Like many people, my Happy Place is most often found in my imagination and daydreams.

I wanted to have some really playful fun with my creation and invoke some childhood memories around the themes of imagination and wonder, and was struck by how much a piece of Abaca (received in a remnant pack from Petershams to experiment with) reminded me of the smoke blown by the Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland, to tell a tale with his hookah pipe prior to his transformation.

This led to planning a homage to the animated 1951 film scene that has stayed with me from many years ago, framed by the swirling smoke.

The caterpillar was constructed with offcuts of old blue and emerald sinamay over a row of cedar mothballs, (the irony made me so happy that I had to also use one for his wild little face.) and then sewn as if wearing a caterpillar shaped coat that he’s about to shed as he changes into the unknown, with individual arms made from thin millinery wire and gloved hands moulded from Sugru mouldable silicone glue (the remainder of which I used to finally fix my home shower rail, as I didn’t want to waste it.)

The mushroom is dotted with freshwater pearls and has a pleated brown viscose lining as a nod to the gills.

A bottle green sinamay button to evoke the lush forest surrounds (with a wood-inspired lining) allows the texture and colour of the smokey blue Abaca remnant piece to shine, and the latter is only wired down one side with a selection of small stitches to allow as much of the natural shape and structure of this fascinating material as possible.

Note: Entries have been not been edited or proofread to protect the integrity of the maker's original meaning.