Beginner parts - my first attempts - critique welcome!

[Kaluna]

Hello! I'm looking for advice and critique on my first attempts at making ears and tails. I'm also working on a set of sock paws which I will post here as well. I intend to use this thread a sort of a progress place and to also get advice on how to improve and what to try next. Everything is handsewn.

So here is my first set of ears and a tail:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6688777

They featured glued seams on the ears which I was very unhappy with so I tried something entirely new for the ears on the second try:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6685481

I made the ears using this guide:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF9WmmJrwoU

The girl I gave these to did not want the ears trimmed but I would have liked to trim them.

Then I made a deer tail for another friend:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6685515


and that's all so far! I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's comments, but please don't just say "I like it" or "It sucks". Please tell me what exactly you do or don't like and why. I'm really trying to improve.

 

[Ad Hoc]

They featured glued seams on the ears which I was very unhappy with so I tried something entirely new for the ears on the second try:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6685481

I would have been a little more ambitious with the heart shape here, would have made the dip at the top go down farther. As it is, it's a little blotchy. The ears look really nice, though.

As a caveat, I'm not a suiter/suit maker; just my impression as a layman.

 

[Kaluna]

I would have been a little more ambitious with the heart shape here, would have made the dip at the top go down farther. As it is, it's a little blotchy. The ears look really nice, though.

As a caveat, I'm not a suiter/suit maker; just my impression as a layman.

That is exactly what I thought after I looked at the finished tail. :/ Well at least I now know, little things don't really show well in sewing...lol

Thanks for sharing your opinion. n.n

 

[Ad Hoc]

That is exactly what I thought after I looked at the finished tail. :/ Well at least I now know, little things don't really show well in sewing...lol

Thanks for sharing your opinion. n.n

Eh, you live and learn. Next time you'll do better, I imagine.

No trouble.

 

[Trpdwarf]

Hmm, the biggest issue I see so far is the material you are using. First let us look at your fox tail. Fox tails are what..bushy right? So in the future try to use longer pile material for bushy tails. Otherwise it just doesn't look right, and often ends up looking rather lumpy too. It's hard for anything to look remotely fox like even with a more appropriate shape when the fur has next to no length.

Similar issue with your deer tail. The two furs don't match up. Try to keep the furs you use on the same tail consistent. Otherwise it looks off. You can do a deer tail with shorter pile faux fur if you are looking for slightly toony style (though really a longer pile is better) but the key point is match the lengths.

Shape wise you need to take a good look at the way deer tails and fox tails naturally look. This will help you with creating more appropriate shapes. A fox tail generally is thinner at the base, bottles out but not too widely, and then tapers into either a bushy rounded end, or a tip. Deer tails are very flat looking, and tend to be triangular. I've made one deer tail and what I did was round the tip a bit just because it looked better for the suit, and cut an upholstery foam insert to slide into the inside. That gave it a much better shape and didn't make it plump looking. It's a suggestion. That said mad props for at least not having highly visible seams. That is a good first step to be able to appropriately hide your seams well.

 

[Kaluna]

@Trpdwarf: Thanks for replying! I HATE that brown fur I used on all of this, I should mention. It's all fur from joanns and as such not very good quality at all. The brown is awful. The white is sub-par, and the black is plush and okay with a decent backing. I only bought it to use as practice material and as such, I just giving away the stuff I make with it to friends. That said, I totally agree with your points about matching length too, and would have if given the resources.
As for the shapes, both are good suggestions and I will take that into account on my next projects.
Also as for the seams, I spent an INSANE amount of time sewing all of these things because I was so meticulous with those seams, so I'm glad it shows in the final product how hard I worked. :3 My speed is increasing with practice, hopefully it won't always take an hour per foot of tail. XP

 

[Trpdwarf]

@Trpdwarf: Thanks for replying! I HATE that brown fur I used on all of this, I should mention. It's all fur from joanns and as such not very good quality at all. The brown is awful. The white is sub-par, and the black is plush and okay with a decent backing. I only bought it to use as practice material and as such, I just giving away the stuff I make with it to friends. That said, I totally agree with your points about matching length too, and would have if given the resources.
As for the shapes, both are good suggestions and I will take that into account on my next projects.
Also as for the seams, I spent an INSANE amount of time sewing all of these things because I was so meticulous with those seams, so I'm glad it shows in the final product how hard I worked. :3 My speed is increasing with practice, hopefully it won't always take an hour per foot of tail. XP

That's good that you got cheap rubbish fur to practice on. Just make sure once you start to get serious or make things for others (especially when you take payment in exchange) that you move on to better furs. Best to save and get the good stuff.

It takes a lot of practice to get consistent when you sew by hand. The result is awesome though. Keep at it and don't give into temptation to sit and use a sewing machine for things like tails. By hand is far better. You get better seamless results this way.

 

[Sar]

I take it from the tail you used the matrices method?
Just curious.

 

[Kaluna]

I take it from the tail you used the matrices method?
Just curious.

Well, not exactly. I did read her tutorials, but I also read many others and in the end I used a combination of methods that I liked best. All the patterns were my own creations too. Basically I made the pattern, cut the pieces using a breakaway razor blade, pinned everything together, started with the markings, and then hand sewed the whole thing always from tip to base. Then I added elastic belt loops and sewed the top shut using a hidden stitch my friend showed me. The stuffing is polyfil.