Crochet Demiguise
In a KNUTshell
- The Demiguise is approximately 16cm tall
- Their body, arms and legs are crocheted in Phildar 'Nonours' yarn.
- Their snout and paws are crocheted in Stylecraft 'Bellisima' yarn.
- Their eyes are hand-painted gold and are secured with safety backs.
- They are stuffed with recycled polyester filling.
- While all my beasties are made with love and care, they are not CE-tested, so are not intended as toys for young children
The Beastie Backstory
From the moment I saw the Demiguise in the first 'Fantastic Beasts' film, I felt an instant connection. Not only was he visually such a striking, soulful and docile creature, I resonated with his desire to 'hide away' from the all too antagonistic human world - not least because they try to use him (or his coat) for their own ends.
As a passionate advocate of animal rights, along with sometimes feeling quite out of step with the human world myself, I felt a deep desire to protect this magical, docile creature... just as Newt does!
Additionally, with its ability to see into the future, not to mention its inherently peaceable nature, the Demiguise embodies just how much magic can be found in the non-human world - if only we open our eyes a little wider, and stop seeing it through an anthropocentric lens (how their pelts can be used to make invisibility cloaks).
In a KNUTshell, for me the Demiguise symbolises why animal rights are so important in both Wizarding and Muggle Worlds, and why humans need to remember this.
The Design Story
For all these reasons, I was determined to design a Demiguise pattern that truly captured all these magical qualities. The hardest part was finding the right yarn, as many faux fur yarns are either too bulky, or not fluffy enough! I eventually found one by Belgian Brand "Phildar", which truly feels woven by magic! Not only does it have this almost colour-changing quality, appearing more blue in certain lights and silvery grey in others; is at once incredibly cuddly, but also light as a feather.
Additionally, when it came to one of their most striking visual features - those future-seeing eyes, I had the idea to use Cat Eyes but turn the pupil round horizontally - the effect truly exceeded all expectations, especially when I switched to hand-painting my eyes and using the Barry M "gold luxe" nail polish. Like the fur, this polish has the magical ability to shift colour in different lights!
Your Story
As with all other Spew Crew beasties, each demiguise is handmade to my own pattern, so is 100% exclusive to Bumble and Be. As they are made-to-order, it means that no two will be quite the same, but I like to think that is part of their magic - just like an Ollivander wand!
Every single demiguise adopted will also come with their own exclusive adoption card and "beastie book badge", which I make from the secondhand pages of Harry Potter books. Before your beastie flies off to you, I will ask if you have a name in mind and - if so - put this onto the adoption card. On that note, this name will often form the basis for the book badge too; for example, past customers have called Demiguises Albus and Lily, so I have chosen passages with these names included!
Note: MY BEASTIES are inspired by the Wizarding World, but have no affiliation with JK Rowling/Warner Brothers.