# Snow Leopard Tail (sewing spots and skeleton/wire??) HELP!



## kyobe kutanaga (Jun 29, 2013)

I am going to be making a snow leopard tail soon. I have fur, thread/needle, some elastic, stuffing, wire (not sure if I'll use yet).. and I think that's just about it. 

1.  I have been checking for tutorials and such for a loooong time but can't find anything. I want to know how I should do the inside of the tail for the "stiffness" so it's not too flexible but not too stiff it won't move. I recently bought a sort of thick (but still flexible) wire that I thought I might put inside of the tail so it's not so droopy, but not too stiff.. But, I have found some vague videos on how people have made tail skeletons out of water noodles and cut them up, then hot glued them together with a rope in the middle. I actually liked the idea and since it's still cheap. If I did that though, there weren't many tutorials on how to do it well as well as how to hot glue it so the pieces are secure together.
(vids I found that were good.. but didn't show how to do well enough for me to feel like I'm ready to repeat: here#1, here#2)

2.  My other question is how should I sew the spots on. I am not going to be painting or anything, but sewing each spot on directly. I know it'll take time but I don't have a problem with that. I will have it so that the main color is grey, the spot is black, and inside the spot is white. For the grey fur, do I cut out the spots of where I want them to be, then cut out the black to FILL those holes and sew them in directly? And then cut out a hole in the black to fill in white fur? I have seen someone sew pieces of fur together but like.. folding the fur so both side of the fur that are being sewn are coming towards you while sewing, instead of being flat fur just sewn (HERE: video)
(this is a site where I found someone kinda sewing spots in but they didn't SHOW how they did it. They didn't show if they cut the holes and sewed the other parts inside or what?)


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## Atrayu (Jun 30, 2013)

For your first question - I made a squirrel suit and the tail sticks up. I used two metal coat hangers inside the tail to make it stick up and to add a curve at the top. You could probably get away with one coat hanger to make it more flexible. 
For your second question - Uh, ya. Good luck with that.


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## kyobe kutanaga (Jun 30, 2013)

Could you tell me how you used the coat hangers inside the tail? Did you use the two next to eachother, intertwined, 1 line..? And how did you go about with the ends of it? Did you bend them or attach them inside the tail so it doesn't move? 
I'm trying to think on if I use the wire that I bought, if I just cut the length of it for the tail, have it bent, and bend it so it's round at each end so it's not sharp, and just let it sit inside with the stuffing.. but if I do that, the wire might go to the bottom or top of the tail, making it kinda awkward.. compared to the wire being in the MIDDLE of the tail at all times..?? not sure yet



Atrayu said:


> For your first question - I made a squirrel suit and the tail sticks up. I used two metal coat hangers inside the tail to make it stick up and to add a curve at the top. You could probably get away with one coat hanger to make it more flexible.
> For your second question - Uh, ya. Good luck with that.


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## DerpyTurtle (Jun 30, 2013)

For sewing, yes, you would cut out every piece where each spot would go (rather than just sewing things on top of each other if that's what you're trying to ask.) You might want a little bit of seam allowance too, when I sewed a spot on a bunny tail the area around it got really bunched up. But maybe that was just a fail on my part. :V

As for your first question... you don't need wire period. Shape and stuff it right and you won't have a problem. It's not like it's a tail that sticks up or out and really NEEDS wire support. The foam skeleton tutorials are for tails that would kinda swish side to side when you walk, and since you were planning to have wire it wouldn't do that anyways. You can just stuff it, and if you stuff it more lightly a giant tail can actually be incredibly light and flexible. If it's really stiff and heavy then you crammed it with more stuffing than you need.


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## kyobe kutanaga (Jun 30, 2013)

Yeah I guess you're right about the wire thing.. shouldn't need I guess, but if the tip of the tail is going to be turned up a little, I want to know it's more figured than just droopy though. 

For the sewing, this is what I meant: Should I sew the spots on so they look like this-> http://seekatesew.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/MG_3501.jpg the fabric comes up and is sewn like that? But since the spots are irregular, wouldn't that cause bad wrinkles and stuff sewing it like that ^?



DerpyTurtle said:


> For sewing, yes, you would cut out every piece where each spot would go (rather than just sewing things on top of each other if that's what you're trying to ask.) You might want a little bit of seam allowance too, when I sewed a spot on a bunny tail the area around it got really bunched up. But maybe that was just a fail on my part. :V
> 
> As for your first question... you don't need wire period. Shape and stuff it right and you won't have a problem. It's not like it's a tail that sticks up or out and really NEEDS wire support. The foam skeleton tutorials are for tails that would kinda swish side to side when you walk, and since you were planning to have wire it wouldn't do that anyways. You can just stuff it, and if you stuff it more lightly a giant tail can actually be incredibly light and flexible. If it's really stiff and heavy then you crammed it with more stuffing than you need.


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## DerpyTurtle (Jun 30, 2013)

You still won't need wire just for the tip to curve. You shape it like that in the pattern and stuff it. It's not just going to flop down when it's sewed and stuffed. XD

Yeah, you'd sew the pieces with the fur sides together. As for the wrinkles, if you mean solely because of the seams from the markings being sewn together, that doesn't cause wrinkles on the outside. It'd be completely smooth. But like I said you might want a little bit of seam allowance so it doesn't get all scrunched up around the spots.


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## kyobe kutanaga (Jun 30, 2013)

to clarify, bu "seam allowance" do you mean to make the stitches looser, or have the fur cut further out so I have more space to make the stitches?



DerpyTurtle said:


> You still won't need wire just for the tip to curve. You shape it like that in the pattern and stuff it. It's not just going to flop down when it's sewed and stuffed. XD
> 
> Yeah, you'd sew the pieces with the fur sides together. As for the wrinkles, if you mean solely because of the seams from the markings being sewn together, that doesn't cause wrinkles on the outside. It'd be completely smooth. But like I said you might want a little bit of seam allowance so it doesn't get all scrunched up around the spots.


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## DerpyTurtle (Jun 30, 2013)

2nd one .. that's what seam allowance is lol

So basically I would suggest just making the spots slightly bigger than the hole they'd be sewn into. Otherwise like I said the material around it tends to get really scrunched up when it's sewed to the spot.


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## kyobe kutanaga (Jun 30, 2013)

lol, alright. And would you suggest making the holes and spots bigger or only the holes big and the spots the "right" size? i should really get some practice materials to just try it out.. haha. wish i had some though :c



DerpyTurtle said:


> 2nd one .. that's what seam allowance is lol
> 
> So basically I would suggest just making the spots slightly bigger than the hole they'd be sewn into. Otherwise like I said the material around it tends to get really scrunched up when it's sewed to the spot.


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## LegitWaterfall (Jun 30, 2013)

1) No clue O.O

2) Shave the fur down where you want the spots to go, then hand sew or glue the spots on. Either way they will be durable and strong.


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## kyobe kutanaga (Jun 30, 2013)

So for the spots, you suggest for the grey fur (the base of the whole tail) that where i want the spots to go, i shave the whole "spot", and sew on the black spot in the place? then shave in the black spot where i will sew in the white fur? so... itll be like 3 layers? that sounds kinda odd though? wouldnt it be better to just cut the holes out and sewn them in?



LegitWaterfall said:


> 1) No clue O.O
> 
> 2) Shave the fur down where you want the spots to go, then hand sew or glue the spots on. Either way they will be durable and strong.


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## Hutch (Jul 1, 2013)

kyobe kutanaga said:


> 2.  My other question is how should I sew the spots on. I am not going to be painting or anything, but sewing each spot on directly. I know it'll take time but I don't have a problem with that. I will have it so that the main color is grey, the spot is black, and inside the spot is white. For the grey fur, do I cut out the spots of where I want them to be, then cut out the black to FILL those holes and sew them in directly? And then cut out a hole in the black to fill in white fur? I have seen someone sew pieces of fur together but like.. folding the fur so both side of the fur that are being sewn are coming towards you while sewing, instead of being flat fur just sewn
> (this is a site where I found someone kinda sewing spots in but they didn't SHOW how they did it. They didn't show if they cut the holes and sewed the other parts inside or what?)


yes, that's how you would do it but swap the process around.   Start with sewing the white spots on the black fur, then sew the black with the white spot already sewn onto the grey fur.  As for cutting and sewing, the OUTSIDE edge of the white should have a little bit extra (quarter inch at most) and the INSIDE  and OUTSIDE edge of the black should have that too, then just the INSIDE edge of the grey would have that.  Basically any edge that will be sewn to another edge, make a seam allowance.  Did that make sense?    Also double check all your fur direction before you cut the fur, that can make the whole suit look wonky if the spots are going in the wrong direction.  Especially spotted spots .  I can try and draw it out for you if my explanation isn't clear lol  (not that my drawing is going to be any better lol :^)


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## DerpyTurtle (Jul 1, 2013)

kyobe kutanaga said:


> So for the spots, you suggest for the grey fur (the base of the whole tail) that where i want the spots to go, i shave the whole "spot", and sew on the black spot in the place? then shave in the black spot where i will sew in the white fur? so... itll be like 3 layers? that sounds kinda odd though? wouldnt it be better to just cut the holes out and sewn them in?



o-o You don't need to shave anything. DO NOT sew/glue markings over top of things. That's not how you do markings.


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## Bladespark (Jul 1, 2013)

DerpyTurtle said:


> o-o You don't need to shave anything. DO NOT sew/glue markings over top of things. That's not how you do markings.



Depends on who "you" is.    I applique markings on top of things all the time!  







 for example has some of his markings sewn in integrally, but some like the "scales" on his feet and the yellow feathers on his wings are sewn on top after he was finished and stuffed.

I highly recommend doing that by hand though, top stitching with a machine is a lot harder to get right.  You'll want to do some practice first, probably.  But cutting out your basic tail shape should give you lots of scraps to play with.  Try sewing in spots various ways, and when you get one that looks good, you can do that to the rest of the tail.


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## DerpyTurtle (Jul 1, 2013)

Bladespark said:


> Depends on who "you" is.    I applique markings on top of things all the time!
> 
> for example has some of his markings sewn in integrally, but some like the "scales" on his feet and the yellow feathers on his wings are sewn on top after he was finished and stuffed.
> 
> I highly recommend doing that by hand though, top stitching with a machine is a lot harder to get right.  You'll want to do some practice first, probably.  But cutting out your basic tail shape should give you lots of scraps to play with.  Try sewing in spots various ways, and when you get one that looks good, you can do that to the rest of the tail.




AppliquÃ©ing things is a bit different, but you still don't do that with regular markings like you just said about the other markings. You only did it with the fleece things. Sewing fur markings on top of each other on a tail is not going to look or feel good. 

That plushie is adorable btw.


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## kyobe kutanaga (Jul 2, 2013)

do you mean to sew the fur so its like this (the fur pieces will be next to eachother, sewn next to eachother. no overlapping) http://cariferraro.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/FabricWatercolorExperiments3.jpg

or you mean like this: http://seekatesew.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/MG_3501.jpg
If you mean so it's sewn like this^ , wouldnt it cause wrinkles in the fur cause the spots aren't circular, but irregular circles like blobs so they, when sewn, will be weird.



Hutch said:


> yes, that's how you would do it but swap the process around.   Start with sewing the white spots on the black fur, then sew the black with the white spot already sewn onto the grey fur.  As for cutting and sewing, the OUTSIDE edge of the white should have a little bit extra (quarter inch at most) and the INSIDE  and OUTSIDE edge of the black should have that too, then just the INSIDE edge of the grey would have that.  Basically any edge that will be sewn to another edge, make a seam allowance.  Did that make sense?    Also double check all your fur direction before you cut the fur, that can make the whole suit look wonky if the spots are going in the wrong direction.  Especially spotted spots .  I can try and draw it out for you if my explanation isn't clear lol  (not that my drawing is going to be any better lol :^)


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## Bladespark (Jul 2, 2013)

I DO do that with fur, and I've done it with leopard spots. It's just a real pain when you have to do so many little bitty bits, so I generally paint leopard spots on.    But I really don't know why you say it can't be done.  It works just fine.

Thank you though.  I think it's one of my nicer ones.


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## Hutch (Jul 2, 2013)

kyobe kutanaga said:


> do you mean to sew the fur so its like this (the fur pieces will be next to eachother, sewn next to eachother. no overlapping) http://cariferraro.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/FabricWatercolorExperiments3.jpg
> 
> or you mean like this: http://seekatesew.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/MG_3501.jpg
> If you mean so it's sewn like this^ , wouldnt it cause wrinkles in the fur cause the spots aren't circular, but irregular circles like blobs so they, when sewn, will be weird.



For example your white spot is a 2 inch triangle sewing that to the black spot which is a 4 inch square and sewing that onto your grey tail.

trace a 2 inch triangle the exact shape and size of the spot you want onto paper, also trace a 4 inch square the exact shape and size you want onto paper.  Cut those out

Trace the 4 inch square onto your black fur (remembering the fur directions) and then trace about a quarter inch BIGGER past the lines of the paper cut out.  Cut out the black fur on the bigger line.

Then take your Triangle paper and put that on the back of the black fur exactly where you want it to go and trace that.  Then trace about a quarter inch SMALLER past the lines of the paper cut out.  You trace smaller because you need MORE fur to sew with.  Cut out the triangle on the smaller lines of the black fur.
Take that same triangle paper and put it on the back of the white fur (remember the fur directions) and trace it.  Trace again a quarter inch BIGGER on the white (again you need more fur to sew with)  Cut out on the bigger line of the white fur.

Lay those together in place fur side up and check to make sure there is some overlap, should be a quarter inch.  Then flip it over and pinch the edges together and sew in place a quarter inch in all the way around.  There shouldn't be any puckering because it's such a small seam allowance.  Flip it over and brush it out.  You can allways trim closer to the sewing thread once you are done sewing if you feel you need to.

Then just repeat with the black and grey.  Since you cut out the square bigger already, all you have to do is take your paper square and lay it on the back of the grey fur exactly where you want it to go and trace another line a quarter inch SMALLER (more fur).  Then do the same thing, lay them together and turn it over and stitch it in place a quarter inch in.

I have no idea what's going on in that second picture but it looks like they are putting in lining not spots.
it should look like this on the inside.
http://i42.tinypic.com/2n07uih.jpg
and this on the outside
http://i44.tinypic.com/am83go.jpg

There is alot of steps yes, especially since you are doing spoted spots but it should look really cool when you are done.  It'll just take a while and some patience thats all.


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