Seven fursuit building mistakes I made that the tutorials didn’t mention

Mistakes I made while building a fursuit that you shouldn’t have to make



I haven’t yet completed this suit and there is still a lot to be done, but for the benefit of others, I’ve decided to document some of the mistakes I’ve made, some of the issues I’ve encountered and some tips I have to share. I’m doing so in the hopes that this will help someone else avoid some seriously frustrating issues.



You probably don’t want ivory colored fur

Ivory fur doesn’t look like natural white fur up close, it looks like dirty white fur.



It might look more natural in online fabric store photos, but you probably want white fur and not ivory fur. The only exception to this rule would be if you’re building something with naturally ivory colored fur such as a polar bear. I know it can be hard to resist just going ahead and buying it, but If you find yourself tempted:

Order swatches



Even if shipping is expensive. I wish I did this. When I started working on this suit, I struggled to find places that sold faux fur in Canada. I eventually found a US based supplier that was able to ship to Canada, but, shipping was expensive and I didn’t have much time. I decided to simply get all of my fur in one order without ordering swatches despite the risks and it was a huge mistake!



This is probably one of my biggest regrets. I ended up ordering ivory fur because it looked better on my monitor than the white fur. It does not, however, look better on a fursuit and I really wish I stuck to the white fur.



Pattern both sides of your fursuit head

Some online tutorials will have you believe that you can pattern one half of your fursuit head and simply flip the pattern over for the pieces of fur for the opposite side. Don’t do it! Some people might be able to pull it off, but unless you’re already very experienced at fursuit making, it’s probably not a good idea. Even minor asymmetry can have a big impact on on the fitment of the fur and cause it to not fit correctly. I had to discard my mostly completed facial fur and completely redo it as a result of this, wasting several hours of time and a great deal of material.



Be careful with the vacuum

The vacuum cleaner is a great way to remove stray fibers from fur after shaving. Unfortunately, it’s also a great way to remove your entire work piece if you’re not careful! Small pieces of fur can easily get sucked up by the vacuum and this can be quite a frustrating experience after spending a great deal of time shaving down a piece of fur.

I eventually got so frustrated with this that I designed a mesh cover for my vacuum to prevent this from happening. If you have access to a 3D printer, I highly recommend printing one as well.

Try a variety of marking and cutting tools

When building a suit, much of your time is going to be spent marking and cutting fur. Every maker has their own favorite methods for cutting fur, so it’s worth trying a few different tools and techniques to see what works best for you. I’ve been using a very sharp craft knife (similar to a scalpel) to cut the backing of the fur, because that’s what I’ve found to work best for me. Some makers prefer to use utility knives and others prefer to use scissors. I struggled with using a utility knife for a great deal of time because that was the tool recommended by most of the tutorials I looked at. I really wish I had tried using a craft knife earlier, though as I found it to be much more accurate and easier to use.



Use the tools available to you

Use your printer to make templates, stencils and patterns. If you have access to a 3D printer, use it. I used a 3D printer to print the eyes and nose on this head. It’s easy to lose paper patterns and templates, so having digital versions of them could save you some frustration in the future.



However, you don’t have access to these tools, don’t let that stop you! You absolutely can build a suit using simple hand tools and do not need need to buy a 3D printer or even a sewing machine (though it is recommended). I’ve probably stitched more of my suit by hand than I’ve machine sewn at this point, so you can definitely get by with just hand stitching.

You’re going to make mistakes

I made a lot of them. Don’t get discouraged. If you mess up some part of your suit, you can always try it again! It’s okay to take extended breaks if you need to or go back and do some more research on how to make a particular part.

