Materials And Supplies

1 yard 18 gauge galvenized wire

8 1/2 " x 11 " sheet of paper 7 yards raffia or craftstrip plastic lacing in contrasting colors (substitution: narrow ribbon, yarn, cord, twisted crepe paper)

Tools

pair of cutting pliers pencil pair of scissors ruler

These gay little animals are made of wire covered with raffia or plastic lacing. In the photograph the giraffe at the left was made of brown plastic lacing trimmed with red. The giraffe at the right was made of black raffia trimmed with white. Using the procedure described here, try other animals and build a menagerie of wire animals that stand.

Figure 54. Giraffes.

Procedure

1. Make a line drawing of the animal to scale using ruler, pencil, and paper. Fold the wire in half and pinch the fold with the pair of pliers so that the wires lie parallel to each other with a quarter inch space between. Beginning at the tip of the nose where you folded the wire in half, bend both wires together at the places indicated. Use the ruler and line drawing and compare the wire with the drawing as you proceed so that your results will be accurate. Go from A to B to C to D as indicated. The section from D back to E requires a slight half turn so that the legs form a U facing you. Go from E to F to G and back from G to F. With the pliers clip off the excess wire at F. Separate the ears by bending the ear wires slightly away from each other. Separate the leg wires so that the animal will stand.

Figure 55. Working Detail of Giraffe.

2. ;Begin wrapping the raffia or other material at point A. Use a contrasting color for one quarter of an inch then cover the ends and continue with the main color. Wrap the raffia tightly and have the layers overlap a little. (If using plastic lacing do not overlap the rows.) Guide the raffia between two fingers of one hand while turning the wire skeleton with the other hand. When you reach point B, wrap each ear separately and continue wrapping to point E. At the tip of each leg use a quarter of an inch wrapping of the contrasting color and cover the ends as you continue with the main color.

From E to D wrap each leg separately and double back to point E. In order to provide for additional thickness for the body, wrap from E to F, back to E, and again from E to F. This gives the body three layers whereas the legs have two layers. Again, wind the legs separately from F to G and double back to F. Make a few loops of raffia for the tail and tie securely.

3. ;Add a mane by making half inch loops over a finger of the contrasting color and tying them down by winding in between them with the main color. You can vary the way the mane is wrapped and tied on. The two giraffes in the photograph differ. The first one is wrapped as just described. The black and white giraffe has loops first sewed through the original winding and then adding a criss-cross wrapping of white raffia. This is done by winding diagonally one way, and then winding diagonally in the opposite direction.