Isaac Plushie Prototype

Isaac from Dead Space is a character that nobody ever thought would exist in plushie form. When I tell people I'm prototyping Isaac, they're like:

"Oh, Binding of Isaac?"
"No"
"Wait... GOLDEN SUN?!"
"...... No"

You can thank Nina Matsumoto for designing this chibi interpretation of Isaac! And assuming they're available, you can buy this official plushie from Fangamer!

When I was first handed Isaac's turnaround image, I spent a few days with my head in my hands. (Not in a bad way. Just in a pondering way.) There's so many small parts that have no convenient way of attaching by sewing machine. When I prototype for manufacturing, I want to avoid gluing and hand stitching as much as possible. And in accordance with my personal plushie philosophy, I try my best to hide the raw cut edges of fabric whenever I can.

Oh well, there's no avoiding such things in this plushie!

I approached the body first, since its underlying structure seemed basic enough. Just a sitting human body, which I can adapt from one of my old patterns, such as Aloy or Hat Kid.

The right arm and the chest have armored segments that are made from strips of fabric. These strips are connected within the seam allowance so I don't have to fuss with lining them up neatly. They're also slightly wider than the area of the body that they are wrapped around, allowing them to lie comfortably over the body without being pulled too tight once stuffed. And by dividing the front torso pattern into sections, I create seams into which I can insert these strips into.

Okay, that's a few pieces taken care of that I don't have to glue or hand sew.

The head is usually the focal point for a character, so I want to make sure it looks good. I reaaaally don't want to glue any raw cut pieces onto the mask. Therefore, all the mask pieces are sewn and bagged out, and hand sewn. It's a pain, but worth it. I also designed the embroidery of the blue parts to help with the placement of the small pieces, and to simultaneously flatten the underlying fabric, reducing any lumpiness of the pieces above.

Having not played the Dead Space games, I wasn't actually sure what the thing on Isaac's back was. A weapon, I assumed? The design would have gone a totally different direction if my husband didn't inform me that it's his spine health counter thingy. Oh okay, so I made sure to hand sew it closely to the back.

For all its complexity, I'm glad this plushie got approved on its first round of prototyping. At least for me; it ended up needing some color adjustments with the factory. Still, it all came together relatively quickly.