How to make a mushroom with Tamar Mogendorff
Recognized for her original soft objects, Tamar Mogendorff is an artist and designer residing in Brooklyn, New York. Tamar creates one-of-a-kind textile sculptures, home goods, ceramics and porcelain objects. Tamar has collaborated with brands such as Liberty London, The Neue Galerie, ABC Carpet & Home, Arita (Japan), Han Feng Gallery (NY), Indigo-Africa Project, Anthropologie and many more.
As an Easter treat, Tamar has shared a 'how to make a mushroom' textile project for the weekend ahead. Happy Easter!
Cut out the pattern pieces in the chosen fabrics. No seam allowance is needed. You can make different sizes; the patterns are only to give you an idea of the proportions.
There are three pieces:
1. Top part of the mushroom: 2 pieces of the same size in different fabrics
2. Stem: 2 pieces in the same fabric
3. Bottom of the stem: one piece in any fabric.
Top:
Fold the fabric in three different places from the middle of the piece, creating creases. Use an iron to flatten the creases. Stitch the folds with simple stitching. Next, face the pieces together with the right side facing outward and stitch around with small running stitches, leaving a 2’’-3’’ part open. Then, turn the fabric inside out and stuff it well. Finally, close the open part with stitches.
Stem:
Join the pieces together with the right side facing outward, using small running stitches on both sides, from bottom to top. Leave the top and bottom open.
After that, turn the fabric inside out and stuff it properly. Now, fold the top and bottom edges inside, 1/4”.
Take the bottom circle piece and attach it to the stem bottom.
Stitch it all around to close it.
Then, place the toad in the middle bottom part of the top. It’s easiest to lean it on your lap. Now stitch around, connecting the two parts together. Go around three times to make it strong and firm.
As an Easter treat, Tamar has shared a 'how to make a mushroom' textile project for the weekend ahead. Happy Easter!
Cut out the pattern pieces in the chosen fabrics. No seam allowance is needed. You can make different sizes; the patterns are only to give you an idea of the proportions.
There are three pieces:
1. Top part of the mushroom: 2 pieces of the same size in different fabrics
2. Stem: 2 pieces in the same fabric
3. Bottom of the stem: one piece in any fabric.
Top:
Fold the fabric in three different places from the middle of the piece, creating creases. Use an iron to flatten the creases. Stitch the folds with simple stitching. Next, face the pieces together with the right side facing outward and stitch around with small running stitches, leaving a 2’’-3’’ part open. Then, turn the fabric inside out and stuff it well. Finally, close the open part with stitches.
Stem:
Join the pieces together with the right side facing outward, using small running stitches on both sides, from bottom to top. Leave the top and bottom open.
After that, turn the fabric inside out and stuff it properly. Now, fold the top and bottom edges inside, 1/4”.
Take the bottom circle piece and attach it to the stem bottom.
Stitch it all around to close it.
Then, place the toad in the middle bottom part of the top. It’s easiest to lean it on your lap. Now stitch around, connecting the two parts together. Go around three times to make it strong and firm.
Roots:
To make a mushroom decoration, it’s best if you have a piece of linen. Carefully shred the threads one by one from the fabric. If you don’t have linen or a fabric that is easy to shred, you can use any threads you have at home.
Next, place the mushroom upside down with the stem in front of you. Start stitching thread by thread to the bottom of the mushroom and around the bottom. You can use any stitching technique you prefer.
Face:
If you have embroidery threads, those are preferred, but any other type of thread will work. Decide on the colour of eyes you want to use. You can use beads, buttons, or embroidery to create the eyes of the mushroom. Stitch the eyes the way you prefer, but I recommend placing them a bit far apart and looking down to give them a shy appearance. Mushrooms are known for their shyness. After that, stitch a small mouth and your mushroom is complete!
Download the instructions and pattern HERE.
Images courtesy of Tamar Mogendorff
Find out more about the work of Tamar Mogendorff:
www.tamarmogendorff.com