Still Furry But A Swing From The Usual

For the most part my posts are generally centered around the progression of my fursuit. I am going to sway from that, although you could still consider this to be about a fursuit (of a sort). 

 I guess you could consider me a furry "Lifestyler" and I am perfectly OK with that.  I have no problems admitting who or what I am. I am proud to be a furry! 

As far as the Vibe goes it started with the tail... and now I am working on the Interior "fursuit".
The dash was finished in June and now that I have picked up more of my "Snep" fur, I will be moving on to the doors and seats... although the seats will get a solid Black rather than the spots. 

Continuing Tweaks

As if finally finishing my fursuit wasn't enough... in only one year I am now going to change something on it that will require ripping out some seams and replacing some of the white fur with a third color a tan with brown tips.

As usually happens with me I seem to have placed the Patterns that I made when I created the fursuit someplace where they would be safe, so I had to make a couple new ones by tracing the parts on the suit.

Once that was done cutting the tan fur and basting the pieces together took only about 45 minutes.

A final sanity check with the new fur laying in place over the white that it will replace.

Everything appears to line up correctly and I am happy with the "new look". Now when I am certain of some down time I will pull some seams and cut the white out where needed to begin sewing the new tan fur in place. 

An Update From Timber

Relic B. Furry

Updates from Timber

There has been a flood of activities for Relic over the last year and as Relic now approaches his first birthday on September 22nd, he is eager to give a report of his activities thus far. Continuing additions and alterations to Relic have changed his appearance significantly and has helped define his character even further.

We accomplished the first of what we hope to be many trips to Anthrocon in 2017 and made many new friends while there. There were over 7300 Furries in attendance in 2017 with a total of nearly 2300 fursuiters involved. Anthrocon's Charity was Hope Haven Farm Animal Sanctuary which we were able to donate a grand total of over $37,000 ! The wonderful City of Pittsburgh, PA. continues to be a most inviting city for our sub-culture to flourish in and takes an active role in having a wonderfully “Furry” time with our attendees. The city enjoys our presence, our contributions to local charities and the lucrative boost to their local economy over the 4 or 5 day period that reaches upwards of $7 million dollars each year. Relic is very happy to have been a part of this wonderful and awe inspiring event this year. No other convention held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center makes such an impact or impression to the local people of Pittsburgh.

Relic is now turning his attention to the second achievement which has always been in the sights since the beginning of his creation. Having lost a very close friend to cancer at the age of 19, we have always looked for a way to help others in such a desperate time in their lives. We are currently in correspondence with St. Jude Children’s hospital in hopes of becoming a “Partner” and volunteer to visit Children’s wards to bring laughter and a moment of happiness to children (and parents) that are most drastically in need of a small break from reality, a laugh or smile even if for just a moment, is Relic’s goal.

Relic will continue to attend any conventions that are close enough to be economically possible in order to learn from our fellow “furries” and broaden our impact within the community. At the current time we are looking to attend CanFURence in Ottawa, Canada in November 2017, and with luck FurnalEquinox in Toronto in February 2018. We will always have Anthrocon (held near the last weekend of June or first weekend in July) in our sites as an annual attendee as it is the largest Furry convention in the world.  

Buyer Be Wise

A little "General Advice" for the upstart fursuiters that want to make their own suit! I have done so myself (which is what this blog is mostly all about) and it is a lot of tough work but also very rewarding to see as it takes shape.  Fursuit makers will know this all ready (or at least they should) and most would agree that your choice of Faux Fur is nearly limitless! A wonderful situation from the design standpoint but this can also make your decisions for your purchase a bit daunting, and can lead to indecision, and worse yet the purchase of what you didn't really want... DON'T RUSH.

To help "cut the clutter" you should really look at the material closely. Most Faux Furs are made from Acrylic fibers, but not all Acrylic fibers make good Faux Furs. The top-of-the-line fibers to look for are Kanecaron and Tissavel. They are the best performers for texture, softness and resiliency which are all the traits you are looking for when buying your fur.

So many people place price first by saying they cannot afford the good fabric, if that is the case (putting it bluntly but truthfully) you really must rethink whether or not you can actually afford to bother with a fursuit at this moment. Step back and save up some more money, you do not want to put your time and effort into a suit that falls apart in a years time because of poor quality fabric, how much money have you really saved at that point?  I have heard some people will look simply at the price and say since it is priced low it is not a good choice. That can hold some truth but not always, texture and pile also contribute to the cost of the material to a certain degree so will affect pricing as well. I do have to admit that for the most part it does seem that the better material does usually start out at around the $27 USD per yard price range and goes up from there (at the time this is written). Lets face it, you don't want to bother with that $17 / yd material that has fibers falling out in your hand like a Husky that is shedding in June.    

Shopping on-line brings you all the choices you can imagine, but it will deny you perhaps the most vital sense you need to invoke when you shop for Faux Fur... Touch! Not to say you shouldn't shop on line, but you need to be aware that to do so wisely will take some time and patience. You can choose your style, pile & color on-line with little problem, but before you buy you really need to be able to feel and handle the material. Most reputable shops will send swatches of material to you if you request them, some may charge a nominal fee, but it is worth it if what you plan on creating is to last and look as good as it can for as long as possible. 

You should not rule out your local chain stores like Joann Fabrics! One key to locating the right Faux Fur here is to know when their shipments are arriving. Faux Fur materials (the good ones) move rather quickly so be prepared to pay them a quick visit when the trucks arrive!