, as always.

[spark]

Thanks! I almost didn't submit it, since last time they had a plush of mine on there the only comment I got was somebody being kind of rude. :P But this one does seem pretty popular.