Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Iguana



This Iguana is officially one of my favorite Menagerie variations. 

I got to use many different shades of green on him!

This variation on the Menagerie base template has an integrated tail. In the 2015 pattern, there were three animals that were made this way: the Dinosaur, the Kangaroo and the Dragon

The adaptations for the Iguana were very similar to the Dinosaur's: a straight tail and a row of spines along the center back seam. To create the body markings, I used a variegated green fleece (some kind of tie-dye print) and added darker green applique stripes, sewn separately on the two halves of the body and aligned at the center back seam. 

The limbs are the standard base template ones, with felt claws added.

Here's an interesting feature - the flap of skin under the neck called the dewlap. 

To get it to drape in a flappy way, I cut it like a peplum (think semi-circular skirt). The curved edge was attached to the straight center front seam and the fabric hung in folds as a result.

Iguana spines are long and pointy all the way down to their tail, but I decided that turning dozens of long pointy fabric spines RS out might just about do me in. So I opted for symbolism over precision and gave this little guy five long spines on the top of his head,

and made the rest much shorter.

Finally, there's the little iridescent circular/oval patch near the Iguana's jaw which in the real animal is called the subtympanic shield (a.k.a. helmet scale) and is used for camouflage. In our Iguana, however, it's just a felt applique patch and used for decoration.

I've always thought iguanas were like mini modern dinosaurs, 

and the Menagerie version makes them even more so!


4 comments:

  1. He is fabulous! My parents had iguanas living in their yard when they lived in Nicaragua (I was in college, never lived there myself) and you've captured their essence perfectly here.

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  2. Oh, THE IGUANA!! He is DARLING!!

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