It's been a few months in the making, but it's finally completed! Made for a Google employee, the Android design is an homage to the Google phone software. It was quite fun to improvise its design throughout the process, as when sewing, I usually have some image of what I hope for it to turn out like, but with this droid, the design was always evolving and improving.
Its body was free-hand sewn to the base with the sewing machine, the rest was hand sewn. The stitches of conductive thread on the back were sewn using running stitch, and the two base pieces were sewn using blanket stitch - a nice stitch to make it look very finished and professional. Since the original Android design has two white circles - like negative space - for its eyes, that prompted me to use two large, white LEDs for the eyes. I modified and cleaned up he path for a simple circuit that I used for the Maker Bot and used it with the Android, as well, but decided to cover up the battery with a backpack with "Ed Foo 2016" spelled out on the top of the lid of the pack (the letters were cut out using the laser cutter). I also included another element from the Maker Bot: a switch in the right shoulder of the droid to easily turn the eyes on and off to save the battery.
Overall, I'm very satisfied with the outcome. It really helped me practice my hand sewing, and I do think that the stitches came out (for the most part) very even. It's definitely not perfect, though, with one slightly crooked arm and wonky sewing along the green body pieces with the sewing machine, but it gives it charm, right?! Below are a bunch of photos of the finished product and the last steps of the process.
See you next year!
The Android with its eyes turned on.
A closeup of the backpack.
The front of the droid.
The entire back of the bot.
A closeup of the process of connecting the eyes to the conductive thread.
Sewing up the Android using blanket stitch. (The double pins mark the spot that I would stop sewing to stuff the droid using poly fiberfill.)