Fused Plastic Soft Sculpture: The Bruja Apron

Fused Plastic Bruja Apron

A second fused plastic soft sculpture - the Bruja Apron. Bruja means witch or medicine woman in Spanish. The first fused plastic sculpture was The Betty Apron, which was all sweetness and light. This apron takes a walk on the dark and mysterious side.

Front detail

The apron is fashioned from fused plastic bags, stitched and appliquéd to form the apron.

Detail

Back view

Detail

Back button detail

Detail

Scroll through the fused plastic category on this blog to see other fused plastic creations, from shoes to a maker project on pop-up banner installations, to lanterns, to Barbie clothes.

The Mega Terrific Fabuloso Advent Calendar Surprise Ball

One of many layers

It is a challenge coming up with a totally new advent calendar concept every year. Past attempts have included walnuts, beribboned bonbons, and evolving haute couture (click here to see efforts from years gone by).

This year the calendar revolves around the idea of an old fashioned surprise ball. You unwind the crepe paper streamer to find the treats inside. This time around the treats include the usual foil-covered chocolate coins, and an assortment of hand-painted tin ornaments from Oaxaca. The balls come with an English-Spanish translation sheet (e.g., butterfly = mariposa). The vision is that the recipients will savor the chocolate, decorate their tree, and learn a little Spanish as the month of December unfolds.

Hand-painted tin ornaments

Foil-covered chocolate coins

Each layer is a different calendar day, each is a different color, and each is decorated completely differently.  There are 25 in total, and you may peruse a sampling below.

How big is the final ball? Bigger than you head.

Fused Plastic: The Betty Apron

Meet Betty: back view

This is what I am calling a "fused plastic soft sculpture." The apron theme was inspired by the wonderful apron-making ladies of San Miguel del Valle. This piece was intended to go entirely another way, but I discovered fused plastic has a mind of its own. The fusing of old plastic bags created an assortment of new plastic textile pieces. I then fused or stitched those pieces together to create the sculpture.

Fused plastic textile detail

Detail

The Betty: front view

Close-up: sampling of plastic textiles

Plastic fused textile; sewn-on plastic circles

Delicate frill: scraps of colored plastic fused between thin produce bags

Fused plastic textile