I've been receiving a lot of the same kinds of questions about my work, especially when I post WIPs, and... bless you guys, but I don't have the energy or patience to keep answering the same questions over and over. xD So I will start linking this at the bottom of my submissions if I can remember. It's organized into sections and hopefully isn't too long.

GENERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT FURSUITS

Q: How do you see in a fursuit head?
A: In mine, the vision ports are almost always the iris/pupil area. It’s made of buckram, a fabric used in hat making and book-binding that has a fine mesh. It’s akin to looking through dark sunglasses. Due to simple light physics, because it’s dark in the fursuit head, you can see out, while onlookers can’t see inside.
Other places I’ve placed vision are the mouth, tear duct area, and necks- it really just depends on the shape of the head where it would most make sense for there to be vision.

Q: How hot do those costumes get?
A: Depends on the individual costume as well as the fortitude of the wearer. Personally, once I start sweating, it’s not so bad and I can goof around for an hour or two before I need to take a break and get some water in me. Some people like to brag about how long they can stay in costume as if it were a contest, but I think that’s a bit foolish, as pushing your limits can result in heat exhaustion and dehydration. A fursuiter should listen to their body above all else.

Q: Why do fursuits fetch such a high price tag?
A: A combination of things including materials that are priced high to begin with, the skilled labor that goes into your commission, and the general costs of running a small business (spoiler alert: they’re pretty high and there always seems to be something that needs restocking, fixing, or replacing). This is my full-time job, I don’t have anyone else supporting me, so I have to be realistic about hourly wages and overhead. Otherwise I might as well be working retail. It sounds like I’m making a lot of money on each costume if you look at the total commission price, but my cut adds up to a surprisingly modest lifestyle. I have enough confidence and self-respect that I don’t need to “haggle” with bargain hunters. It’s okay if you get a quote from me and find it’s not within your budget, perhaps another builder would be more within your price range. Or you can try your hand at making it yourself- that’s how I got started making these!

QUESTIONS ABOUT SUPPLIES

Q: What is that blue foam you use for ears and where do you get it? Is it better than other foams?
A: It’s a closed cell foam sold as Ozark brand camping mats at WalMart. I had noticed that many suits with oversized ears have drooping issues over time- I like the blue foam because it’s stiffer, while still being lightweight and flexible. It’s handy for other things too.
It’s become a bit harder to find lately, I’ve been chatting on and off with someone who works at WalMart and he says it should start becoming more readily available again soon. You can use the WalMart site to see if your store has any in stock, very handy feature.

Q: What kind of balaclava are you using on your heads?
A: I make my own hoods out of headliner/nyfoam fabric, a sewable foam found at any fabric store. I like it because it’s a little sturdier than a spandex balaclava, and glue doesn’t seep through to the inside easily.

Q: What head form are you using to build off of?
A: It’s from Monster Makers, it retailed for around $50 and is life-size, unlike most foam wig heads you can find. I padded out the sides anyway because I prefer a roomier interior on my fursuit heads. I simply add padding to the inside if the wearer is smaller. If Monster Makers is out of stock of these mannequin heads, perhaps try here? http://www.compositeeffects.com/mobile/singleitem.php?product=HFDSL01

Q: Where do you get your fur?
A: All online, I don’t have any local sources anymore. My main go-to sites are CRScrafts, ImStuffedFur, Fabric.com, DistinctiveFabric, and Fabric Empire.

Q: What kinds of foam do you use and where do you get it?
A: I use half inch green foam from JoAnn’s for heads, in addition to white 2” chair pad foam for toes and noses, headliner, and blue camping mat foam for ears, soles, mascot-style heads, etc.

Q: Tell me about your noses, what is Plasti-Dip?
A: It’s a liquid rubber compound that can be found in hardware stores. I carve noses from foam and dip them in Plasti-Dip to give them a smooth, squishy, satin-finish coating. Each nose has 3-4 layers, and any nose that’s not black has been painted. There’s also a spray-on version of Plasti-Dip, but I haven’t actually found it terribly useful.

TUTORIALS, FEEDBACK, ETC

Q: Can you share some of the patterns you use on fursuits and plush?
A: I create my own patterns from scratch and they are the result of over ten years of experimentation, hard work, trial and error. I don’t give away or sell patterns.

Q: I heard you have tutorials, where are they?
A: Here is a master list of all the tutorials I’ve made thus far. If I make any more, it’ll be because I want to, and please understand I’m not obliged to share anything I don’t want to. I’ve made these tutorials out of love for the craft and wanting to “pay it forward” skills taught to me by other artists.
Toon Eyes: https://www.weasyl.com/submission/308632/toon-fursuit-eye-tutorial
Satin-Stitching: https://www.weasyl.com/submission/459914/a-satin-stitching-tutorial
Installing Zippers: https://www.weasyl.com/submission/564617/fursuit-zipper-tutorial
How to Fur a Head (pt 1): https://www.weasyl.com/submission/452346/how-to-fur-a-head-part-one

Q: Can you give me some tips on making fursuits?
A: This is such a vague question I couldn’t possibly hope to answer… even with a specific question, there are so many different build styles and ways of working, there’s still no guarantee we’d be on the same page. I’m sorry, but I can’t really answer questions like this.

Q: I have a fursuit project I’m working on and I need another pair of eyes to take a look at it- would you give me some feedback?
A: Yes, if you shoot me a few clear photos and a brief description of what you’re trying to accomplish, I can give you some critique. It may take a few days to get back to you depending on how busy I am at the time.

Q: I noticed something a little off about something you uploaded- mind if I give you some critique?
A: Sure, go for it! Some things to keep in mind are personal aesthetic and customer concept- even if something isn’t to your specific tastes, it may very well have been something requested by the customer. If you’ve factored those in and it still looks weird, like a symmetry goof for instance, I’d like to be politely told about it for sure. Kind of like the fursuit building equivalent of having your zipper down in public, with nobody to tell you to zip up.
If you worry about being dogpiled by random people disputing your critique, email or private messaging works for me.

Q: Where else can I find help on making fursuits?
A: Here are some great links to get you started:
http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=fursuit&keyword=How-To&filter=all
Another way to find information on how to build fursuits is to browse DeviantArt or FurAffinity with the search terms “fursuit tutorial” “fursuit guide” “fursuit how-to”, etc. You can sort by date or popularity which can help you find different kinds of things.
There’s also a tag for fursuit tips on this Tumblr community: http://fuckyeahfursuiting.com/tagged/tips