Have several photos to add in.

The Finished Suit:

Not too many construction photos this time around, as construction of the suit began less than a month before competition. But I will try to explain the new methods I used. Additional closeup photos & diagrams to be added as time allows.

Table of Contents

Getting Started
Digigrade Legs
Building the fursuit
Built Foam Head
Furring the Head
Adding Stripes/Spots etc. to your fur

Getting Started
Several images of Khan at different angles were examined, and a 4" clay model was ,made of the head to get an overall 3D model to start from.

Digigrade Legs

Materials used: 1" thick white sheet foam, Foam Fast 74

I wanted to create a digi-grade look without changing the angle of my feet (i.e. no heels), as much bouncing about was anticipated.

These images indicate the shape of the foam to create the look I was aiming for.

Building the fursuit:
Materials List:
Pattern - Simplicity Pattern -Wizard of Oz Cowardly Lion. Fur - 3&1/2 yds 3/4" plush fur (Poppy Orange)from Monterey Furs 1yd 3/4" plush Black Fur; 1 yd 1" white plush fur

I used the same muslin concept as the lioness, only I just made a half suit of the top body from the shoulders to about 2" below the crotch. To accommodate the foamed legs, I altered the leg pattern so that the seams were at front and back, as opposed to the inseam/outseam that the pattern has.

Essentially, the foamed leg pieces were used as the pattern for the shape of the muslin (& the actual fur), only, I added an extra 2" to allow for seam allowance and movement.

The hidden zipper panel:
Must take picture...

The last part of the fursuit was to add the white belly fur. I wanted to center the zipper inside the suit, and to have the front opening to be along one side of the white fur. So, I created the shape of the belly fur as a long "U" shape, and cut a similar shape from a heavy linen sheet. The zipper was added to the linen "U" and then the linen was sewn in place. After attaching the linen piece, I cut the extra orange fur away from the suit. Finally, I sewed the white fur along the edge of the left side of the linen, and attached velcro to hold the bottom & right side of the belly fur to the suit.

Built Foam Head

This head was constructed from acoustical 1" gray sheet foam and a 4"x8" block of gray foam, which was carved for the muzzle.

Basically, the same instructions as used in the Lioness, but repeated here for easy reading. here are a couple of pictures of the unfurred & furred head to add in, showing the separate jaw.

The general construction procedure:
First, create a cylinder from 1" foam. I've found that using a open cell gray foam works the best, so far. It's a little stiffer than closed cell foams, so would have more durability for abuse.

Then, make the top of the head rounded (see red area), by cutting narrow "V's" at one end of cylinder (Like narrow pie pieces). I'm not sure how else to explain making the top round. The best & most economical foam glue I have found is "FoamFast 74" produced by 3M. I generally don't use "Super 77" for adhering foam to foam, as in my experience, it really doesn't adhere the foam nearly (or as long-lived) as FoamFast 74.

You should be able to order FoamFast 74 from most hardware stores, including ACE Hardware.

The Muzzle:

Next, carve a muzzle piece from solid foam. Plan to either have the wearer see out of the eyes, or through the mouth, and scale the head accordingly.

If using a more rigid foam, you can usually use an electric carving knife (from the kitchen) to shape the foam. If you are using a softer foam use scissors & Xacto blades.

The pictures below give a general idea of shaping.

Add the eyeholes, by cutting 2"-3" circles where the wearer will see out. I have used the eyeholes to determine the "pupil" location on the character's eyes.

Ears, cheeks & other facial features:
Cut, carve, etc. whatever features you wish to add, and just adhere well to the head.

The finished foam heads, prior to furring. Eyes have been drawn in at the desired location.
**With Khan, as you can see in the photos above, vision is through the eyes.**

Furring the Head:
Scrap fabric was draped on the head & cut to create patterns for the fur pieces. Generally you want the fur to lie flat along the bridge of nose towards the back of the head, and angled towards the back of the from the temples.

Here is a rough shape idea of what I cut for furring the head. I have indicated the direction the fur pile should lie. Please forgive the crudeness of bitmap image, and realize the scale is not exactly perfect, as the shape and size for the pieces varies from head-shape to head-shape.

After cutting the pieces, I usually just pin them into the head, to make sure I like the way the fur is lying, then use hotglue the pieces directly to the foam. I personally do not glue the outside 1" margin of any of the fur pieces. I prefer to handsew the edges in place, with a spiraling running stitch.

This is a photo of the BigBadWolf's head the character on the right in the above photo, which illustrates the furring process)

The Stripes:
Being dissatisfied with the patterns on pre-striped "tiger" fur, I made the decision from the start that all of stripes would be appliqued (top stitched) to the orange fur. I perused various photos of my animated inspiration as well as natural photos of tigers. After deciding the rough stripe layout, I cut each stripe & handsewed each in place. (This reminded me why I tend to avoid excessive handsewing. Extreme tendentious, but the suit turned out very well, and the pain is worth the costume, right :))

Then, after sewing the stripes on, I smoothed out the edges of the fur with a combination of a fleacomb, slickerwire brush and hand picking with a long pin, until the edges were nearly invisible.

Paws

The feet were constructed around some "van-style" tennis shoes enclosed in a carved foam foot. The bottom of the feet are a dense foam covered in thick felt. The fur socks extend underneath the fur of the legs, and attach in place beneath the leg fur with bands of velcro.
Tail
The tail was constructed around a 4" wide 3' long foam cylinder, which I happily discovered at a local foam supply. On the tail, I was able to machine stitch the stripes onto the orange fur, then stitched the tail casing inside out. After turning the tail rightside out, I then encased the foam tube and picked the fur from beneath the threads to hide the seams. On this suit, the tail is attached by hand stitching to the body suit. I will likely detach the tail & reattach to a belt worn under the suit, to save the seams from the tail tugging which will undoubtedly occur on more public appearances.
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