...it's just meant as a kind of tutorial for folks who want to make a duct-tape dummy. Sometimes, when I try to explain how this weirdness works, I don't make a lot of sense, or the person just can't visualize what I'm describing in their head.

So I made this piece of crap "art" (while suffering a migraine, which does some really cruddy things to my lines) as a way to help folks picture what I mean when I say fashion-designer lingo like "raglan sleeve" or "inset sleeve" or "centre back seam".

Here's a video link to a couple of Furry folk who filmed their duct-tape dummy process (they don't show cutting it off, though): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RISsydX7Os

A mother and daughter team, doing another tape dummy, this time just for the torso: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1lB456OS9A&feature=related

Neither of these folks use the saran-wrap method to protect their clothing or skin from the tape. Use the saran! Trust me, it'll save your clothes.

Prep: drink a nice glass of water before you do this. Turn on the air-conditioner and maybe some music or a movie for the person undergoing the "Process". Of course, you can tease them unmercifully while taping, but try not to be too cruel.

Wrap 'em in saran from neck to ankles and to wrists, cackling like a fiend.

Let your victim wonder what you're up to.

Next: duct-tape... them to a wall. No, wait, that was the high-school prank. Heh. Start laying down strips along the arms, legs, waistline and centre-front and centre-back. Then lay in more strips, overlapping them a little to make it all one "fabric". Try to make them neat and smooth- it's easier to cut through one or two layers, but a devil to cut through knotted crap.

Check on your victim every once in a while to make sure they're ok. They're going to be standing and/or holding their arms up for a while (I do those last) and they're going to get tired and sweaty.

Once they're all taped up, draw out your proposed seams with a permanent marker. Write on each piece identifying tags like front, back, left arm, right arm, etc. If you're making the dummy to send to a suit-maker, they'll need to know this stuff. Also on the arms and legs, mark where the front and back of each piece are and in a different colour, mark the centre-line for legs (lots of folks like digitigrade suits- having a centre-line easily identified makes things more simple).

Start cutting carefully, staying between the saran and any clothing the person is wearing. I'd start with the legs, both because they were done first and to allow your poor subject to sit down if they need to.

Once they're out of the saran/duct-tape torture suit, thank them for their patience and maybe feed them, too, if they've been there a while. This process can take a couple of hours, so ordering out for pizza might be a nice gesture.

Now, you should have the pieces for either taping it all back together and stuffing it for use to make your own patterns, or to send the flat pieces to your suit-maker so they can do so. <3

As my fashion-design professor liked to say: "clear as mud?"