Making the peel-based cocoon

As the paper template didn't seem to be working that well, I thought I would try it using a different medium. I traced the lemon peel to make a template and decided to use free motion sewing, on dissolvable fabric.
 It turned out rather small.

I decided to enlarge it, using  the photo I had taken of the peel.  I took out the colour and highlighted the edges in Photoshop.  I used the actual photo so the proportions would stay the same.  I divided the image into four pieces and made them A4 sized.  I printed them out, stuck them together and traced it onto the dissolvable fabric.

You can see the smaller cocoon on the right of the template.

I used some small pieces of fabric to give depth and some stability to the free motion sewing.

Now I have a larger cocoon.  It still doesn't fit together as well as I envisaged but it doesn't matter as I am aiming to produce distressed, abandoned cocoons.

I am not that happy with it as the colours change too markedly for my taste.  However, it is a good sample and I am learning as I go.

lemon peel template

As I have been playing around with my cocoon theme, I have developed a few templates that I have adapted or devised myself. Someone mentioned that I might be able to use orange peel, done in a continuous piece, to give me a template for a sphere.
I looked around the internet and found some interesting images but not quite what I wanted.  I even found some mathematical sites that were of interest but a bit beyond me in terms of understanding what they were talking about! (Sample here)
So...
As I am interested in a more elliptical shape, rather than a sphere, I decided to try making my own, using a lemon.
I peeled it very carefully and took some photos to give me an idea of the proportions of the template, of the twists, etc.

The peel doesn't lie flat, so I will have to play around with the template to see what I can manage.


That is as far as I have got so far - now I need to decide how I am going to make it, what technique to use, etc.
I wonder if I could make a tapestry that shape?  Hmm, that is a lot of weaving for something that might not work.  I'll try it with paper first, or fabric.

The paper isn't working that well so far.

Perhaps that is because it is very flat, it might work better with a softer, more flexible fabric.  More play needed.