Protector Companion – Cora Hickoff
For this project, I made a companion based on the humanoid creatures I make in my art practice. They usually live on paper, so I wanted to bring one to life.
My companion:
Process
I designed a simple body and chose muslin because it would serve as a clean base for my embroidery. I took a more organic approach to the design and let the pattern and flowers evolve as I went along instead of planning out an exact pattern ahead of time. I wanted to give the creature a more interesting, less formal personality–almost as if it has been loved by someone for a long time and its stitches have worn off.
The existing pattern I used for the head is from an aardvark design pattern:
I also weighted the figure with poly pellets to give it a sense of life and be comforting to hold. I filled the feet, belly, hands, and head so it feels like you’re holding something heavy and alive rather than a stuffed toy.
Biggest takeaway? Patterns exist for a reason! This was my first time using a pattern, and because I made my own design for the body and had to connect it to a preexisting pattern, the fabric didn’t line up well and I had to improvise.
I also wasn’t happy with my initial embroidery of the eyes, (I used black and red thread but it looked too harsh) so I backtracked and seam-ripped them out, opting for a rose color. This made tiny holes in the muslin where my needle had gone through, which interestingly looks similar to something I made in clay for another class:
The final creature is wobbly and imperfect, so I named it Wabi as a nod to Wabi-Sabi, the Japanese notion of embracing and honoring imperfection.
I used pink thread for the body’s stitching so that the seams weren’t hidden. The thread along the neck ended up looking like scars, which helped celebrate the seams. I also left some of the knots on the outside of the body.
For me, this project was about making mistakes and ultimately embracing them and the process as organic, beautiful, and human.
This project introduced what I hope to be a lifelong love of creating handmade objects and creatures.