# I made a tail =3



## Nargle (Jan 9, 2009)

This isn't my first tail (Actually my fourth) but so far, it's the first I've got the chance to take it's photo!

This was SUCH an easy tail, the pattern was only one continuous piece of fabric. I stuffed it with Cluster type stuffing, but it isn't as wiggly as I wanted. But anyways, I really just wanted a really quick simple tail without a lot of detail to wear in public =3 My other tail is really big and sticks straight out, and there is marker coloring on the top that may not be waterproof o.o Oh, and I made it a clippy tail! It just clips right onto my belt loop for easy on-and-off attachment! =3

So here's my wonky butt with my tail on it:






Here's the tail by itself (With my wolf plushy in the corner):





And here's the clip thing, which is pretty seamless looking, I think. (Oh, and my wolf was trying to get a better look =3):





More tails later! =D


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## shebawolf145 (Jan 9, 2009)

looks nice and fluffy *snuggles it*


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## Internet Police Chief (Jan 9, 2009)

Not bad at all!


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## Nargle (Jan 10, 2009)

Thanky =3


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## Wreth (Jan 10, 2009)

Adorable, just like Nargle


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## NightWolf714 (Jan 10, 2009)

Wow, the clip is a clever idea. I'll have to remember that.


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## Nargle (Jan 11, 2009)

NightWolf714 said:


> Wow, the clip is a clever idea. I'll have to remember that.



Hehe, thanks, it is rather handy!

My other two tails have loops that go around your belt, which was sort of a hassle, so I tried this n.n I wouldn't recommend using a clip for really heavy tails, though, this one was really light.


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## Aurali (Jan 11, 2009)

<3 Nargle :3


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## Tewin Follow (Jan 11, 2009)

Nice one, it's so squishy looking. <3

That clip is a great choice compared to the usual method. I've encountered the problem that wearing jeans with the wrong kind of belt straps can be. (The posistioning can throw the tail off-centre!)


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## BlauShep (Jan 11, 2009)

ooh, i love it! nice and simple. :3
aaah i want to make my tail. Dx i still have no idea how to sew, lolol.


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## Nargle (Jan 12, 2009)

BlauShep said:


> ooh, i love it! nice and simple. :3
> aaah i want to make my tail. Dx i still have no idea how to sew, lolol.



This one was one simple J shaped stitch, and I did it with my sewing machine (My other one was sewn by hand, as there were more seams and I wasn't too concerned with making this one look perfect), so it was REALLY REALLY easy XD Probably the only tough part was scrunching up the top end and attaching the clip (I hemmed it, and then took a needle and thread and started making stitches all the way across to the other side so that it eventually looked like a star or spider web or something, and then I pulled it half shut. Then I rolled up a piece of felt, inserted it into the hole in the bottom of the clip, and stuck it inside the tail, pulled it all the way closed, and then sewed the felt to the edges of the fur).

The pattern sort of looked like the Ten Commandments tablet XD


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## Trpdwarf (Jan 12, 2009)

I would suggest if you are looking to make this a tail based on the animal that is your fursona, to scale it down. It's good for a starter tail but, it really does need to be a bit thinner....much thinner, and have a little bit more shape.

Next time try adding a bit of a curve...you can do that by folding the material over by half...then starting semi narrow at the tip (not so narrow you cannot pull through or stuff though), and the gently curving it out a bit towards the fold. Don't make it to wide or it will not look dog-ish, or like what your fursona would have. Make it a slight curve down and keep it within 4 to 6 inches in width.

A rule of thumb if you are looking to have a tail to wear in public is to make it small. At furmeets furs tend to wear smaller tails. It makes it less attention seeking, and you are going to be less prone to having people reach up and pull it, thus possibly damaging the piece.


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## Nargle (Jan 12, 2009)

Trpdwarf said:


> I would suggest if you are looking to make this a tail based on the animal that is your fursona, to scale it down. It's good for a starter tail but, it really does need to be a bit thinner....much thinner, and have a little bit more shape.
> 
> Next time try adding a bit of a curve...you can do that by folding the material over by half...then starting semi narrow at the tip (not so narrow you cannot pull through or stuff though), and the gently curving it out a bit towards the fold. Don't make it to wide or it will not look dog-ish, or like what your fursona would have. Make it a slight curve down and keep it within 4 to 6 inches in width.
> 
> A rule of thumb if you are looking to have a tail to wear in public is to make it small. At furmeets furs tend to wear smaller tails. It makes it less attention seeking, and you are going to be less prone to having people reach up and pull it, thus possibly damaging the piece.



Well, this was actually supposed to be an Arctic Fox tail (My fursona's tail is like a bobtail with a fan of feathers, and I have no clue how to make that XD), and I wanted to make mostly straight and blunt at the end, like this photo. I do have another curvy tail, but that one I made stiff to hold its shape, and I wanted this one to be sort of wiggly, (I used that cluster-stuff filling or whatever) and I wanted to mimic the shape of a real fox tail that I have (Though I don't wear it because I feel guilty about it =/). And when I sit down or wag it, it sort of curves a little because it's really bendy =3

It really must look bigger in the photo, though, because it's only about 5 inches in diameter at the thickest point, including fur, and the tip barely reaches the back of my knees. I guess it looks weird compaired to my skinny legs? XD

But thank you for the advice, I definitely have a lot of room to improve! Hopefully my next tail will look way better! I'd really like to try something other then a canine or feline tail, though, but all I have is white fur and white tiger-print. Any suggestions? =3


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## Bladespark (Jan 12, 2009)

Well, nearly anything can be an albino, so white fur could be any species you like.  Kangaroos?  Lemurs?  Buffalo? Dragons?  There are lots of options.

And IMHO the small tail thing is a matter of personal preference.  I LOVE huge tails, and I've worn a set of 5 3-foot-long kitsune tails to a furmeet.  It's always good to pick up tips and ideas, but in the end you have to do what looks right to you, especially when you're making a personal suit and not a commission for somebody else!  I've yet to have anybody pull one of mine hard enough to hurt it.

(Also, I think the angle the photo was taken at it makes the tail look longer than it is.)


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## Trpdwarf (Jan 12, 2009)

Nargle said:


> Well, this was actually supposed to be an Arctic Fox tail (My fursona's tail is like a bobtail with a fan of feathers, and I have no clue how to make that XD), and I wanted to make mostly straight and blunt at the end, like this photo. I do have another curvy tail, but that one I made stiff to hold its shape, and I wanted this one to be sort of wiggly, (I used that cluster-stuff filling or whatever) and I wanted to mimic the shape of a real fox tail that I have (Though I don't wear it because I feel guilty about it =/). And when I sit down or wag it, it sort of curves a little because it's really bendy =3
> 
> It really must look bigger in the photo, though, because it's only about 5 inches in diameter at the thickest point, including fur, and the tip barely reaches the back of my knees. I guess it looks weird compaired to my skinny legs? XD
> 
> But thank you for the advice, I definitely have a lot of room to improve! Hopefully my next tail will look way better! I'd really like to try something other then a canine or feline tail, though, but all I have is white fur and white tiger-print. Any suggestions? =3



Ah I see.

I assumed it was supposed to be based on your fursona. That said, it looks like the tail is seamless so it is nice you got that down. The next part to work on is getting down shaping the tail. Working on things like curving it in, in the cases of canine and lupine tails is good, and if you try cat tails you have to work on not making OMG generic like some of the stuff you see on furbuy/furbid.

That means rounding the end properly and making the length and thickness match the actual animal it is being based on. For example housecat tail should not be the same as a tiger tail and a tiger tail should not be the same as....a snow leapard.

Cat tail? Some cats have white tails. If you can get your hands on good india ink,  you can give it black stripes. Or, if you want a really nice project, make a good white feline tail with at least 4 inches of thickness.....and try using india ink to give it spots so it mimics a snow leopard. You'd have to look up pictures to figure out the color scheme but that would be a nice tail.


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## Nargle (Jan 12, 2009)

Trpdwarf said:


> Ah..okay. Still though...you do need to work on, especially for canines and foxes, the while curving thing. The base should not be as thick as the middle or the end. Giving it more shape makes it look better.
> 
> Cat tail? Some cats have white tails. If you can get your hands on good india ink,  you can give it black stripes.



Ah, so the base should be thinner? Okay, for my next canine tail I'll try that =3 Thanks!

And a cat tail would be a good idea, it could even be an excuse to try and use a wire inside of a tail =3 My boyfriend's sister has a ragdoll cat, and her tail is always bent in the weirdest ways XD I did make a tiger tail for my boyfriend, though, but I wasn't extremely pleased with it, because it was made of really really short plushy quality fur with tiger stripe print on it, and it didn't have a wire, I just made it curve up slightly at the end.



Bladespark said:


> Well, nearly anything can be an albino, so white fur could be any species you like. Kangaroos? Lemurs? Buffalo? Dragons? There are lots of options.
> 
> And IMHO the small tail thing is a matter of personal preference. I LOVE huge tails, and I've worn a set of 5 3-foot-long kitsune tails to a furmeet. It's always good to pick up tips and ideas, but in the end you have to do what looks right to you, especially when you're making a personal suit and not a commission for somebody else! I've yet to have anybody pull one of mine hard enough to hurt it.
> 
> (Also, I think the angle the photo was taken at it makes the tail look longer than it is.)



That's a good idea! I haven't thought of that! I'll have to do some brainstorming.. maybe something like a deer...

(And yea, it's sort of hard to take a photo of your own butt, so I had some trouble with the angle of the photo XD)


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## Trpdwarf (Jan 12, 2009)

By Nargle





> Ah, so the base should be thinner? Okay, for my next canine tail I'll try that =3 Thanks!
> 
> And a cat tail would be a good idea, it could even be an excuse to try and use a wire inside of a tail =3 My boyfriend's sister has a ragdoll cat, and her tail is always bent in the weirdest ways XD I did make a tiger tail for my boyfriend, though, but I wasn't extremely pleased with it, because it was made of really really short plushy quality fur with tiger stripe print on it, and it didn't have a wire, I just made it curve up slightly at the end.


Excuse the really bad MS Paint skills but yeah, it should be a bit thinner at the base:




That may or may not help....

When you fold over you draw out your line with a market that doesn't bleed through or even chalk...and then cut out the uneeded fabric one half at a time. If you do both at a time you can end up with a bad seam due to fur being cut. Gently snip one side.....and the use that as a guide for snipping the other side. Then all you have to do is lay it out, brush it out, then refold with fur on inside, push fur through two sides when sowing....and you get something like this:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y98/Sanguvixen/100_3213-1.jpg
With the base not being as thick as the rest of the tail...or like this:
http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y98/Sanguvixen/?action=view&current=Cherrietailandears.jpg

As for tiger tails...you really are better of not using short pile fur, or fur that is prepatterned...but then i guess you found out why. I took white faux fur and made a tiger tail...well a cat tail and Zeke painted on the stripes: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y98/Sanguvixen/100_3201-1.jpg

If you want tiger you are better of finding a medium pile orange-ish colored faur fur and hand painting on black stripes or, taking black faux fur and cutting out stripes and hand sewing them in.

Wire are nice for tails but...you have to get one of the right thickness for the tail...and cover up each tip so it doesn't poke through the fabric. I've been contemplating finding a way to sow in a sheath to the top of the tails....so that a wire can be inserted into the sheeth...to see how that goes.


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## Nargle (Jan 12, 2009)

Thanks for the info, that's very good advice!! n.n


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## sashadistan (Jan 13, 2009)

I like the idea of the clip on tail. very cool. I tie mine on with a big silver bow, since belts and snowboarding don't go hand in hand.


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## Trpdwarf (Jan 13, 2009)

Nargle said:


> Thanks for the info, that's very good advice!! n.n



You're welcome. I'm glad to be of help. Be sure to post back when you get your next one done.


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## The Grey One (Jan 15, 2009)

I love that tail and it looks really nice on you Nargle :3


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## Nargle (Jan 15, 2009)

The Grey One said:


> I love that tail and it looks really nice on you Nargle :3



Thank you n.n


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