Corgi the Corgi Mascot

This summer, I decided to create a corgi mascot costume for use at book signings. Since summer signings are too hot, though, I delayed the project until recently. But with fall book signings starting to multiply, I decided to tackle the project. Here’s how I did it:

I started out with newspaper sculpted around a beach ball.

Before paper-mache-ing the newspaper, I decided to add an open mouth as part of the mask.

In the meantime, while the paper mache was drying, I found a pattern at the fabric store, which I modified to suit my purposes. First step: cutting the pattern and the fabric.

The cut fabric starts to come together, thanks to my sewing machine. Old but reliable. A real trooper!

With the paper mache dry, I attached a lightweight construction helmet to the inside of the mask, insuring it would stay balanced and snug on the head of the victim–I mean, volunteer–who gets to wear the costume!

A zipper makes the suit come together!

Elastic on the cuffs.

With the mask dried, I drilled holes for increased ventilation (and to lower the weight) and covered the eyes with a double layer of screen.

Now the hard part. Because I am an English teacher, not a math major, I had to figure out how to sew different shapes of fabric over the mask to create the corgi look. I used a bit of glue for security, then sewed the edges of all the pieces together.