# Fursuit questions time



## nicoga3000 (Feb 29, 2012)

I've decided I want to embark on crafting my own fursuit.  I'm really excited about it, but I've never actually done any sewing before.  I'm not terribly worried about that part - learning how to sew may actually be good for me!  On top of that, it's always fun to have a new craft up your sleeve, right?  

First, I had to spend some time deciding what I wanted to make.  Well, I found a fursuit done by Javacostumes - the Cedar bunny fursuit he/they did.  It's amazing!  I'm sure many of you are already aware of it, but here's a link JUST in case:

https://d.facdn.net/art/javacostumes/1239421863.half.javacostumes_cedar02.jpg

Here's my first question - is it considered "bad practice" to try and recreate a fursuit done by someone else (in a different color scheme)?  I realize "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" and all, but is it looked down upon for any reason?  I haven't seen any other bunnies that I've admired as much as that one, so that's sort of why I want to aim for that.  

With that said, I have a few questions about that fursuit in particular.  The legs and feet in particular...I know there's a name/category for that anatomy, but I'm not sure what it is.  Can someone help me out with it?  And on that, are there any good articles/tutorials discussing how to obtain that effect cleanly?

I appreciate any help you all can give!


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## Mutations2000 (Feb 29, 2012)

They're digitigrade legs, and you can find out how to achieve that effect here:
http://www.matrices.net/digitigrade.asp

Thats the tutorial I used to make mine, and they look pretty good.


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## Nae (Mar 3, 2012)

Bunnies are plantigrade though, they do not stand on their toes (like this: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5538838/ ) but stand like this: http://www.furaffinity.net/full/7310480/ .


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## Mutations2000 (Mar 3, 2012)

Yeah.  That kinda' confused me.  Cedar Bunny seems to have digitigrade legs, which isn't right at all.  I barely even noticed it at first, but then I took a closer look.  Either way, the OP should probably go with something more along the lines of the Kangaroo padding.


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## Calico-Feathers (Mar 5, 2012)

^What they said. Also please for all that is holy don't put pawpads on your bunny. I understand it's a creative freedom... thing but still. :| Rabbits don't have pawpads.

As for imitating suits... there's a lot of grey-area there. On the one hand most suit-makers that don't have a style all their own are going to be imitating another style (generally either MixedCandy or Don't Hug Cacti). Even Made for You is an imitation of DHC's style of making suits. As long as you're not copying the character directly there probably wouldn't be much backlash (expect people to say "Oh that looks like so-and-so's stuff." I get this and I never tried to imitate anyone's style. XD). However with people that have a very distinctive style (like Java) you'd probably see that a lot more.


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## Ozriel (Mar 5, 2012)

In a way, it is considered to be bad practice to copy a style; unless you were under an apprenticeship with let's say B3mascots or Mixed Candy, then breaking out of that style can be difficult.


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## nicoga3000 (Mar 6, 2012)

I never really thought about some of the things being brought up - it's all useful (and greatly appreciated!).  I'm only working on a felt body suit at the moment to learn how to sew and all, so I probably won't be delving into all these details for a short bit.  But once I get closer, I'll have to do more research on how to do the padding and such correctly.  The head is going to be a whole new experience entirely (seeing as I'm no artist AND I wear glasses...yikes!) - I'm excited for it, but it will create some new challenges, that's for sure!

As for imitation, I guess a bunny suit will have some similarities to every other bunny suit given that, ya know, they're all bunnies.  Certain practices and stylistic decisions are obviously unique to the designer, though.  I think those unique aspects to the suit design will show up slowly as I learn what I'm doing!


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## Flippy (Mar 6, 2012)

nicoga3000 said:


> I never really thought about some of the things being brought up - it's all useful (and greatly appreciated!).  I'm only working on a felt body suit at the moment to learn how to sew and all, so I probably won't be delving into all these details for a short bit.  But once I get closer, I'll have to do more research on how to do the padding and such correctly.  The head is going to be a whole new experience entirely (seeing as I'm no artist AND I wear glasses...yikes!) - I'm excited for it, but it will create some new challenges, that's for sure!
> 
> As for imitation, I guess a bunny suit will have some similarities to every other bunny suit given that, ya know, they're all bunnies.  Certain practices and stylistic decisions are obviously unique to the designer, though.  I think those unique aspects to the suit design will show up slowly as I learn what I'm doing!



I suggest trying to make a stuffed animal or sew something with cheap fabric before taking on this suit project. It really helps to already be in the rhythm of what your doing before working with expensive fabric. Fur or fleece mistakes are expensive versus $1 fabric scrap bin mistakes.


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## PapayaShark (Mar 6, 2012)

Calico-Feathers said:


> ^What they said. Also please for all that is holy don't put pawpads on your bunny. I understand it's a creative freedom... thing but still. :| Rabbits don't have pawpads.



And no dognose


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## nicoga3000 (Mar 6, 2012)

I will have to hunt down cheap fabric.  I got the fleece at like, $4 a yard, so that wasn't bad.  But if I can fund stuff at cheaper than that to practice with, that would b excellent!


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## Mutations2000 (Mar 6, 2012)

This may be _ever so slightly_ off topic, but let me just say this before I'm too late. Always *always ALWAYS *make a test suit out of a much cheaper fabric first.  Not only can you adjust the fitting in order to get it perfect, but it also saves a ton of fur.  For example, when working on my fursuit, I bought enough to make a single fursuit, with a little extra, just in case I screwed something up.  At this point, I should only have 1-2 yards, barely enough to make the head and footpaws, if even that.  Instead, I still have almost enough for an entire fursuit.  Now, there's still a chance I might seriously screw something up and waste a ton of that extra fur, but hey, at least I don't have to buy more.  Making a test suit may cost a lot of time (and I do mean a lot), but it has the potential to save you tons of money.


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## nicoga3000 (Mar 6, 2012)

Yeah, this is why I'm saving my coupons I get from Joann's and Michael's.    Gotta stock up on crappy material first!


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## narukiba (Mar 6, 2012)

I too am about to embark on a fursuit. My local hobby store has these random 90% off sales that make me want to kill someone cuz I got there the day after. What type of head should a begginer start with? I've heard that foam is easy, but it can be difficult. And from what I do know you should probably work on sewing straight lines. I know it sounds stupid but it helps and then move on to perfect traced out circles. Just be careful. My aunt told me when she first started sewing circles she literally sewed the dress she was wearing to the cleavage of another one cuz she wasn't paying attention.


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## nicoga3000 (Mar 6, 2012)

Questions on the head are smart...I haven't really started to think about how on earth I'm going to do that.


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## narukiba (Mar 6, 2012)

I suggest to start do the foam style simply because it is less work I think. Plus foam can be very cheap and it is a lot easier to work with than matrices. I was a high school mascot and the professional head I used was foam. It was very light weight and it held it's shape very well.


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## Mutations2000 (Mar 6, 2012)

Personally, I'd go with the "ninja hood" technique, although, that would require a mannequin head that matches the shape and dimensions of your head fairly accurately.  But, it's basically very similar to an all foam head.


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## narukiba (Mar 6, 2012)

That too. If you want an animated mouth an all foam won't work unless you are a pro and have the secret of fursuit making. I would like to make a plastic one with foam so I can have an animated mouth so I can smile and stuff. But that's also more work with the tongue and teeth.


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## Calico-Feathers (Mar 8, 2012)

narukiba said:


> That too.* If you want an animated mouth an all foam won't work unless you are a pro and have the secret of fursuit making.* I would like to make a plastic one with foam so I can have an animated mouth so I can smile and stuff. But that's also more work with the tongue and teeth.



That's actually not quite true. DrakonicKnight, for one, posted a very simple explanation of how to do an all-foam moving jaw. FryFuzzmutt has done them with small plastic hinges and WhiteWolf does very sensitive moving jaws on her all-foam bases. It's not some well-kept secret.


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## narukiba (Mar 8, 2012)

I mean it's not impossible. To me it just usually isn't that easy. I prototyped one and it turned into an immovable object.


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## Fay V (Mar 8, 2012)

It's actually extremely easy to make an all foam moving jaw. I'm not sure what tutorials you're looking at, but there's a lot of different ways to do it, the easiest is the balaclava method and you just have a bit of glue and elastic.

It's good you're getting into suit making, but I wouldn't suggest telling people what is and is not hard to do when you're not really knowledgable on the subject. It breeds misinformation. 

All foam heads
http://fursuit.tanidareal.com/savoy/en/03fmakeheada.htm
http://fursuit.livejournal.com/1334914.html#cutid1
http://www.matrices.net/balaclava.asp

Balaclava is a great method. You'll want a balaclava as a suiter anyway. It wicks sweat, and sweat will degrade foam over time.


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## narukiba (Mar 10, 2012)

I just meant my personal experience is that I used strictly foam and only foam and it was too rigid to easily move with my mouth.


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## nicoga3000 (Mar 10, 2012)

Ok, all the pieces are cut for my test suit. 

Also, I'll be sticking to a basic foam head for now.  Maybe I'll get extra creative later, but this is a good start for me!  Any particular type of foam I should be looking for?  Actually, better question would be if there's any good tutorials for getting started - cutting, gluing, etc.


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## Fay V (Mar 10, 2012)

narukiba said:


> I just meant my personal experience is that I used strictly foam and only foam and it was too rigid to easily move with my mouth.


Were you using soft foam or hard foam?



nicoga3000 said:


> Ok, all the pieces are cut for my test suit.
> Also, I'll be sticking to a basic foam head for now.  Maybe I'll get extra creative later, but this is a good start for me!  Any particular type of foam I should be looking for?  Actually, better question would be if there's any good tutorials for getting started - cutting, gluing, etc.


We have a sticky up top with a huge list of good tutorials and supplies. 
My advice for the head is make the expression more obvious than you think it ought to be, build up the eyebrows, cheeks, etc, because when you put fur on that expression becomes muted.


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