#fursuit tutorial

For reference, the white cat suit's name is Sophie and she was made first. The blue one is Raine, and she was made second! I'll be referring to them throughout this.

I've learned nearly everything I know about sewing and these types of craft projects from making these 2 suits, I haven't had any prior experience. This is all very much advice From a beginner TO beginners, experienced makers may say some of this is wrong, this is just my lived experience written down. I figured I'd write all this now while it's fresh in my mind! When you get experienced at doing stuff, you tend to forget what problems you faced as a beginner.

Fur Bulk

Fur bulk is REAL and a MASSIVE PROBLEM when making your sculpt. Regardless of what method you use to make your base, 3D printed or foam. Depending on how short you can shave your fur, fur bulk will add about 1cm - 0.5cm of thickness to your base

Look how much her mouth closed up from the base sculpt! I ended up still loving the end result, but it was a bit unexpected. (Despite learning about fur bulk from my first suit, and ALSO testing fur bulk in Blender with a fur particle system when I was making the sculpt for this head.)

Raine's ear is an unfortunate victim of fur bulk still, but I didn't have time to remake it how I wanted it. I even tried to make it slimmer on purpose since Sophie's ear ended up so stupidly thick 😭

Seam Allowance & Stitches

(Talking PURELY about hand sewing, I've never used a sewing machine, I cannot give any advice for that)

You should be using a blanket or whip stitch for most of your fursuit, in terms of speed and seams, they are the most effective! Whip stitch for most of your face, it's going to be glued down.. so truly you just need the fabric together and not SECURE since it'll be glued. Use the blanket stitch for things like paws or stuff that's more likely to pop a seam (ears? tails? etc)

More experienced suit makers might say use blanket for everything, that may be more correct 🤷‍♀️ Whip/Blanket are nearly the same stitch, blanket is just more secure than a whip stitch, takes a little longer, and uses slightly more thread. I haven't timed other stitches, but the blanket takes me about 5 minutes per inch to do.

On Sophie, I had made up my own bizarre version of a backstitch that was stupidly strong.. but also took a million years to do. It also made my paws near IMPOSSIBLE to turn inside out. Sewing raines face together with a whip stitch was way quicker!

For your face pattern, use next to no seam allowance for the cleanest look. The areas that I added seam allowance on Raine, I really regretted the bulged out look they had. If you aren't confident in your pattern making ability, some seam allowance does give you some wiggle room in terms of how easily your pattern fits onto your base

Designing your suit for airflow

This wasn't actually a problem for me, I did this from the start. But I've worn suits that weren't designed for proper ventilation, and it really just makes suiting a very unpleasant experience. You want to have a mouth hole that is right in front of your own mouth, so you can easily get fresh air in your suit. I'm not saying you HAVE to do this, as not all designs can accommodate this, but it's absolutely something to think about for your comfort!

Another thing I've learned, is the roomier your suit is around the mouth hole, the more overall airflow you get! I tried on my friends head which I sculpted, and they printed in TPU, significantly roomier than Raine, and much more breathable! Raine is still comfortable for me to wear even masked underneath, since I made her ventilation so good!

My future suits I make, I'm going to be looking into TPU due to the sheer weight and breathability difference from my PLA suit!

Non-Fur Supplies

I highly recommend getting hand sewing needles and EVA foam at Daiso if you have one! Daiso has lots of little sewing kits, and I got both of my main needles there. The little circle disks of needles you can find at other stores didn't have needles that were the right size and shape for my hands to comfortably use. Daiso also sells EVA foam in the smaller amounts that you'd need for a suit, unlike hardware stores which usually sell giant square packs of 5

For handsewing, I noticed going for the slightly thicker thread lead to stronger seams overall.

For what you should have in a sewing kit for fursuit, here's what I have (ranked by importance)

Multiple handsewing needles you're comfortable with, just in case you lose one

Pins

Wonder clips (the little plastic rainbow clips) ABSOLUTELY necessary for suit making honestly, they work better than pins in most situations

Seam ripper

Soft measuring tape

Some generic white and/or black thread, as well as your fursuits thread

Safety pins

Overall helpful fursuit supplies

Velcro patches

Masking tape

Duck/Duct Tape

Have garbage shitty scissors, and separate scissors JUST for fabric. Your fabric scissors will remain sharp for much longer if you don't use them on other stuff. (3rd pair of scissors that's not used on tape/sticky stuff, but thread and paper also is helpful. The garbage scissors can get gunky when cutting tape, and your medium scissors remain sharp enough to easily cut other stuff)

Xacto knife + LOTS of new blades. The blades go dull FAST when cutting fur and foam. If you're having to use a lot of pressure to cut through your fur's backing, that means you need a new blade

Box cutter + LOTS of new blades for box cutter. I have a Kobalt box cutter, it's nearly as sharp as my xactos. I use it for cutting out big sections of fur and foam.

I get my eye mesh from Curlworks! I love the visibility on it ^_^

Fur Brands

In terms of my fur company quality rankings, it would be this (I've tried fur from a million different companies on my sample hunt for Raine)

1. Howl Fabrics 2. BigZFabrics 3. MofuMofu.shop

Howl overall is the most dense, relatively soft, and best to shave out of all 3. (Canfur is of very similar quality to Howl, except it has a mild crayon or carpet smell. The smell wears off completely after around 6-7 months, at least on the small sample I got)

BigZ is kind of like a middle ground, but shaves HIGHLY powdery compared to the other 2. As well as shaves a little worse/choppy compared to better quality fur.

MofuMofu is the least dense out of the 3, but I would consider the softest. Best if they have a niche color you need. The fur tends to clump together when it is shaved like sheep wool, and is less powdery than BigZ.

Random furs from etsy are usually LQ/MQ and patchy on their density, not great for shaving super short

Fur Shaving / Length

If you're going for a high quality look on your suit, you want SHORT fur for the face, full-stop. Every suit I've seen that's truly made me go WOW has always had VERY short face fur. Shorter fur shows the look of your sculpt better, instead of hiding it all behind any lumpy fur bulk or unbrushed sections. (Brushing fur doesn't last very long after a suit's been put on haha)

If you can buy your fur in shorter lengths like teddy/beaver, ABSOLUTELY do so. It'll make your shaves much shorter and cleaner. The longer your fur is, is the harder it is to get it to a "HQ" shave length. I personally couldn't get Raine as short as I wanted her to be 😩 But her colors are niche, so I couldn't locate them in shorter fur lengths

Once your suit is complete, don't be afraid to go in there with scissors and your clippers to clean up the fur+markings as well! Raine's mouth opened up a LOT more when i trimmed it down to shape with my scissors

Pattern Making

Avoid putting any seams down the middle of your face, it is noticeable! This is roughly how my pattern for Raine worked, I think the eyebrows helped disguise that horizontal middle seam really well! (the fur from the "eyebrow" piece covers the seam to the forehead piece as it is brushed over it!) I also made the nose bridge it's own piece, to utilize the visible seam to create a crease for it.

I also recommend avoid making any + shaped intersections on your seams if you can avoid it, it's really hard to sew cleanly😭 Sometimes they're unavoidable, but I try my best to avoid doing them.

Wearability

I'm not sure how much this applies to foam suits, but I really recommend using some elastic, a parachute clip, and some velcro to make an adjustable strap to keep your suit on your head! I tried to use foam on Sophie to get a snug fit, it did not work and made her struggle to stay on. The elastic strap on Raine is way better and more secure.

Misc / Random

When making your ears, you don't necessarily need to sew the minky/inner ear onto the fur parts! You can get a much flatter look on your minky if you just glue it on seperate, and have the fur not connected to it

(Specifically for beginner suit makers making personal projects) Not everything has to be perfect! No one will notice your little imperfections, and you don't have to make a nice product for a client. You can leave some things unsewn, you can have tiny bits of foam show from weird angles. You can hot glue some things instead of sewing them to save time. You can have small accidental bald spots. You can have little unsewn holes in corners if it's too hard to sew around those parts. Take it easy on yourself!

You may spring for fleece to save some money on buying minky, I honestly recommend not doing this. Minky feels significantly nicer, and minky from Howl is really not that much more than some fleece, for small pieces like inner mouths, noses, ears, etc, all you need is a "Fat Quarter" sized piece. It's more than enough! And only $6.50 (if you want fleece specifically, ignore this haha. I just regret going for fleece instead of minky on Sophie!)

Carving a foam base, to me, is the hardest part of suit making. So much so, that I never plan to do it again :P It's some people's thing, definitely not mine. If you've been frustrated with how your foam results turn out, consider 3D printing! Or buying a base from someone.

When looking for fursuit advice and tutorials, beyond the obvious places to look (matrices, youtube, google), I genuinely recommend Tiktok! A lot gets posted there for small niche problems you may have

Use this method for tying a knot on your thread when hand sewing, it's extremely fast https://youtu.be/LWWhRtxl6eE?si=AEt2HDiwp09AigOS

When making a 3D printed base, do not go too thin. I'd do test prints to see what thickness feels right to you, raine was about 0.5-0.7 cm but I wish she was a bit thicker because I worry a lot about her shattering 😨

I wanna go into the patterns and materials everything I used, just so it's all on record in one place. both so I can find it later and because I want to make sure I'm crediting the resources I used! if I forgot anything I'll come back and add it later

some features include removable eyes for cleaning, removable velcro tongues including one posable one, head and paws are fully lined with neoprene, paws have hidden finger escapes, tail has a hidden belt loop and a large elastic velcro belt specifically for it cause it's so heavy...

and then accessories, gummy worm fursuit spray, rainbow light up collar, and lots of kandi I made myself!

⭐️ materials

-bigz fabrics UV reactive faux fur, and navy blue neoprene (prewash your neoprene the dye probably bleeds!)

-smile puppy tpu headbase from neopolitanpaws (lopsoflovestudios?) on etsy, I definitely recommend her!

-random cheap holographic vinyl/faux leather from amazon... sucks to work with do not recommend

-those are the big ones, a lot of things I already had and some other small bits (eyeliner, lips, teeth) used fabric from my friend

⭐️ patterns

note: I used these patterns as bases but I altered all of them in some manner, some more than others

-spiltgrapesoda upright curly tail

-teacuplion floppy ears

-free neck pattern from a guy on reddit (I'll try to find them and add their username)

-I don't remember what paw pattern I used cause it was two months ago but I think it was PROBABLY the runnerrabbit free puffy paws. will double check!

I also want to thank the people in the neopolitanpaws discord server! whenever I was unsure about something or ran into an issue the people there helped me solve it and I couldn't have done this without their help and kindness!

so that's that, if I find myself with the time I'd like to make a google doc with links to all the things and go more in depth and be certain I didn't forget anything. but like I'm packing to move when I get home from FE so idk 😭

first, you're gonna go to the store and buy some felt. Any colour will do, just keep in mind it's gonna be the toes of your creecher. If you don't have any, also buy thread (I used all black but you can choose), a needle, pins, and a pair of socks in your desired colour. I personally have knee-high socks for maximum coverage but any sock works. Maybe also a pair of flipflops that are roughly the width of your foot.

When you get home you're gonna grab a piece of paper and put your foot onto it. The further your foot's on the paper, the longer the felt part will be, so keep that in mind. Then you're gonna trace around it, and then you can modify it however you like. I personally only rounded out the area around the toes. Also add seam allowance!!!

Now that you have your pattern, smack that boy onto your felt and cut two pieces out, one for each foot. Make sure that if you're tracing it first, to mirror the piece so the lines don't show up.

Time to get a lil funky. Put your sock ON the flipflop like you'd do with your foot. This will allow your foot to fit into the sock, even after the non-stretch felt is firmly attached. Pin your piece to the sock, making sure to cover it well and wrap it down so the edges won't be visible.

Now it's time for sewing! Sew the piece to the sock, leaving the part going over the top of your foot open for now. Think of it like a slipper, with the sock being the sole.

This part's a lil dangerous, but put on the sock to see if it fits nicely with the felt around it. If it looks good, pin the top of the felt piece to the sock while you're still wearing it to make sure it won't be too tight later. I pulled the sock and felt a little away from my foot while doing this, and I didn't stab myself so I'm sure you'll be fine. Just be careful.

With the felt pinned to the sock again, take it off and put it back on the flipflop. After making sure it sits nicely again, mark the toe lines with some pencil before sewing them on. It's a bit tricky, but I got it done without earlier practice so I think it's doable.

You can add stuffing here, which I personally didn't do, but I think it'd make the shape of the socks a bit less "human toes shape"-like.

1.) Have a reference sheet for your fursona.

If you are an artist, draw (the best you can) a reference sheet of your fursona from the front, side, and back. I made a little turnaround animation for mine, but this is not necessary.

Not an artist? Don’t want to draw? Commission someone to do it for you. I recommend Etsy, but you can find furry artists with open commissions all over the internet.

No money for commissions? You might be out of luck. Ask a friend or draw it the best you can. Alternatively, you can edit someone else’s fursona reference sheet to make it look like your fursona. Yeah, it’s stealing. Just don’t post it and act like it’s yours 👍

You can also go into the Roblox game, Catalogue Avatar Creator, and assemble something that looks kind of like your fursona. Take a screenshot of it from the front, side, and back, then go into a photo editor (I recommend IbisPaint or MediBang Paint, they are both free) and add in your special details.

I recommend not making your first fursuit super complicated or some kind of rare species. But you do you. It will just be really hard.

Also determine what style of fursuit you want. Toony? Kemono? Realistic? (I don’t recommend realistic for your first fursuit but you do you). This will be important later.

2.) Find Shit to Build It With

Once again, I recommend Etsy. You’ll need:

+ all the fur colors you need (try 2-3)

+ eye mesh

+ 3D printed mask

+ hot glue gun and hot glue sticks (dollar store)

+ needle and thread (dollar store or Walmart)

+ balaclava

+ styrofoam head

+ fabric scissors

+ extra foam pieces for ears or horns

Assemble all of that. It should be around $80-120 USD.

Your 3D printed mask is the most important thing. Another reason to get a relatively common species. Mine was a dragon. Remember the fursuit style you picked earlier? Search on etsy “3d printed [style] [species] furry mask” and you should be able to find one. You can also get pre-made foam heads. I don’t recommend trying to make your own head base, because A) it’s hard and B) those materials cost more money.

This shit will take a while to come in so don’t get too excited about it. My mask took like a month because it came from Germany.

3.) Mark the Color Spots on your Head Base

Basically just take a sharpie and outline the different color regions on your headbase. You can also use a pencil if you’re a pussy /j

4.) Uhhhh Eyeball That Fabric Pattern and Hot Glue the Pieces to Your Headbase

Some people use duct tape to make a pattern. That did not work for me! So I eyeballed it. Made some mistakes. That’s okay.

5.) Trim Down the Fur Length

Most people use clippers for this but I didn’t want to buy any and I didn’t know how to use them so I did it VERY CAREFULLY with scissors.

6.) Fill in the Cracks Between Your Hot Glue Seams With Loose Fur

Look at all this damn fur on the floor! If only there was something to do with it!

Put hot glue between the super visible seams where you hotglued different pieces of fabric next to each other, then pack in some of that loose fur. Cut it down if it’s too long. The seams will be less visible.

7.) Hot Glue the Eye Mesh Behind the Eye Holes

VERY CAREFULLY hot glue this so your character isn’t cross-eyed. You can try follow-me eyes but I didn’t do that with mine.

8.) Add Your Extra Details

You know like whiskers or plastic teeth or a tongue or anything else you want to put on there.

Now you’re done with the mask part.

9.) CAREFULLY Hot Glue Your Balaclava to the Inside of the Mask

The eye hole should be where your eye mesh is so that you can see out. Also make sure some of the balaclava is glued to the top of the mask.

10.) Weigh Down Your Styrofoam Head With a Heavy Rock

Or put it on a stand. Or hot glue it to the table. Whatever works.

11.) Put the Balaclava that you Glued to the Mask on the Styrofoam Head

Pretty simple. The reason we weighed down the styrofoam head is because the front of your mask will be heavy and make it fall over while you’re trying to work.

12.) ????? Put Fur On the Balaclava

You’ll also need to like add some fur connecting the sides of the mask to the balaclava. Hard to explain. You’ll probably figure it out?

13.) Trim that Fur and Put the Trimmings in the Seams Like Before

14.) Take it off of the Styrofoam Head

You may need to cut a slit in the back of the neck of your fursuit head. Not only will it help get the styrofoam head out, now your head can get in and out too!

15.) Put it on

Edit it if something is wrong. It might feel crooked but it’s probably not.

16.) Enjoy!

Hopefully this was helpful! This is how made mine.

The Eye Wall

This will be the section that fits nice and snug into the actual suit eye holes. It’s often the part with the most depth. I would highly recommending importing a reference image so the final eye looks how you desire!!

Step 1: Creating the shape

Press the “tube” button on the right side of the screen. From here press the “path” button on the left side of the screen, and if it isn’t activated press the “closed” symbol. From here tap on the point you actually want to start at. You should have a small white dot on your screen now (this is on the top of my character’s eye reference).

From there press and drag the circle, this should create two circles, one red and one blue when you select it. From here you have to go into the middle of your line and drag another point out of the line. It’s a closed shape so it acts a little funky.

Make the rough shape of your eye. If you want a sharp point (like the side of an eye), you can tap any of your white dots twice to make it uncurved (this will make the white dot black)!

BEFORE YOU FINALIZE make sure you are facing the front (or whatever side you prefer), if your angle is off your eye will be at an angle!! Once you are happy with the shape press the green button, this will make the actual tube.

You should now have a round tube roughly in the shape of your desired eye shape.

Step 2: editing the shape

It’s a round tube right now, which isn’t ideal for an eye blank! Therefor we will do some editing.

Press “profile”. Here I kept the default settings, which gave me 4 sides! The setting should look like they do below.

Lastly. DONT validate the shape (you will need to access it later) and use the gizmo tool to work around with the depth of the eye (by pressing and dragging the red circle)

The Inner Eye and Pupil hole

This is the area that will house the hole for the iris and pupil (I will be referring to it as a pupil for simplicity)!

Step 1: Duplicate the layer

Clone the layer your eye wall is on!

Step 2: Editing to fill the hole

This part is a little tricky. There should be four black dots where you can adjust the length the sides go to. Go on the side of the shape where you see all four of those shapes clearly (with the inner most black dots visible). Make sure you are on the side exactly! Or else the shape could have an angle.

Next you will drag the inner-most black circles to roughly the middle of the eye on the outer edges (you are ONLY dragging down, with dragging to the side as little as possible!!). This will fill in the whole eye if it reaches that halfway point or more!

If you look to the side of your shape, the whole area should be filled in, if not edit the lines slightly to better fit!

Step 3: Editing your new shape

Next up we will use our trusty Gizmo tool again. Decrease the depth to your liking and move the shape to either side of your eye blank, be careful to make sure it fits in properly and lines up with the wall!

Step 4: The pupil

For this tutorial I will use a simple oval pupil. Add a circle OR make another tube shape and close the hole (following steps one and two). The circle will leave a slight curve due to the shape, so if you want a flat or unique hole for the pupil, edit accordingly.

For ease I’m using a circle I modified. I added the circle in and moved and edited the shape until it was something I liked (using the gizmo tool)

Next you will negatively subtract space using that shape. Do this by unselecting the shape for your pupil and selecting the inner eye space. Then press “bolean merge”, then the “boolean” button. This will carve out the area creating a blank space (the blue background of the pupil is from my reference image)!