# Getting a fursuit tailored?



## soak (Jan 2, 2014)

Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I have a few questions about getting a fursuit tailored.
I found a premade fursuit that I would really love to have for a great, reasonable price, and I was thinking about getting it since I've wanted a fursuit for awhile now and I'm short on funds. It seems really well made, cute, yadda yadda. 
The problem with it is that the suit is made for, well, bigger people, and I'm really small. 

*I am wondering:*
Would it be smart for me to get the suit anyway and have it tailored?
This leads to further questioning. 
Would a run-of-the-mill tailor who most likely has no experience with fursuits be able to adjust it for me, or would it look like crap? (I would ask a fursuit builder to do it for me, but then I'd have to pay for postage both ways)
How much would this cost? (I have no experience in getting things tailored)

And finally, _is there a way to adjust the suit myself so that I could wear it and not have to get it tailored at all?_ (Keep in mind that the suit is considerably bigger than I am). I have heard of something called "bunching" to adjust fursuits, but I tried to research it and found nothing.

The person selling the fursuit unfortunately has no experience in building or adjusting fursuits, so I can't ask them to fix it up for me before selling it. 

Sorry for bombarding you all with these questions! I am relatively new to getting serious about the whole fursuiting thing, and I'm sorry if my questions seem dumb or have been answered before.


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## Willow (Jan 3, 2014)

I guess it would depend on what you mean by bigger people. I'm assuming you mean height wise in which case, all you'd probably have to do is either hem the arms and legs or simply cut off the excess. 

If it's too baggy you can also pop the seams (you can buy seam rippers from most fabric stores for a few dollars), trim off what you want, and sew it back up.

Having a sewing machine would be helpful in either scenario though.


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## soak (Jan 3, 2014)

Willow said:


> I guess it would depend on what you mean by bigger people. I'm assuming you mean height wise in which case, all you'd probably have to do is either hem the arms and legs or simply cut off the excess.
> 
> If it's too baggy you can also pop the seams (you can buy seam rippers from most fabric stores for a few dollars), trim off what you want, and sew it back up.
> 
> Having a sewing machine would be helpful in either scenario though.



If I brought it to a tailor to have them do it for me would I need to bring extra fur or anything? Thanks for the reply, by the way, it's much appreciated!


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## Willow (Jan 3, 2014)

soak said:


> If I brought it to a tailor to have them do it for me would I need to bring extra fur or anything? Thanks for the reply, by the way, it's much appreciated!


I'm not entirely sure on that unfortunately so I'd get in touch with a tailor and see. 

And no problem.


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## Matt Conner (Jan 3, 2014)

Take it to a tailor, that would be hilarious! In any case, I'm sure they'll be able to fix it for you, and be grateful for your business too, tailor's gotta be a tough profession these days.


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## Trpdwarf (Jan 3, 2014)

I highly doubt that a run of a mill tailor would be able to fix the suit to your size. You're going to need someone who has experience beyond just clothing. It doesn't hurt to ask but...I'd be wary.


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## powderhound (Jan 3, 2014)

I think a real seamstress would have no problem making it 10x better than what you started with. They are professionals, not high school students with their moms sewing machines (who make a fair number of suits out there). I have always been amazed by them. I had a drysuit liner (similar to a fursuit but way more complicated) issued to me too big. I brought it by a seamstress and she made it perfect. XL->M. It was cheap too. I don't know how they did it but that's why they are professionals. As long as your materials are good they should be able to down size most things.

However baggy fursuits don't look bad so I'm not sure it's worth all the bother.


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## soak (Jan 3, 2014)

powderhound said:


> I think a real seamstress would have no problem making it 10x better than what you started with. They are professionals, not high school students with their moms sewing machines (who make a fair number of suits out there). I have always been amazed by them. I had a drysuit liner (similar to a fursuit but way more complicated) issued to me too big. I brought it by a seamstress and she made it perfect. XL->M. It was cheap too. I don't know how they did it but that's why they are professionals. As long as your materials are good they should be able to down size most things.
> 
> However baggy fursuits don't look bad so I'm not sure it's worth all the bother.



Thank you so much for the help, that makes me feel a lot better. I know baggy fursuits don't look all that bad, but well, the model who is wearing the fursuit in the photo is 6'2 -> 190 pounds, and I'm around 5'1 ~105 pounds. xD So I think that getting it tailored would be worth it in the long run, as I'm not entirely sure how to bunch things.

If you don't mind, do you remember around how much it was to get done?


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## powderhound (Jan 3, 2014)

It was $200, but it was pro. The liner was prob worth over $1K. I couldn't tell it from new. I think you could figure something like $20 a seam. However the sewing on most costumes suits is pretty basic. For a simple rough job I imagine it would be a lot cheaper. Call and ask. 

However, unless you really like this suit, it'll prob be cheaper to get the right size the first go around.


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## Zenia (Jan 3, 2014)

Just speaking as a "run of the mill tailor" ... I would not accept a fursuit to work on. While alterations would not "look like crap" I would not want to work on faux fur. But that is just me personally. You should phone up local tailors and ask. Also, if someone says yes, make sure the interior of the suit is nice and clean. I can't tell you the number of times I've gone to work on pants and found some nasty stuff inside. X___X


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## soak (Jan 4, 2014)

Zenia said:


> Just speaking as a "run of the mill tailor" ... I would not accept a fursuit to work on. While alterations would not "look like crap" I would not want to work on faux fur. But that is just me personally. You should phone up local tailors and ask. Also, if someone says yes, make sure the interior of the suit is nice and clean. I can't tell you the number of times I've gone to work on pants and found some nasty stuff inside. X___X


Oh god ew. :x Also, thanks!


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## Zenia (Jan 4, 2014)

soak said:


> Oh god ew. :x


haha Yeah, I remember this one time quite vividly... went to turn a pair of pants inside out and the inside was SO nasty that no one would touch them without rubber gloves. We called up the customer and told him that we wouldn't be able to work on them unless he paid for drycleaning first (we work with a cleaner that picks up) and he was SOOOOOOO belligerent. I mean, how can anyone not feel ashamed when they take dirty articles to be altered? T___T Now I look and will refuse the job until it is clean. It is a biohazard.


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## powderhound (Jan 4, 2014)

What kind of person does this? You know it's got to be a common thing cuz you see written everywhere they'll return it if its not clean. But seriously, if a person's togeather enough to get their suit customized at a tailor then WTF. Something's not right there.


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