Putting the Cute into Balaclavas!

WE were recently blessed with a set of patterns for balaclavas, many of them jester style, and Daisy was very taken with them and of course then the other girls were too!

Here is Daisy, modelling the hat that Matty chose ... Mary chose the pink fabric and so we used t hat for embellishments to make each one unique!



Mary wears her own, and Matty wears Daisy's, all featuring ribbing made from a recycled T-shirts that was getting small for mary!


And we were warmer on bonfire night too!

The Last Post - of 2010!

And it's a tiger post! This time she got a lovely fluffy neck, what a throat ...



The neck is made from four pieces of striped fur, and four of the long white polar fur. Matching stripes is like a fluffy jigsaw!



Then our tiger got some teeth - no more gummy smile ...



Teddy bear makers often create pulled-toes, and here I have created - pulled teeth! Not the fangs, they are cones of foam covered in PVC, but the little teeth all in a row ...



Just want to say Fang you very much for reading my blog this year, HAPPY NEW YEAR! cat XXX

tiger tiger ....WIP - eyes!

cutting irises from acetate... cut the pupil hole first!



polish your baubles (thats my glasses cloth) and grab some UHU glue ...



delicate work ... leave to dry away from small curious people ...



and dear old grandma-tiger ... there she is!



she gazes out of the window and wonders when the sun will shine on her hand-painted orbs!



next, her neck covering! But then, the sun did come out and showed the eyes at their best ...

whose nose do you suppose?

i like t o draw things so that i really get to know them ...



a double layer of dense sheet foam provides the innards for a tiger's nose ...



there he is! and the nose seems to be the right size and shape ...



i use my copic markers to colour the nose, working on some beige fleece fabric ...



the next stage will be to wrap the pink fleece around the foam and stitch in place, before adding it to the tiger's muzzle ...

tiger tiger ....WIP - furring!

tiger by numbers, Mary watches me at work ...
this is the third time I have used this method to make a pattern for furring, but the tiger head is the hardest one yet ...



so Mary knows its supposed to be a tiger head, but she doesn't think it's very tigery. So she pretends to be a frog ...
I must not loose any pieces ...



i carefully start to cut shapes from four different kinds of fur and begin to sew then together. Matty parks cars on her drawing of children playing in our street ...



Behind You! This is beginning to work, esp when the fur is pulled tight as it will be when all stitched down ... I like to do an much sewing as possible and avoid glueing which is not as strong in many ways ...



and here, using some very careful hand sewing on account of the curves, the muzzle and cheek fur is starting to take shape ...



this is hard work, and requires thought, but the result is making me happy ... i am not an airbrush artist, but this shows you how you can create a tiger head using only commercial printed furs ...

some tiger head markings ....

it is sometimes only by making drawings that i really see something ...

dear old grandma tiger!

I have made some marking on the head, covering it in old curtain fabric, so will be cutting fur in the next few days!

WIP - fursuit tiger head getting ready to fur ....

a sketch of tiger feelings - markings, teeth, colours ...



old curtains again - pattern making as I go!



drawing areas for add different furs to ...



the long fur in the ears and on the bottom jaw will need trimming and shaping ...

tiger tiger ....WIP - ears!

its takes 12 small pieces of fur to make 2 tiger ears ...



here they are on the head, the fuzzy things are black pipe-cleaners that I am using to facilitate some expression ...



to have also painted inside the eyes to change the blue foam to black where it might well be seen ...

tiger tiger ....WIP - better shaping - ready for fur?

tiger with a toupee, that's not right ...



I dig this little toy from Mary's animal tin, he looks a bit cheesey but he helped me with the head shape ...



better?



although, after looking at it again ...



i had to lift up the ears a bit!



better!
ear furring next, perhaps!

tiger tiger ....WIP

the foam dome is covered in fabric here
this helps me in marking symmetry ...



but it doesn't really look very tigery to me - more like a bear!
or chip and dale?



so i changed the forehead and shortened the muzzle ...



and also the slope of the nose ... and the angle of those ears ...



and Daisy, loves him ....

WIP - fursuit tiger head is my next project ....

snip snip ....



not used a green balaclava before, here I am using paper to make sure the head us symmetrical ...



building the foam dome!

Good Bye Big Rat Head !

Off to Canada he goes .....

WIP - fursuit rat head rounding the muzzle ...

before muzzle rounding ...



after muzzle rounding ...



its done with a cylinder of rolled sheet foam as a brace, and some lacing of the lips ... next, make a neck piece and then I am all finished ...

Patterns for furring my BIG RAT HEAD ....

symmetry in heads is important - i used the same pattern for both sides ... the pattern in turn helps me place the cheeks level on both sides, and the ears of course !



here is the Pattern for the Cheeks and Muzzle ... this is both sides, but folded ... some times i make a cut too far, and repair with tape! I have marked out the white and grey areas with marker pen...



hey wait a minute - who is that little blue guy? Not seen him around here before...

smaller, cuter, furrier, lower jaw ....

with an elastic strap to help attach it to the head ...

Rat Head Gets Lower Jaw - Finally!

i have layered and bent three pieces of foam to try and create a bit of a smile for the rat head ...