So Califur was super fun. For a smaller con, I really enjoyed it. I loved th setting too! Made for some fun pictures, which I won't torment you with. I've just had a couple people asking me how I made my suit and I able happy to share! So I'm uploading this picture to give a little description on how and what I did (and because it's pretty cute). If anyone has any questions lemme know! I'll try to answer! I'm new at this though!!

~Bongo



For the fur, I want to say about I spent about 100-120. I also bought waaaay too much. I have yards left over I'm sending to Lucky Coyote for her business, Don't Hug Cacti. It really wasn't as expensive as I had thought, but i did use lots of coupons at Jo-Ann's and got most of it on sale!!

I made my head out of a heavy-duty needlework mesh. There are people who make them entirely out of foam, but I don't know how to do that, plus I thought it would be SUPER hot. I sewed the frame together with yarn, always checking to make sure my head would still fit in it. I built up the cheeks, forehead, and eyebrows, with a sorta dense chair cushion foam. Used leather for my nose, "fun-foam" for my ears and eye lashes, and an old curtain for my eyes. I have incredible vision in this suit. Most people use Buckram which you can find Jo-Ann's stores. (I couldn't so I used a curtain.) For Dago's suit, I used a little bit of the curtain to see through and pieces of a thin, white plastic bowl to make the eyes shiny. I like the effect and will probably switch mine to that, but the vision isn't as good. I used lots and lots of hot glue!!! I also hand-stitched a lot on the head, especially the back and neck part. I left the inside of my ears open and they work well as vents. I am definitely going to invest in some small fans though, since we have to take breaks pretty often.

For the body I made a duct-tape-suit. (Basically you get someone to wrap you in duct tape and cut you out along the sides so you have a skin of yourself to use as a pattern when cutting out your suit.) It worked super well!! Just remember to leave room for seams.

Since I have a big tail, I got a back brace which I wear under the suit, and attached the tail separately to that so it gives it support and my tail doesn't tug on my back. (And I can wear it without the full body suit!)

For my paws I covered some comfortable old shoes and built up the toes with foam. I used fimo clay for the toe-nails with I hot-glued to the fur. They get loose sometimes, but a little more glue fixes them right up!

The suit was so fun to make and quite an experience! I love being Bongo!!