Star Wars Weekends Project: Wampa Purse!!

With prospects of going to Star Wars weekends at Disney World confirmed, I set out to find a bag I could bring. More or less a small purse. I have the AT-AT bag from thinkgeek (which doesn't seem to be on their site any longer? It looks like this but with zippers along it's head and back and a strap of course.) But it's too much to pack and I don't want it to get ruined or dirty while traveling or on the rides at Disney.

I do have the tote from HerUniverse but it's so subtle that not many would notice. Not to mention it's not really a purse in size or that I can use as a crossbody bag.

So I took to Bonnie Burton's Star Wars crafts book a friend got me from New York Comic Con a few years ago, signed for me and everything!

Inside was a crafts idea using old washcloths to make a plushie wampa! Um, perfect! Tho I'd revamp it to make it into a purse, without stuffing it and then creating a shoulder-strap for it.

I used two new plush washcloths I bought for a buck each. Bought the brown, red and white felt from crafts store (I couldn't find my large pack around the house) and the appendages and shoulder-strap were made from a 4-pack of white terrycloth rags I found at Home Depot for under four bucks! (Of which I still have a leftover rag and then some!)

Here's my progress in pictures!

Made the mouth, tho unglued at this point, made the horns from the brown felt and just did a placement test and then  pinned the basic body together to sew. The horns were machine-sewed then flipped inside out which was a pain the butt to turn inside out as it's skinny at the point. oy. Then stuffed them with bits of leftover bits of the rags I had as I cut pieces out.

Here's the same shot but you can see the book underneath and its plushie outcome from Bonnie Burton.

 

Body sewn up. Placing horns to sew in.

Horns still not sewn in but checking mouth placement.

Adding left arm for placement view.

 

Placement test with left arm and one leg and to see if size of leg was acceptable. I hadn't made the other leg yet. Leg was thin and small but it was cut almost perfectly by accident so I decided not to waste it and just use as the leg anyway.

 

Same as above but with mouth placement.

Both legs and left arm sewn on by hand. At this point I was supposed to stuff them a bit but forgot. So the arm and legs are a bit floppy. oops. He looks like he's lounging hehe.

With mouth placement. Legs are a bit floppy as I didn't stuff them and they seem a tiny bit short. They are also attached a bit more sideways than intended. None of the pics show the white felt attached to the bottoms of the arm and legs to cover the washcloth ends.

Everything attached now except the eyes. The googly eyes I bought were too small as you can see from this test shot. So I vamped it with layers of white and brown felt underneath them. This did double duty anyway to secure the googly eyes better. I don't think they would have adhered to the washcloths, directly, very well.

Finished product! I added eyebrows though hard to see as they are white. Bonnie Burton's has them too but also hard to see as white on white in both project versions. Also added, are felt claws to the arm. I left off white "lips" that Bonnie did in the book. It just looked odd for some reason.

Yes, I left off the right arm just like in the movie. Bonnie of course had both arms attached. I was/still am tempted to make the other arm as a detachable product but I don't have time to do that for SWW. Also, not sure if it's too gruesome for Disney parks. Also thought about adding a bit of red felt to that side to indicate it's been lightsabered off by Luke but again, is it too gruesome for Disney? Probably, so I'll maybe adjust this at a later time.

A more closeup shot. Hoping people don't ask where his other arm is....

Closeup shot with the eyebrows. He's "angry Wampa" now!

Oh and I left the top open. I wanted to close it somehow, even if it was just a small clasp but couldn't decide the best way to do that and give myself enough time to do it. So it's an open top for now. Again, might revisit that and revamp later.

Thanks for viewing! Hope you enjoy this as much as I will carrying it around in a few days! ^_^