New Dragon Prototype: Part I

I recently received a commission for a red dragon.  A friend's daughter loves Smaug, from "The Hobbit," and she wanted to get her daughter her own little "Smaugy."  I found that consulting classic dragon literature and images really pushed my creativity to another level, and resulted in a new pattern that I really love.

 

THE WINGS:

I created the wings by quilting two layers of a large, bat-inspired wing together.  I then stitched along the borders of a third piece of fleece of contrasting color to create an "inner skeleton" to the wing. 

 

My completed accent pieces:  (2) Double-layered wings, with the contrasting inner skeleton accent; (1) Double-layered crest, stitched together with contrasting red thread; (2) Snake-inspired eyes; (2) Ears/horns.  I used multiple layers of fabric for the crest and wings because it makes them a little sturdier, and gives them more ability to stick out from the plushie body without my having to use wire or an inner armature.

 

COLOR CHOICES:
In "The Hobbit," J.R.R. Tolkein describes "Smaug the Golden" as a red-gold dragon with a gold- and gem-encrusted belly (see Chapter 12).  He is missing a scale on his left breast, near his heart.  I decided that I could get across the general idea of Smaug by using a combination of reds for his outer hide and seat, and a yellow-gold fleece for his belly.  I used brown fleece as an accent color for his spine crest, wings and claws, and a gold fleece as an accent for the scales and feet.  The eyes I sewed with a combination of gold and red felt in the iris.  I added a black diamond-shaped pupil over this iris to refer back to the idea of reptiles and flames.  I believe that in total, I used 5 colors of fleece for the dragon body, plus 4 colors of felt for the eyes.

 

THE HEAD:
I sewed two triangles into horns, turned them right-side-out, and sewed them to the forehead diamond.  I had seen several sketches and animations of dragons, and I like how these horns/ears add another reptilian accent to the head.

Horn samples.  You get a different effect depending on the size of the horn, and the angle of join:

 

SCALES:
I decided to refer to the idea of scales on just the belly panel, rather than plaster the entire dragon with a secondary layer of fabric.  I used a brighter gold fleece for the majority of the scales.  Then I added a dark orange scale over the heart, to refer to the idea of Smaug's missing scale and vulnerable heart:

The completed wings, and the belly panel with stitched-down scales:

A view from behind.  The stitching on the wing spines gives the wings extra texture on both sides:

 

ASSEMBLY:
First, I stitched the forehead diamond to the head portions of both side panels, starting at the nose and sewing upwards.  Once the head was secure, I stitched the top of the belly panel to the nose and worked down.  I sewed the side panels together to begin creating the four legs (the bottom of the dragon was still completely open at this point).  I now had the beginnings of a body:



I then stitched the back seams together.  I started at the top of the forehead diamond, and worked down to the tail.  This is also when I sandwiched the spine crest and wings into the spine seam.  I should point out that it's a good idea to double-check the orientation of your wings several times--I still get confused when trying to give them the correct orientation!

Next, I sewed the eyes onto the dragon.  I knew I wanted to use the flame eyes, but I decided to see how other options would look first:


Slit Eyes: Horizontal

Slit Eyes: Vertical 

Sewing the flame eyes into place.  I do this before stuffing, so that I can secure my knots inside the dragon form.

Next, I hand-sewed the foot pads and claws into place.  I still find that this is the only way I can tweak the alignment of such small accents.  I used the same gold fleece as I used for the scales for the foot pads, and the brown fleece I used in the spine and wings for the claws:

This is how the dragon looks at this stage:

I then stitched a fine zig-zag around each foot pad, to make the foot seams nice and strong:

We now have a dragon!:

These are all the basic steps you would need if you wanted to create a plushie or puppet.
Next week, I will show you how to stuff and finish your dragon plushie.  I use a special technique to hide my final knots when I hand-sew.  See you then!