15.11.20 - Adding the Final Touches

Today I made the legs, after reflecting on what was most effective on the smaller beetles I made over the course of this project. I found that the string legs on my clay beetles were really characterful and animated, while the tubular legs on the fabric beetles were not only impractical because they were difficult to invert and fill out, but they were not posable and didn't really have any closeness to the insect's anatomy. As I began to scale up and made the larger clay stag beetle with embedded objects, I wanted to still use string for the legs but somehow make it thicker, so I plaited multiple strands which worked really well and suited the size of the creature. This is why I decided to make plaited legs for my giant stag beetle, and I was able to find enough off-cuts from yesterday to do this, and I also added in strips of old lace and string that I had at home. The offcuts had really rough edges which I think is a positive thing because it made the legs really textured, and the pattern that the plait creates represents the segmented nature of the real beetle's legs. I also referenced my hanging clay beetles by tying knots in the ends of the legs to represent the little feet.


When handling all of this fabric I found the fibres really irritating on my face and throat so I worked with a mask on - the velvet fabrics in particular shed a lot of fluff which was all over the room and floating in the air.


I placed the legs underneath the body to find the right position and then pinned them down before hand stitching them on which was really difficult because of the thickness of the stuffed beetle, and I actually bent a few pins and needles in the process.


Finally, I stitched shut the openings at the front and back and added some pink trimming to the jaws to embellish and accentuate them. I think the final thing looks very in place at home and this really radiates comfort, however there is still something disconcerting about the sheer size of it. 

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