# First fur suit disasters



## JJ_Husk (Nov 15, 2021)

So I am curious to know what was your first fur suit and if you had issues with it. I will go first, I commissioned my first suit right before FC2020. I got the suit durning con and the day before the fur suit parade. I put it on for the first time and everything is wrong about. The strap that was suppose to hold it to my was not done right, the talking jaw was held together by nails and popsicle sticks, the eyes where static even though I asked for fallow me eyes, the top of the head had a bulge like a Deadpool mask. The hands where put together poorly and everything shed. I had to do fast repairs and edits right before the fursuit parade. The head kept slipping forward blocking my way to breath and I had to tilt my head in away to keep getting air, I walked the parade and took off the suit in my room very disappointed and feel like I just wasted 980 dollars. This was my first fur suit .


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## TyraWadman (Nov 15, 2021)

Hard to see it when it's not really in focus.  But I've heard plenty of horror stories from others here. TuT


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## Shyy (Nov 15, 2021)

Well, I managed to catch my first Protogen head on fire, while wearing it. Fortunately, no damage to me, but the workings were a loss- had a li-ion battery pack start going "nuclear" in my frontal visor area. <that> was an eye-opener!!!!


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## JJ_Husk (Nov 15, 2021)

TyraWadman said:


> Hard to see it when it's not really in focus.  But I've heard plenty of horror stories from others here. TuT


Only picture of me in suit I could find.


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## JJ_Husk (Nov 15, 2021)

Shyy said:


> Well, I managed to catch my first Protogen head on fire, while wearing it. Fortunately, no damage to me, but the workings were a loss- had a li-ion battery pack start going "nuclear" in my frontal visor area. <that> was an eye-opener!!!!


I am glad you where not injured.


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## Kellan Meig'h (Nov 18, 2021)

Well, my first suit was a Siberian Husky and it was what is known in the suiting circles as a Zero Suit. It's your first one that you make, it's the one that you put on, look in the mirror and say "Holy WTF!" at what you see. It gets put in the closet and never worn at a 'con. It's what you learn to make suits with.

Many, many mistakes were made. Fur cut the wrong direction, Two left leg sets were made, then mass frustration trying to set up my serger to serge the pieces together. Better than hand stitching, the seams are literally invisible when done right. The head base was done in Epoxy-glass on a buck created from a life cast of my head. Had to cut it apart to get it off the buck. Had to fiddle with it endlessly to get it back together. I sat the parts down on my work bench to finish curing for a day and they distorted while doing so, not wanting to go back together afterward. I lost my mind when I discovered I had put the zipper in upside down. that was two days of work to reverse the zipper. there were other issues but yeah, that first suit was a nightmare.


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## Shyy (Nov 18, 2021)

Wow. *blinks* that was a disaster, from the description.


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## JJ_Husk (Nov 19, 2021)

Kellan Meig'h said:


> Well, my first suit was a Siberian Husky and it was what is known in the suiting circles as a Zero Suit. It's your first one that you make, it's the one that you put on, look in the mirror and say "Holy WTF!" at what you see. It gets put in the closet and never worn at a 'con. It's what you learn to make suits with.
> 
> Many, many mistakes were made. Fur cut the wrong direction, Two left leg sets were made, then mass frustration trying to set up my serger to serge the pieces together. Better than hand stitching, the seams are literally invisible when done right. The head base was done in Epoxy-glass on a buck created from a life cast of my head. Had to cut it apart to get it off the buck. Had to fiddle with it endlessly to get it back together. I sat the parts down on my work bench to finish curing for a day and they distorted while doing so, not wanting to go back together afterward. I lost my mind when I discovered I had put the zipper in upside down. that was two days of work to reverse the zipper. there were other issues but yeah, that first suit was a nightmare.


It seems like issues come from the first fursuit you have.


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## Kellan Meig'h (Nov 19, 2021)

JJ_Husk said:


> It seems like issues come from the first fursuit you have.


that is why it's called the "Zero Suit." You never wear it to a 'con and you learn from those mistakes you made the first time.

Although, it would seem many suiters wear that Zero Suit to the 'con, regardless.


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## JJ_Husk (Dec 5, 2021)

Kellan Meig'h said:


> that is why it's called the "Zero Suit." You never wear it to a 'con and you learn from those mistakes you made the first time.
> 
> Although, it would seem many suiters wear that Zero Suit to the 'con, regardless.


I see that happens a lot too.


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## PGUM-01(P) (Dec 13, 2021)

Nothing to report just yet, although I expect to have a story as I begin my Protogen in the future...I shall update as necessary. I don't want to catch fire. I'm not equipped for that! If I had to take a wild guess, I'll probably botch something regarding the fur portions.


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## Paulosaurus (Jan 1, 2022)

I've got some first-fursuit story-time:

This was in late 2012. I'd been a lurker in the furry fandom since the mid-90s but only recently (at the time) gotten directly involved with the local fur community. A good friend of mine commissioned a suit of his own from a professional maker, it was very well-made and fit what he wanted. However, being a newb and uninformed in such matters, I was shocked when I found out how much my friend had paid for his suit. I had an "I could make that...." moment. Only, I actually followed through with it.

I did the most brief and basic of research on sewing and suit tutorials. As my own 'sona is a dinosaur, and at the time there were quite few scalies running around besides the occasional dragon, there wasn't a lot of resources for what I had in mind, so I kinda winged it to an extent. On a budget of maybe $200 USD, I threw together a rudimentary partial over the course of about 2 weeks just before Further Confusion 2013. I did a great many things wrong.

I made a resin head base, but used the wrong clay and made the sculpt slightly too small. Then instead of proper molding and casting supplies, I made a one-use mold of silicone caulk reinforced with acrylic paint. I could just barely fit the finished head, but it physically hurt my face to wear for more than 15-20 minutes at a time. I bought bargain-bin fabric with pretty much zero stretch or give and used one of those cheap hand-held sewing machines for the stitching, so the whole mess barely held together and constantly strained its seams. Plus with the total rush-job, the suit looked less allosaurus and more the Gorn.

Still, despite the total cringe, I was inspired to reiterate on the character, and over several years and multiple other suits made eventually got to where I am now in suit-making.

Evolution of Paulosaurus heads:


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