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This is the official APRA Arizona Salsa Festival logo. The mission - first to have a successful event so that APRA can keep on, keeping on; and second for me to produce a life size "tortilla chip" to be the mascot of the inaugural event!
So there is NO pattern for a giant chip - or pizza, sponge or cheese wedge. Trust me, I looked and scoured the Internet for ANYTHING remotely close. Nope! I was on my own. So the first thing I did was get dimensions and of course make them larger than life :)
I carefully scaled my salty friend and then went to the craft store. This is what Chip started out at...
A pile of tan felt. I started with the eyes, one so that I wouldn't get confused when cutting the larger pieces of fabric. But also, in the making of the eyes, Chip immediately had character, and it gave me the extra boost I needed to actually "see" that I could do this. Well once the piece were cut, it did not take long to sew together. I soon had a felt "shell" of a chip and next I added it's color. Without the orange, brown and added darker tan (like the logo) - it kinda looked like pizza dough or a sponge.
Next came the hardest point for me, which was making Chip structurally sound and actually "crisp looking, or remotely triangular. I first tried plastic mesh from a hobby store but the weight of the costume weighed the corners down, and once the persons head was in - it just drooped to almost their shoulders. I also didn't want to use anything to "industrial" because people would need to be comfortable in their and I didn't want the costume to weight a ton from a bunch of steel rods. I also needed it to be "squishy" like a mascot and pliable - so wooden dowels wouldn't work - they would just snap if under pressure. What to do?
I figured it out! Unfortunately, the artist added a sombrero to Chip, so keeping a hat on him, and finding a hat big enough was the next step. Then instead of slaving away over making orange tights and a shirt for the "under ware" I bought GOLD colored cotton blend Haynes. A long sleeve shirt and sweat bottoms (which have not arrived yet) off of Amazon because it is a rare color and not carried in stores.
Supplies and materials at craft store = $59.45, a hat at the costume store = $19.99, Sweats on Amazon, plus shipping = $54.97.
Total cost = $134.41
Total time = approx. 20 hours
One of my favorite pics of Chip - dancing at the Salsa Festival. He made it! From office floor to standing (dancing) at event!
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