Critter Costuming: Making Mascots and Fabricating Fursuits

May be outdated in terms of today’s fursuit making, but it still provides tips that are helpful to this day. I love old fursuits and fandom things and this fits the bill.

I just received Critter Costuming, and I must say that I LOVE it. It is a must have for anyone who is interested in making any type of mascot style costume. It covers everything from design and planning to tools and materials you would need, head and body construction to traveling and performing. It also has a helpful list places to order materials that are mentioned in the book. Even interviews with professional cosume makers, performers, and material specialists are included.It has advice on almost every question you could think of asking about making this style costumes and some things you wouldn't think about until you were stuck (such as how to sew in a zipper correctly).I must admit that I was hesitant to order the book at first because, one, I thought it cost a little more than I was willing to spend, and two, because it was spiral bound... but let me just say that the price is definitely worth it, and the spiral does not make it any lower quality.. and in fact, it's much easier to lay flat and reference when you are working than a hard- or paperback book.It doesn't matter if you are just starting your first suit, you have already made a few but would still like a good reference guide, or you have never made one before but are interested, I would definitely recommend getting this book. It is one of the best investments I've made this year.

This book is a fantastic introduction to fursuiting, complete with techniques, interviews, and resources, but by now definitely a little dated. It's unfortunate that there's a huge lack of books on the market that can teach fur costuming, so Critter Costuming is what we've got. If you want to read more about more recent techniques, like silicone parts, LED eyes, props, etc., this book won't have any of that. It's a primer, with tutorials for making heads, patternmaking, performance and safety advice, and other basics. Worth adding to the library, but you'll have to supplement with online tutorials for sure.

Enjoyed reading the book and seeing how to make critter costumes. I think I'll just pay someone to create and design our hero mascot for our business. You need some real talent and time to design and create the mascots. Overall a well written book.

Not quite as impressed as I thought I would be with this one. It gives some good details, but there is still a lot left to be desired. Its understandable that no one book or even online source can ever cover everything. To a large degree, you have to use your own imagination and a lot of personal ingenuity. In any event, it was still worth the read as a good primer. I have found there are several Tumblr accounts that I follow that will occasionally post some very extensive templates with measurements which can be printed out and used directly. I had hoped to find a basis for some stuff I am working on, but the materials I am using currently I have never seen any others use before so I am very much on my own for this project. I have posted some of my results online and I am getting through the process on a trial-and-error basis. All in good fun though and I am still learning a lot.

I missed being a mascot, like I was back in highschool. We decided to take a trip to a comic con and I wanted to take the opportunity to dress up in character. I had no idea how to even begin making a costume, so I began my search online. This book has everything I could have ever hoped for. Although my boyfriend thinks the price was too much, I know it will pay off and it will be used to its full potential.I still reccommend looking online at viedo instructions for more assistance on fur suits for beginners though.

Granted this is a 2004 published book, but much of the information is still valid. The real value of this book is the advice about design and performing. This section alone is worth the cost. The section on glues and suppliers is also very good and still valid.

This book is so detailed and so awesome! Mint condition as well! Thanks so much!

Cool

The book seems like a conclusion of the methods from ten years ago.Noone uses wire head bases anymore, since everyone basically agreed that the risk of breaking a wire in your face is too high.Instead, they could have added some more recent stuff, like more information on resin bases and electronics (LEDs and fansa are quite common today).

I heard about this book several years ago, when I was interested in making costume. The writers had their own website with a few samples of what was inside. At the time the only way I could find it was if I imported it from the USA, which was a real pain because it would have meant paying out a fortune to get it over here.As soon as I found out I could get here, I immediately ordered it. The book does not disappoint!There's no other book like this one. It doesn't give you the step by step on exactly how to make the exact same costumes on the front of the cover. Instead it breaks the creation process down into the different sections, such as the design process, making the head, making the bodysuit and even how to perform in these sort of costumes. It will give advice on what sort of things they did to get the finished look, for example, they showed how to make the werewolf gloves or how to make a mascot head out of polyfoam.The book even gives some excellent guidelines on what sort of materials you can use and how effective they are. I found the chart on the different types of glue to be valuable, as I often have problems getting certain materials to stick with the glues I use.I would advise anyone who is thinking about getting this book, it is ideally for someone who may have the basics of costume making down already. I use this book as a guide when I'm stuck on how to do something or need ideas for my next project. The internet is your best friend when it comes to achieving the exact costume you want, following the advice of other creators. But this is one you should definately get for your library!

As there are no other books out there that cover just this type of subject it's ok.I was disappointed by the lack of actual creation techniques, based on reviews from Amazon.com and other's, I purchased thinking this would help me with creating mascots. I was hoping to get much more information on head construction but it's very limited to Foam Carving or Wire Construction both of which I was already familiar with. The pictures and instructions are not quite clear so you have to magnify some of the images to see what you are supposed to do.It's got a lot of information about "Characters" which is fine, but I would have liked to see better images and step-by-step constructing. It does cover some important issues such as Materials, Handlers, Situations and Children, however I wasn't buying it for that information.If it's on sale then pick it up, but otherwise, save your money and spend it on materials.Sorry, only 3 of 5 on this one.

Really good to read, gives you details on how it is made, lots of pictures and information where to buy