Catch a Tiger by His Tail!

You can now look forward to another full sized costume appearing ... Tail first! I bought nice thick webbing and a strong clip. I prefer tails to be very securely attached to the body and never to the fur of the costume - people do tug them!

So here is a strong but also comfortable belt. A tube of Sherpa fleece provides the padding esp if you don't wear much under your fursuit. Fur is very warm!

The tail has been attached with extra strong thread and here I am wearing it. For more bounce, wear the tail upside down!

And how's that Rat-Head doing? Not bad ....

Sketch book time!

Sometimes I have to stop and draw something in order to know how it will come together. As if my hand movements on the paper help me to see?

So these are sketches of the rat fursuit head I am working on, with a different shaped nose than the last time. Although the drawing below does admittedly look like a pair of pants! Oops!

This top view sketch shows what I'm aiming for, so I plan to cover thin sheet foam in fleece and add shading. This may match the rat's ears! 

Nativity time - feeling christmassy?

Well it was a lovely evening when my little girls stepped out for all to see in their mummy-made costumes, so of course I took the camera along as one does at such special times!

Mary did very well despite me not giving her lessons in stairs-and-long-dresses! My favourite grown-up costume was the chicken, what did you like best?

Owl My Love ... My children!

Ready for take off?



Daisy made owl wings, very successfully and without any grown-ups helping. She has also worn them several times too! The girls often sit on their wendy house roof, hooting, or climb



I know this is really blurred, but it's so funny and I can hear the giggling when I look at it!

Big Cats in Weymouth - Spirit of the Sea 2011 ...

The tiger returned to Weymouth yet again, and this time THE CAT was ready for him!



It was certainly a lovely day for a Harbour-side festival!



Until some one pointed out all that water, to the Cat! YIKES!



Most of the public were very taken with our furry visitors, and the felines must have posted for hundreds of photographs!



And there was time for a few lovely Cat-cuddles too!


What did you do at the weekend? XXX

more cat head WIP ...

and so to make the pattern for furring the cat head ...



interesting shapes appear when I work this way ...



and the blue foam shape starts to look like a creature ...



sometimes the wrong creature - is this a bunny?



those ARE cat's ears!



and that's a little pink cat's nose!



creating the eyes, cutting the shapes for irises from painted acetate ...



and into the head they go!



eye can see you!

Cat's Cat Suit - the head! WIP

does a cat's head appear?



nore of a fox, that muzzle is much too long!



I started to shorten the muzzle, bit by bit, and added more foam to shape the skull ...



i made fabric and fur ears, worked more ont he shape of things like the eye holes and the muzzle ...



then today I got the glue gun out, and burned myself rather a lot!


(the thermostat may have broken on my gun!)

The Nature of the Beast!

making myself into a Cat ... well, its happening!



I do need a head and a tail, but I already feel rather like puss in boots!



I have better get some more work done, it's nearly time for Spirit-of-the-Sea, again ... but no more lobster costuming, for me ...

why the big paws?

all the better to wave hello!


Little-Cat costume takes shape ...

fur and feathery greens!

today I buried my hands in super soft fur ...



and i spent a long time cutting shapes into this for and a fluffy white one ...



also did some green things, eating this lovely fresh lettuce for out tea, harvested under the watchful eye of our chickens ...


the children picked some of our gooseberries, and removed some of the fallen-too-soon apples from the lawn...

Tiger in Radipole Woods!

Really enjoyed making this video! Thanks to Tiger-Tan and my lovely girls!

Tiger at Cat's Porch!

He is Number 1 too!



The Tiger had a lovely time back in weymouth - you too can visit Cat's Porch next weekend ...

new screen saver - memory of my London trip!

Is that tiger asleep, or laughing very hard at my jokes?

And I went to London, this week!

and I took these furry balls with me - but more about those in a second!



First, here is a hunk i managed to get a cuddle with, at Rainbow Productions ! And then i had a nice lunch with Simon Faulkes ...

And those balls? I added some eye lids, and now the tiger can sleep - I think he looks really sweet! I took my copic markers and sat on a bench on Wimbledon Common. It was nice to see the tiger again after all this time!



and the new 'asleep' eyes seem to be very effective!



Then, it was time for the tiger to wake up and play - and not a Womble in sight!

foam dome ...

i have been working with my own body a little bit more ...

working with my body ...

my recently created duct-tape body is to help me make a suit that fits me! I use it to create one half of a pattern, then my costume will be perfectly symmetrical...



I have got my pins, some scissors, a marker pen and some old, partly faded curtains which will form the actual pattern ...



now I just need to take my time over it!

tiger tiger ....WIP - furring the head ....

this photo shows tiger's upper head fur is in one piece, almost ready ... eye liner is needed here ...



I have made the best possible use of fur, without constructing a 'white' tiger head and doing air brushing ... which I have never actually done! Mary is playing with 'snakes' made from fur salvage edges...



and here the eye sockets have been lined, I carefully hand-sewed black fur around the sockets, leaving the tear ducts free. These are covered with chiffon, now.

Rat Head Gets Furry .....

as usual in my fursuit creation, some pieces of old laura ashlet curtain fabric wrapped around the form help me with my pattern making ...



I then use it to cut the fur, adding seam allowance ...



here, there are two sections of pieced together fur, the scalp section and the muzzle part. Neither are sewn to the head at this point, altho the laura ashlet scalp pattern helped me sew the ears symetrically to the head with upholstery thread.



that is why the mouth parts look very slack, and the lower jaw is onlt pinned to the chin area. i fashioned some eyes from card board based on my clients digital drawing of his character ...



i hope these are in roughly the right position to line up withthe holes in the foam. As these eyes re longer, i am not sure tear ducts will look right, but a black boarder should look quite effective ...



what do you think ?