Monday, 24 September 2018

The Griffin Project

I think it was in 2016 when I got this griffin as a gift from Morla. However, I never took photos of him, partly because my cat hates him and I was afraid he would jump and attack it! I guess that my cat sees the griffin as a tiny bird, and he spends his mornings near a window shushing at the passing by birds xD

Anyways, I always felt the griffin was missing something, and not long ago I got my hands on some fur that was the exact same color of it! So I got myself two packages of feathers for USD 3.6 and decided to make a project out of him! Of course, I asked permission to Morla to do this.

I didn't make a video out of this, because I thought nobody would care about something that is not a BJD. However, I did took photos of the process: I can guarantee that doing this with a burned hand was not easy at all! I plan to use this griffin for my tinies, as they fit perfectly with him (yeah, calling him "it" sounds weird...). Maybe I can even make a saddle for it!

The Project

At the left we have how the griffin started. Only parts of his body had fur but the rest was plain felt, and the wings didn't had feathers. However, the wings had some thin wire structure that allowed those fake feathers to move. His whole body is also wired, so the wings, head/neck, legs and body is movable. That is really awesome, honestly!

So, my first step was to strip down the wings, leaving only the wire structure of what should be the wing's radius, humerus, and so on. You can see this stage in the photo at the right.

Then, I started with his body. The fur I had was only scraps, so I had to cut the pattern really well. I used kitchen roll to make them: I cut a sheet of paper, put it on top of the griffin and mark it down; then I cut the paper, tested the fit and cut the fur. I first did the white belly (left) and then the brown part (right). The brown I had was slightly more golden, but I think it looks more feline :3

At this point, the griffin "put some weight on" as the fur makes him look much thicker! When I finished the belly, hubby looked at me with a face and told me he "didn't imagine" the outcome. I knew it was hard to see, but I had it all planned out in my mind!

You can imagine this was not a clean project. When you cut that faux fur it looses a lot of fur and my pants were full of it. Imagine when I started sewing the feathers! I forgot to take photos of this process, but I have two short Instagram videos to share with you.

What I did was the following:
  1. I opened the packs of feathers and sorted them out by size.
  2. I started sewing the feather from the top point of the wing, to the inner side. I sewed them to one side of the wing (outer), and then added extra feathers on the opposite side (inside).
  3. Using stripes of white fur, I sewed it from half of the wing's bone, to the inner side. I only sewed it on the top.
  4. I repeated the previous process (step #3) with brown fur, for the inner side.
  5. I glued some long feathers on the top point.
  6. I straightened the wing, and sew both white and brown fur, through the feathers. By closing these two parts together, the feathers sort of "pushed" together, giving the wing a fuller look.
Even more, I had to shake the griffin a little, and it kept loosing fur and feathers. When he was done doing that, I proceeded to clean the mess I did. Of course, this wouldn't be a project if I hadn't punctured myself with the needle! I did, and this time it passed through my skin and left a red line underneath it. Finishing the thing with that "cut" in my thumb was a challenge!

Pretty Griffin

I think he ended up looking really cool, though! After taking V's photos outside, I wasn't as scared. So I packed him, my camera and the tinies in a disguised box, and hubby and I rushed to the park on a Sunday, while everyone was still asleep. Nobody was outside... even the birds and the neighbors' cats and dogs were sleeping! Sadly, the sun insisted in coming and going to hide behind clouds, so I couldn't get a consistent light in my photos.

I know the photos are silly and roughly the same angle, but the cold didn't allow me to think too much. Plus, I was on a visible part of the park and I simply wanted to do my thing and rush out of there ASAP. I apologize for Merry wearing the same outfit than on a previous photostory, but she looked too cute and adorable in that outfit, and I didn't felt like changing her so soon xD Oh well! Anyways, I hope to include the griffin in a photostory soon! Have a nice day!


  1. Good job! I agree, working with feathers is a mess, but your pain and patience paid off. He looks great. Anyone in the park seeing you from a distance would probably think you were photographing a real bird and not pay any attention. Hope your thumb puncture heals quickly!

    1. Thank you!! I love how he looks now, honestly! Well, now I moved and live nearby a park, so I'm trying to go at the wee hours to photograph my tiny dolls actually!

    2. Congratulations on your move! No wonder you've been quieter than usual--moving is hard work. I'm sure you'll like living near a park. I also live near a park, but it's a dog park so it's a terrible place to bring dolls. :)

    3. Yeah, that was the reason! Hopefully things will go back to normal soon :D

  2. Un gran trabajo pero valió la pena porque el Grifo cambió su aspecto completamente y se ve maravilloso con las pequeñas Cookie y Merry. Felicitaciones

    1. ¡Gracias! ¡A mi me encanta como se ve! Me alegro mucho que guste :D

  3. Love the griffin! You did a great job and it suits well with Merry and Cookie!

    1. Thank you so much!! I'm really happy with how he turned out as well! :D