Adafruit Adabot Hammerhead Left Shark Plushie

So I've go this meshmixer in my head and nae 3D printer to print a model of the Left Shark, an internet meme on one of the costumed performers at this year's Superbowl halftime show. Seems the design files were taken down due to a copyright claim by the music artist. But we'll take a stab at it by making a real 3 dimensional plushie and change it to avoid any infringement. And paying homage to the pioneer disruptor spirit of Adafruit, here is the Left Shark in the style of Adabot, and not your ordinary shark but a hammerhead one.

Warning: Graphic images depict actual construction of a plushie toy splayed open. Keep the magic to yourself if you are making this for kids..

Step 1: Get Fleeced...

You will need:

Some soft fabric material like fleece, white and blue

I had some white soft felt to use

tiny bit of darker blue felt for the lightning bolt emblem

Some fiberfill for stuffing

I used some plastic googly eyes but you can piece the detail together from scraps of felt

blue paracord

tiny bit of black felt for the gill outlines. You can also sew them with black thread or use a permanent marker

You can sew this by hand but it is faster and easier with a sewing machine

and a hot glue gun to use for final assembly

CAUTION: Know how to use your sewing machine or needle and thread safely. Hot glue guns and hot glue are very hot. Scissors are pointy and sharp.

Step 2: Shark Teeth...

This project was designed and built as I went along. I don't have a pattern but you can make one too if you just eyeball everything like I did.

Start out with the belly plate. It is just an eye shape with tabs on top. Make it as big as you want the plushie.

Cut out a rectangular piece a bit longer than the top tab. Sew it across. This is the flat part of the hammerhead. Note that everything will be sewn on the back side so that we turn things inside out to get a nice finished seam.

Cut out the lightning bolt emblem which you copied from reference images on the internet. I used a close zigzag satin stitch on the machine to make it look like an embroidered patch. Sew it on the front facing side of the material.

Sketch out the mouth with a pencil or your tailor's chalk. Place a larger backer piece of black felt on the back. You can then outline the mouth and teeth with your satin stitch. Go in with a sharp pair of scissors to cut out the mouth opening and shape the teeth.

Cut out the back side pieces. You can figure out the length of the edge by matching up the side perimeter of your belly plate. Just draw a semicircle over that to complete the profile of the back side panel. You need two to form the back and sides. Note that I was going to make the legs one piece with the back but when I sewed it, the fabric bunched up and didn't look right. I cut that piece off and continued on.

Step 3: Appendages...

Sew the back side pieces to the belly plate by matching along the edges. You can stretch the fleece a bit if things don't line up exactly or if it is short.

There is a T shaped seam at the back of the hammerhead.

You can seam it about a quarter of the way down the back and leave a center opening. This is for stuffing and to embed the dorsal fin.

You can seam it up from the bottom about a quarter of the way up.

Stuff the hammerhead and the most of the body to give it that football shape.

Cut a double layer of fabric in the shape of the dorsal fin.

Use a straight stitch to seam around the top and the side. Leave the bottom open.

Turn inside out and stuff. Sandwich in the back seam in position. You can then continue the seam.

Make the leg tubes and feet which are like little square pillows.

They are seamed, turned inside out and stuffed. The opening is closed off with the sewing machine.

Note that the top leg ends are seamed at an angle so that they will attach flat to the body.

Create the arms by cutting out the robot claw fin shape on material of two colors.

Go around closely on the outline with a straight seam.

The hard part is to get a pencil or the end of your scissors in there to help turn out the robot claws.

Stuff with fiberfill and close off the opening you left at the end.

Step 4: The Sum of All Parts...

You should now have a bunch of robot parts all over the place.

Wind the paracord around the leg parts to see how much you will need to be the trim.

Cut two pieces of the paracord to length and roast the ends in a flame to bind the loose fibers. Only do that if you are a professional - melted polyester is flammable and sticks like napalm.

Hot glue one end of the cord at the base. Wind around and secure with a drop of hot glue at the midpoint on the back. Finish the winding and hot glue the end in place.

With the hot glue gun all warmed up, might as well tack on the googly eyes to the sides of the hammerhead.