| Sew a plush companion cube for a Portal addict! Dec 13th 2012, 08:00 Are you looking for the perfect holiday or birthday gift for your household's Portal addict? (Are you perhaps the addict?) Here's an awesome sewing project that is sure to hit all the right buttons. The Weighted Companion Cube from Portal is an unassuming block which GLaDOS the evil computer gives to each player. Players carry it around for a while but must incinerate it to complete the tasks set by GLaDOS. GLaDOS then lays on a huge guilt trip for your inhumane acts of killing off your "only friend". Now, however, you can have your cake and companion cube too... by following the directions below. - Obtain your needed materials. (See "Things You'll Need" listed below.) Copy or paste the JPG pattern below into a word processor for easier resizing and printing.
Pattern for the plush companion cube. - Resize the pattern to the cube size you want. Bear in mind that you may need to adjust quantities of fabric, stuffing and foam for larger cubes. The quantities given in this article are enough to create an 8 inch (20cm) plush cube.
- Print off at least six copies of the pattern.
- Add a half an inch (1 cm) wide perimeter to your square for a seam allowance.
- Cut six squares (include the seam allowance) each of your batting, the light grey fleece and the dark grey fleece.
- Use the pattern to cut six hearts from the pink fleece.
- Cut twelve half inch (1 cm) wide strips of pink fleece that are the length of a side of the cube. These will be the first things sewn.
- Fold each grey square in half to find the horizontal and vertical center lines.
- Sew a half inch (1 cm) pink strip to each of the center lines to form a cross in the exact center of the square. Make two parallel lines of stitching approximately 1/4 inch (6 mm) from each other on each pink strip. Trim the excess fabric away to leave only the narrow pink lines.
- Layer the batting and light grey fleece squares over the dark grey squares and their pink lines.
- Lay one of the paper patterns over your fabric and batting sandwich. Take care to line up the pink lines from the pattern with the underlying pink lines you sewed onto the bottom, dark grey, layer.
- Pin carefully. Take care to line up the sewn pink lines with the pattern.
- Using a fairly short stitch, sew along the pattern lines on the paper. Back stitch each section as you sew it, to prevent the seam unraveling. Lift the needle and pressure foot between each section. (Don't stitch any extra or connecting lines between sections.)
Sew along the lines with a short machine stitch. Remember, the pink lines are ALREADY sewn, and you can ignore those lines during this step. - Remove the fabric and paper sandwich from the machine. The paper should tear away from the fabric along the seam lines fairly easily, since the needle holes create a perforated line as you sew. Remove all the pattern paper.
- Orient and center a pink heart in the center circle. Pin it in place and top stitch it carefully to the center.
- Place the tip of a sharp pair of scissors between the bottom, dark grey, layer and the batting layer.
Cut away the top two layers over areas where dark grey needs to show through. - Cut away the light grey layer and the batting layer from only the areas which should be dark grey. (Center "O" and the lines going out from it to the edge.)
- Trim away the edges neatly, taking care not to nick the seam or bottom, dark grey, layer.
- Repeat the process 5 more times.
- Carefully center each of your assembled cube sides and mark the side seam lines with washable pen or tailors chalk on the back side. You will place the squares "facing together" or "right sides" together for sewing, so marking on the "back" or "wrong" side will give you a line to sew along and help you keep your cube sides absolutely square and perfect. A straight edge and a 90 degree angle are helpful. You can also use a paper pattern piece cut along the seam lines as a guide.
- Baste or pin the seam lines to help keep the layers together during assembly. Take special care to line up and pin the edges of the light grey sections. If they are sewn askew, it is very noticeable in the finished product. It can be quite difficult to unpick the seams to fix later.
- Sew your sides together with "right" or "outside" faces together. Back stitch all seams to prevent raveling. Leave one side unsewn for stuffing. It is best to sew the four sides and top together first and stuff from the bottom so that the hand sewn closing seam is less visible in the finished product. Trim the seams carefully to make it easier to turn them right side out.
- Trim all seam allowances and miter the corners for easy turning.
- Cut the foam sheets for the sides. Notice that you cannot simply cut six equal pieces. You must cut two squares and 4 rectangles to cover the cube neatly. In the case of an 8 inch (20cm) cube, assuming that your foam is one inch (2 cm) thick, the cube's sides would be: four 8"x7" (20cm x 17.5cm) rectangles and two 6" (15cm) squares.
- Measure twice and be certain of your measurements before you cut the foam to prevent frustration later. The foam sheets are not "strictly" necessary, but they prevent your cube from taking on a very rounded look when stuffed later on.
- Adjust your measurements if you are using a thicker foam sheet or a foam cube as a base.
- Turn the cube right side out and begin stuffing by placing the foam sheets inside along each flat surface. Depending on the foam used, you may need to glue or sew the foam pieces together along their edges before stuffing to prevent shape deformation.
- Complete stuffing the cube by filling the center hollow with fiberfill stuffing.
- Blind stitch the remaining side closed. Enjoy!
- "The Enrichment Center reminds you that the Weighted Companion Cube will never threaten to stab you and, in fact, cannot speak. In the event that the Weighted Companion Cube does speak, the Enrichment Center urges you to disregard its advice." ―GLaDOS(src)
Edit Warnings - Take appropriate safety measures with scissors, etc.
Edit Things You'll Need - Sewing machine and sewing notions such as thread, scissors, pins, etc.
- A half yard (46cm) each of light grey fleece and dark grey fleece
- A quarter yard (23cm) of pink fleece
- A half yard (46cm) of quilt batting
- A bag of pillow stuffing material
- One inch (2.5cm) thick foam sheet (enough for six sides of your cube to help maintain it's shape when stuffed.)
- A Companion Cube pattern. Copy/paste the JPG into Word for easy resizing/enlarging and printing.
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