This is just something fun I am playing around with for my next costume project.
We went through lots of swatches trying to find the perfect fur that would match a blue character with white hairs all over its face. Ultimately we went with solid colored fur, (Royal Blue Promo Shag + Royal Blue Supershag), but I was still thinking of how I could incorporate the white hairs.
Since the fur I picked was so fine, I wasn't able to paint or airbrush it to get the look I wanted. So I did some testing, and I am really really happy with this result!
![]()
I started out with some yarn I thought would be suitable, it matched some other fur I plan to use on the face. I'm not a yarn expert but this is cream colored 50% wool 50% nylon yarn. I'm sure you can do your own testing to find a nice texture.![]()
shivra recommends: "Caron simply soft yarn is the best for brushing out!" Wool may need special washing instructions and may not be able to be washed normally.
I wrapped it around my hand about 10 times, cut it, then knotted it loosely
![]()
![]()
Then I took my slicker brush and firmly brushed out the fibers, it tore half of them out, and left the rest as a wooly frizz. The knot ends up getting tighter as you brush, so just keep an eye on that, since you'll want to untie it eventually.
![]()
I used a flat iron (for people hair!) to flatten the yarn out and make it smooth, so it is more fur textured than yarn textured. If you like the frizzy texture, then you can skip this step, but I recommend flattening it like this! Then I gently undid the knot holding the bundle together. I'm sure a regular clothing iron would work to press it flat too if you don't have a hair styling iron.
![]()
![]()
I used a needle with a very large eye, and threaded the yarn through it. If your yarn is big, I started out using a loop of thread to pull the yarn piece through the eye of the needle, so that might work for you.
![]()
Poke your needle through the furry-side of the fur through to the backing, Use your needle for leverage and make a knot, push the needle up through it to tighten, and use a tiny pair of scissors to snip it free from the eye. On the front of the fur, brush it out with a slicker, and it looks like it belongs there!!
If there is a better way to do it, chime in the comments and let everyone know! (The fur backing shown is the Royal Blue Supershag from Imstuffedfur.com)
![]()
Here's what it looks like with the white yarn pieces sewn into the Royal Blue SuperShag.
And here's what it looks like incorporated in the "Promo Shag" style fur
![]()
I plan to sew up my face and sew in the little hairs before attaching the fur to the foam. Once inserted, this stuff behaves just like fur. The small knots keeping the yarn in don't seem to affect it much. I did not test how well it shaves yet, but I do not see any reason why that would not work.
Hope this inspires others' projects!!
We went through lots of swatches trying to find the perfect fur that would match a blue character with white hairs all over its face. Ultimately we went with solid colored fur, (Royal Blue Promo Shag + Royal Blue Supershag), but I was still thinking of how I could incorporate the white hairs.
Since the fur I picked was so fine, I wasn't able to paint or airbrush it to get the look I wanted. So I did some testing, and I am really really happy with this result!
I started out with some yarn I thought would be suitable, it matched some other fur I plan to use on the face. I'm not a yarn expert but this is cream colored 50% wool 50% nylon yarn. I'm sure you can do your own testing to find a nice texture.
shivra recommends: "Caron simply soft yarn is the best for brushing out!" Wool may need special washing instructions and may not be able to be washed normally.I wrapped it around my hand about 10 times, cut it, then knotted it loosely
Then I took my slicker brush and firmly brushed out the fibers, it tore half of them out, and left the rest as a wooly frizz. The knot ends up getting tighter as you brush, so just keep an eye on that, since you'll want to untie it eventually.
I used a flat iron (for people hair!) to flatten the yarn out and make it smooth, so it is more fur textured than yarn textured. If you like the frizzy texture, then you can skip this step, but I recommend flattening it like this! Then I gently undid the knot holding the bundle together. I'm sure a regular clothing iron would work to press it flat too if you don't have a hair styling iron.
I used a needle with a very large eye, and threaded the yarn through it. If your yarn is big, I started out using a loop of thread to pull the yarn piece through the eye of the needle, so that might work for you.
Poke your needle through the furry-side of the fur through to the backing, Use your needle for leverage and make a knot, push the needle up through it to tighten, and use a tiny pair of scissors to snip it free from the eye. On the front of the fur, brush it out with a slicker, and it looks like it belongs there!! If there is a better way to do it, chime in the comments and let everyone know! (The fur backing shown is the Royal Blue Supershag from Imstuffedfur.com)
Here's what it looks like with the white yarn pieces sewn into the Royal Blue SuperShag.
And here's what it looks like incorporated in the "Promo Shag" style fur
I plan to sew up my face and sew in the little hairs before attaching the fur to the foam. Once inserted, this stuff behaves just like fur. The small knots keeping the yarn in don't seem to affect it much. I did not test how well it shaves yet, but I do not see any reason why that would not work.
Hope this inspires others' projects!!