Another fursuit virgin takes the plunge!

[silverdragon54]

A little background information is in order...

Like many, I'm sure, I've wanted a mascot-style costume for a long time. And like many, I always thought it was out of reach. (Now I know why professionally made suits cost thousands! o_O ) Then while Halloween shopping a few years ago, I found the Don Post Albino Dragon mask. *points a claw to my avatar* Thus began my first partial suit. Later I added a tail, latex hands (the package said vampire hands, but what do they know?  ), costume wings, and carefully de-furred werewolf spats spraypainted white. The tail was the only hand made piece, and it literally took thirty seconds to make. It's a rolled up sheet of chicken wire with a belt threaded through the top, covered with a white sheet held in place with two safety pins. I named him Blizzard. ^_^ He's not much to look at, but damn is he fun to play, and people seem to love him for it. Blizzard deserves better. It's time to make a real fursuit out of him!

I'm nervous as hell about even attempting this, and even moreso about how...amateurish he's sure to look, but he'll finally be all mine. I should have some in-progress pics soon, and I'll definitely include before and after pics.

I'll also need a new name for the new dragon. The materials I'm using are red and black, so I can't call him Bizzard anymore. I'm thinking "Ember".

[Wyrd-Hotd]

Ember would be a great name,  And i wish you the best of luck with your suit ^.=.^ there are not too many Dragon suits out there....

[Gizmoe]

i agree, ember would be an epic name. And god knows we need many more dragon furries!!

[silverdragon54]

 

While a wolf would have been cool too, everyone and their dog (pardon the pun) has a dog suit. Dragons are made of awesome! I've always loved em. Anyway, If I remember to take my film in this weekend, I'll have some pics by Monday.

[bloodredruby]

As a person currently working on her own first suit, I have one huge pearl of wisedom to impart.

Don't get discouraged if you hit a few snags. Whne you start to get really irritated walk away from it for a bit, have a bite to eat, or a smoke (if you smoke XD), or read for a bit, and go back to it when you are ready to work on it again.

This "technique" has been invaluable to me, because I tend to get frustrated when I can't get my hands to do the fine detailing that's needed, or I can't get the nose right, or whatever, and I almost get to the point where I will scrap a perfectly good (or at least salvagable) project out of sheer frustration.

I wish you the best of luck. ^.~

[Disel]

As a person currently working on her own first suit, I have one huge pearl of wisedom to impart.

Don't get discouraged if you hit a few snags. Whne you start to get really irritated walk away from it for a bit, have a bite to eat, or a smoke (if you smoke XD), or read for a bit, and go back to it when you are ready to work on it again.

This "technique" has been invaluable to me, because I tend to get frustrated when I can't get my hands to do the fine detailing that's needed, or I can't get the nose right, or whatever, and I almost get to the point where I will scrap a perfectly good (or at least salvagable) project out of sheer frustration.

I wish you the best of luck. ^.~

that is what i shud try.  i made an atempet once but faled on the head and thout i would save some mone for one

[silverdragon54]

Thanks for the advice, guys.  I think I'm gonna take a bit of a break for the rest of this week, and just play around with the glove pattern. (It's almost there...I just need to elongate the fingers a bit, and widen the wrist.)

My concentration just isn't there right now because this weekend is Calgary Expo, and I'm meeting LEONARD FREAKIN NIMOY!!! XDD I'm definitely going to drop in on Temperance's booth too, but zomg SPOCK!!!

[silverdragon54]

Pics are gonna be late. Sorry. Taking the film in took a backseat to getting Leonard Nimoy's autograph. *insert fangirly squee here*

*ahem* Anyway, just for a little update, sculpting the feet out of foam isn't working. I bought more chicken wire. Unorthodox, but at least I know I'll get the shape I want.

[silverdragon54]

Pics will get done this weekend, honest. 

My plastic eagle claws came in the mail today!! They're just roughly poked out of the fingers of my practise gloves at the moment, but once they're properly secured into the fur gloves they're gonna look sooo good!

I could use some advice about securing the claws. Would I be better off cutting off the base of the claws and hot gluing them to the fingers, or leaving slits in the fingertips to feed the claws through and hot gluing them from the inside?

[Gizmoe]

sounds sickkkk

[bloodredruby]

Pics will get done this weekend, honest. 

My plastic eagle claws came in the mail today!! They're just roughly poked out of the fingers of my practise gloves at the moment, but once they're properly secured into the fur gloves they're gonna look sooo good!

I could use some advice about securing the claws. Would I be better off cutting off the base of the claws and hot gluing them to the fingers, or leaving slits in the fingertips to feed the claws through and hot gluing them from the inside?

If you glue them to the outside of the gloves, they will have more of a tendancy to flop from side to side.

I poked my claws through the tips of the fingers of my hand paws and widened the actual base of the claw itself, so that I could actually place each finger on top of the claw to keep it steady. It also keeps them firmly in place and (mostly) prevents them from flopping over sideways.

[Orcus]

HI there, just reading up on a few things here (I lurk more then I should now a days) noticed your location. There a few makers in Cowtown that could help you out among a fur load of other furs.

Look them up on the alberta furries forum.

[silverdragon54]

After much playing around with my glove prototypes, I found that cramming in a foam cutout of my hand solves both the bagginess and the floppy claw issues. The claws aren't perfect, but it's a definite improvement.

Pics are here! They're big, so I'll just leave a link to the album. Not too much yet...a couple of early shots of the head, the glove prototype, the fur I'm going to use, and a digitigrade padding test. The tail in that pic is the actual tail from the partial suit. I've worn it just outside of the house for several Halloweens (and one Halloween bar party), and nobody has ever seemed to notice the fabric hanging from the huge ugly seam that I made no attempt to seal. Maybe they're too distracted by the head. o_O

I'm not expecting miracles here. I just hope that the time and effort put into the suit will mask some of the noobish-ness. 

Pics are here...http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v621/thirty7of9/fursuit/

[Nexus]

Wow, it actually looks pretty good!

Are you going to make a new tail for it?

[silverdragon54]

Thanks! ^_^ I love the shape of the tail, so I'm planning on furring it and installing it into the bodysuit. It's kinda heavy, so I know I need to keep the belt on the inside.

If I ever decide to use Blizzard again, I can always make a new tail for him. It's just a thick cone of chicken wire wrapped in one of those dust covers that come with new sofas. I work in the warehouse of a furniture store, and we just throw those out, so I can snag one for free any time. 

[silverdragon54]

New pics! My laptop's webcam doesn't take the greatest pics, but still, new pics! (Professional suit makers should look away...the fur on the palms is lying the wrong way. I didn't notice until it was too late to fix.)


RAWR!

I'm hand sewing the gloves on my breaks at work. Hand sewing is a little tedious, but fun too. Everyone's just fascinated watching me work on it! I'm almost done with the first glove...one more finger and part of one side to sew up, then the claws need to be secured, and I should probably try to pull some fur out of the seams. I think I'm making decent progress. 

These pics show off the fur a little better.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/thirty7of9/fursuit/wipclaw2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/thirty7of9/fursuit/wipclaw3.jpg

I shortened up the torso of my bodysuit pattern, and should be cutting those pieces out soon. It's coming together!

[silverdragon54]

The first glove is officially finished! I now have a shiny new four-fingered (and heavily clawed) paw, and it looks AWESOME!  I'm so pleased with myself. ^_^

I made a foam cutout of my hand, cut a vertical slit in each of the fingers, then hot glued the claws to the foam fingers. Turning the glove right-side out over the foam was harder than I thought it would be, but it worked! The claws don't flop around at all, and the glove itself fits like...well, like a glove.

I'm suddenly way more optimistic about the bodysuit turning out well, though furring the feet is a bit daunting, and the impending furring of the head terrifies me.  No matter. I just have to dig my claws in and keep going!

[Wyrd-Hotd]

Looks really good so far! ^.=.^

[silverdragon54]

Wow...been a while since I updated here. I apologize for the lack of new pics. I'm one of the few holdouts who won't buy a digital camera. *huggles my SLR that's older than I am*

I'm still plodding along at hand-sewing the second glove, and it's almost done. The follow-me eye prototype is looking good too, but still needs some work. I bought some more material today too! I don't know why I was so bent on using vinyl or pleather to cover the horns and claws. I found a plain ol black fleece remnant that actually felt pretty nice for all of $4. I draped it over a horn, pinned it in place, laid some fur overtop, and it looks FANTASTIC! Fleece it is for the horns and claws!

If I'm lucky, I'll have enough left over for that Toothless plushie pattern that I'm dying to try. 

[KapitanVonWolf]

Wow...been a while since I updated here. I apologize for the lack of new pics. I'm one of the few holdouts who won't buy a digital camera. *huggles my SLR that's older than I am*

Lolz i love my old Camera too *Hugs 1973 Soviet camera * feels so much better, but that Nikon ditital SLR is Really nice, its a best of both worlds camera. i plan on gettin one... when i get a job. hope to see more pics soon