Patchwork Wolf Mask
I made a wolf's head mask for a children's play. It is a big bad wolf, but it will be cute, soft and colorful, with pastel colors and frills.
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Sculpting was a major challenge as I did not start from a head shape, I had to eyeball the position of he eyes, but luckily the teacher giving the mask class is very good at this and helped me out. It turns out it fits my face quite comfortably.
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Once I got the shape I wanted out of clay, I heated up and formed some Veraform mesh onto it. This is a really cool material that is very stiff, lightweight and easy to work with.
The next step is to cover the Veraform with foam and/or felt to get a softer and smoother feel, then I will cover everything with a base fabric.
Once all the foam is covered with the base grey fabric, it is time to begin decorating! I began with a series of pastel colored print fabrics and made patches. Then I used embroidery thread to add some details, and attached frilly trim to the cheek edges to make them fluffy.
Everything is hand sewn with fine thread so the stitches don't show. However, embroidering through the ears was a challenge because i don't want the stitches to show on the back of them, therefore I have to pull the needle halfway through, then poke it back outwards a bit further away.... finicky work, but it turned out all right.
The decoration process was fantastic because I had no specific constraints, just a selection of colorful materials and lots of time. I am really happy with the results!
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Because this was a project for mask making class in costuming school, I never thought about making a full costume for it and I have to admit I don't really have any ideas for that. I'll let it rattle around in my brain and see if anything comes out of it.
