Meet Plush You! artist: Clare Knight

I'd like to introduce new Plush You! participant, Clare Knight!

Tell my readers a bit about yourself
Hi everyone, I am Clare Knight from Melbourne, Australia. I grew up in the back of my Mum’s fabric shop and have forever been cutting and stitching fabric, and more recently working with yarn. I completed a degree in Textile Design and have been working as a knitwear designer to this day. When I see a remnant of fabric it tells me a story and my mind boggles with the possibilities. My passions cover many areas; painting, drawing, art, sewing, knit and crochet, fashion, Freddie Mercury, toys, vintage toys, the 70’s, museums and galleries, the Rococo period and travelling. Please follow my tumblr for some great toy adventures http://pandiclare.tumblr.com/

What do you love most about making plush toys?
I have always loved creating something from almost nothing. My toys are made using very little fabric. I love discovering a rare scrap of fabric and seeing how many pattern pieces I can squeeze out of it. I love portraits and painting, so wanted to incorporate this into each toy. I love to try and capture a mood within each face and explore the characters expression and emotion.

Is this your full time job?
I am working full time as a designer and have been for the past 4 years. I am chipping away at my long term plan to create toys and paint full time!

What sites do you look at for inspiration?
I would probably choose a dusty book over a website for inspiration, but I do have my favourites. Etsy has been a long term mecca for shopping. I love Trendland and Style Bubble for my daily fashion fix and tumblr has great style. I also love Japanese fashion brands Milk and BSSB, they always have something syrupy sweet for me!

Did you do anything fun for the summer?
This would be my winter, I tried to rug up in a lot of different bright scarves. Chuck (my greyhound) and I put on our snow jackets and went for some fresh nature walks, I was very pleased to see the start of spring.