Making blog
To put all the creative ideas of Evie, Zuzanna, Isabelle, Mia, and Joyce together, I first needed to make a toile (prototype) of the garment to place all the elements in the positions visualised by all five inventors of the hoodie. During the making of the toile, I was able to see what works and what changes to make to turn their dreams into reality.
Next stop: turning even more of the Little Inventors' amazing ideas into reality. See you soon! 😊
Attached the claws using wire so I could get a good angle for the bone. Once I got all of them on I started making the all important poop and fly details from the drawing and finished off some details on the dog itself.
Take a look at the gif with this post to see the Feel Good Friend in action.
It’s done! This was a great project to work on and I’m really pleased with how it’s come out, I hope you all agree.
Turning the crank wheel to rotate the little sunflowers and dispense a positive affirmation sticker to take away with you is really satisfying. The clacking and whirring that the internal parts make along with the feel of the textured wood and 3D printed plastic parts make this a really tactile machine that add to its fun and whimsy.
I feel I’ve done the initial 3 ideas justice with the end result with elements of each idea included and woven together.
The final sculpture! Paired with some dark toys, it shows how the light can't touch the objects inside.
I collected names and ideas for branding from the kids I visited at the primary school. These names were all so creative and I read through all their pages, one thing stood out. Owls! The name "Night Owl" came up multiple times, and I think it suited the starry pattern on the torch. I created this logo and cut it out in vinyl, and then applied it.
This was the hardest part, applying the fabric to the frame. I cut out 4 panels of organza fabric to wrap around and double over for extra darkness. Then I machine stitched the bottom seam, pinned it to the frame and hand stitched them on. This was tough and time consuming, but using a curved upholstery needle made it much easier. The final result is a block of darkness, just as I wanted.
One thing the class had asked me was: "what if there was a way to change how dark the shadow was?" So, instead of a light switch I would make a dial like a dimmer switch! A great idea that adds more realism to the invention.
I used my vinyl cutter to make some numbers. And I made the on/off symbol look like a moon as a little easter egg for the keen eyed viewer too!
I started by painting the torch in the northern lights theme, but it didn't seem very inviting, or look very much like the northern lights. I instead went for the schoolkids other favourite, stars! I layed down a dark purple acrylic and added blue streaks for variation and depth.
Then came the nost fun part. Using a stensil, I sprayed on layers of pink, yellow and cream to make the stars. They appear to glow nicely. Much better!
In the animation, there will be a lot of rain, and instead of hand-animating each raindrop, I utilised the particle system in Moho, the software I'm animating in. It needs some fine-tuning to get the exact effect I want, but this is the base of the animation.
Once I’d got the dog standing, I started work on the main part of the Poop Packer itself. I needed the base unit to be well attached so when the arms went on it didn’t slide and tip the dog.
I then played about with the shape of the arms to get them in the right place at the right angles, slotting them into the base unit from above and making a start on the holding claws
The mood selector is ready on the crank wheel. Now you can tell the Feel Good Friend how you’re feeling before you turn the handle. What mood would you choose today?
I'm excited to begin creating the Stress Busting Hoodie, a sensory comfort garment inspired by the imaginative ideas of the five Little Inventors. The goal is to bring together several inventive concepts into one comfortable, playful, and inclusive hoodie that encourages relaxation, creativity, and self-expression.
I noticed that four of the Little Inventors did not specify any colours for their designs. Only Evie selected black and burgundy for her squeezy sleeves, showing that the Little Inventors were more focused on the functionality and sensory features of the hoodie than on its colour palette. This allowed me to develop colours that would complement their ideas while keeping the garment inclusive and appealing to as many people as possible. I chose a warm grey for the main body because it is a neutral, calming colour that works well across different ages and genders, allowing the sensory features to take centre stage. To introduce moments of warmth, energy, and discovery, I added a mustard yellow hood lining, burnt orange pocket details, and bright blue sleeve pocket zips. Together, these colours create a playful contrast while maintaining a balanced and welcoming aesthetic that reflects the Stress Busting Hoodie's focus on comfort, creativity, and playfulness.
Every feature of the hoodie celebrates ideas contributed by the Little Inventors. Where two or more inventors shared similar concepts, I carefully merged their ideas into a single feature so that each invention is represented while creating one cohesive garment.
The oversized padded hood combines Mia's large comforting hood with Zuzanna's pillow hood concept, featuring a soft pillow-like construction with a cosy fleece lining, creating a comforting place to rest or relax. Inside the sleeves are hidden zip pockets concealed within the sleeve seams, inspired by Joyce's invention, while the back of the hoodie features three stars inspired by Zuzanna's original sketch. This distinctive detail preserves one of the key visual elements from her design and gives the hoodie its own unique identity.
The cuffs combine Mia's stress relieving cuff concept with Evie's sensory textures, featuring built-in squeeze cushions and safe tactile silicone textures that allow the wearer to relieve stress naturally through touch. The hood drawcords combine ideas from Zuzanna and Isabelle, using thick, soft cords finished with plastic ends, while the large kangaroo pocket merges Mia's tactile pocket concept with Zuzanna's hidden fidget ideas to encourage sensory exploration.
One of the most exciting features is the dedicated removable Bluetooth speaker pocket, inspired by Isabelle's Happy Hoodie, allowing calming music or relaxing sounds to become part of the sensory experience while remaining practical and easy to remove before washing.
It has been incredibly rewarding to study each invention and thoughtfully combine the different ideas into a single design that reflects the creativity of the Little Inventors. I'm looking forward to bringing the Stress Busting Hoodie to life and will be sharing the making process over the coming days.
Stay tuned as I continue transforming the Little Inventors' creative ideas into real, wearable designs. See you soon! ✂️👋😊
Design is well underway! I've taken the concept sketch and AI render I wrote about in the previous blog post to start designing and making the actual Feel Good Friend.
The design will have 2 main materials; 3D printed PLA parts and oak wood panels. I think this mix of silver and grey plastic with the natural wood will give a really nice contrast, especially against highlights from silver and black screws securing the whole thing together. Along with the flowers under the bell jar, I'm really liking this mix of modern materials made with a recent manufacturing process alongside materials taken from nature.
So far I've made the top and bottom panels, side mounts for the internals and the crank wheel which will power the whole machine. The crank wheel has a black disk in its centre which spins round and will be used to choose the mood you're feeling from a selection of images.
There's a little bit of design work to finish off on the internals to make sure all the gears run smoothly, turning both the flowers under the bell jar and the sticker dispenser to give you your positive affirmation message. But it's nearly there and coming together really nicely!
I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting the primary school children who are taught by the inventor of the torch. They approved of my idea, and definitely had a lot to say. Out of my designs for the paint-job, they really liked the glow-in-the-dark stars and the northern lights idea (which some of them proudly corrected to aurora borealis).
I also gave them the opportunity to give me a tech name for the invention to put on the side. Some chose imagery of owls, nighttime, cats or stars, which were all great.
I needed a way to achieve a cone shape with fabric, so I created a frame out of wire and small pipes. Then, a shadowy organza fabric can be sewn over the top to create my beam. I poked the wires into the cardboard, then glued the torch closed fully.
I sourced some components as the base for the belt. It was tricky to find some of the pieces in the right size as everything needs to fit on the belt and look in proportion. Now I have the basics of the components laid out (and a few more not in the image) I can visualise how it's going to look. The next step is to think about attaching things securely and adding more details. I'm going to laser engrave some of the pieces so that it's really clear what each part does.
Miss Moss's invention drawing is very clear and detailed so it was easy for me to get started bringing the Teacher Survival Belt to life. First I began thinking about the material for the belt, I wanted it to be stretchy and comfortable for a teacher to wear all day in the classroom. I then started thinking about each component individually and what they could be made from. I did a sketch to itemise all of the different elements and thought about the different materials. I will make some things from scratch and I will buy some of the basic component and then adapt them with added labels or extra features.
Today I jumped on my sewing machine, as the hands are ready to become nice and fluffy! Amelia wished for pink arms, so I stitched two pink fabric tubes to create the arms and stitched around the hand shape. They are now so soft and lovely to hug! I then hand stitched the blue fabric all over the chair and attached the arms. The chair is so comfy and soft, definitely feels like a warm hug.
Today I created the very important big hands for the hug chair! I first created a paper template of the hand, so I knew exactly what size I'd like it to be. Once I was happy with my paper template size, I drew around the template on a large sheet of upholstery foam. I then cut it out and sanded it smooth with my sander.
Next I will create the arms and start covering everything in the fluffy fabric!