Aster (Rubber face)

This rubber-face plush is the second plucch iteration of my character Aster, the first being one I found in a thrift store a few years ago. I discovered the bear head used for this project at Re-Claim It and immidiately knew what I wanted to do

After digging around for free patterns I discovered this perfect teddy bear one by HowJoyful. I wanted something reminicent of a Rushton rubber-face plush, something squat and round and with fully integrated limbs. I scaled the pattern to the plush by measuring the diameter of the neck and adjusting the scale on the pattern until the neck hole was 1/2 of that measurement (plus seam allowance).

Finished base coat and a start on the details.

Finished painted details.

The first step was to paint the head. Even after using nail-polish remover to take off the bulk of the paint, it took a few coats to get the grey fully solid. After that though the details painted on easily, and I sprayed the whole thing with a few coats of matte sealant.

It's hard to tell, but the head isn't yet attached.

I used black velour for his hooves and pink felt for the inside of his paws, which were stuffed and then thread-sculpted. He's got a bag of plastic pellets sewn into his bottom of weight (likely stolen from a dissasembled Furby) and a little tail made of grey felt and a tuft of fur. The white chevron was sewn on top of the black fur.

After stuffing the body, I superglued the neck into the open hole. Then I cut a piece of fur roughly the size of the back of the head, and superglued that to the rubber too, sewing it at the base of the neck where it meets the rest of the fur. The last step: little felt horns!

• Pattern by HowJoyful