Answering "How expensive and how long does it take to make a fursuit?"

[guest22811]

Somebody asked me a question a while ago, so I decided to make a post on it.
They asked something like this;
"How expensive and how long does it take to make a fursuit? Also how much would you charge for it?"

I can't say I'm a professional, but I can't say I'm shit either. Here is just what I think;


1 metre is almost equivalent to a yard fyi. So don't bother going to google to change the measurements haha
Also, fur usually comes in a width of 150cm/60"


These are the factors that change the price:

1) The type of fur you use.
There are cheap furs, and expensive furs. If you happen to have a fabric store that is close to you, you can either buy from there or order fur online. IMO, fur online is WAYYYY better quality but slightly more expensive. This is because when you go to a store irl, the fur has usually been there for a while, it might even possibly have yellowed over time (white fur starts to yellow under light fyi, so I always keep my fursuits in a dark place even though they would look awesome on display)
Estimated Price:
Store fur: $25/metre
Online fur: $33/metre
I highly suggest fabric.com


2) The size of your project.
Heads usually use a metre of fur. Handpaws are relatively small, 1/2 metre is just enough. Feetpaws usually take 1/2 a metre too. Tails really depend on the length tbh. And as for the body, 1 metres is enough but I usually stick to 2 just in case.


3) If you want to use a sewing machine at all.
Sewing machines are (noshit) expensive, the cheapest you can probably buy on the market that is still decent is $150 (I got mine for that price). However, if you're looking to make suits on the long term, I highly suggest you save up for one. They really do speed up the process of making a fursuit (especially the bodysuit) but tbh if you're just gonna make partials, just handsew it.


TLDR: If you're cheap, get fur from the local store
Partials are cheaper
Get a sewing machine if you're rich

As for difficulty, it's usually the hardest if you're making your first suit since you're not familiar with it. Take your time.
Also, the harder the markings on the suit are, the harder it is. Stripes are rather difficult, circles are not as difficult but plain annoying, but other interesting shapes like thunder and hearts are very fun. In general, markings are a pain in the ass to get right since fur has a pile. So if you're trying to sew markings, I suggest you to cut the marking out more dramatically than it really is for eg. I was sewing stars into a suit last time, and I made the star points longer so it would look normal. Probably slightly confusing, but once you make a mistake or two you will see what I mean. Everyone makes mistakes though, it's okay!


For hours, it also depends on how much effort you put in and how much you procrastinate etc.
I can't give a exact measurement but
- You can't finish a suit in a day unless you drink a sh*t load of coffee and have no life.
My first suit took 3 months to do (Over time of course)
Second one took 1 month,
Third one took a week
and my last one took about 1 month.
Canines tend to be easier but thats just my opinion.


For prices? It's rather cheap to make the suit alone, but remember that you need to keep wages in mind. Nobody wants to be paid underwage. I set my own pay to roughly 10$ an hour, so lets say, a suit that takes me 20 hours to make would cost $200+The price of materials.


If y'all have any other advice and stuff feel free to dump here.
P.S. @mods if you would like me to move this into the 'advice' forum topic feel free to tell me

[Nori]

Great info as always! I'd like to add in my numbers too if you don't mind, might help! Everything is in USD/yards for me


My dragon partial cost in materials almost exactly $450, since I purchased premade bases and eyes, etc. She took me two weeks, clocking in at around 30 hours.


The bat suit I made for Calun cost ~$350, even though it was foam I had to use some other materials. That took me on the clock approximately 90 hours, though i re-did quite a few things, as it was my first commish and I wanted to experiment a bit.


Nori, my personal fullbody suit, cost me around $275, and took me two months to do, with a clock time of around 45 hours (I didn't keep track until later, but estimated).


There's my figures so far!

[Malina]

Thanks for posting you two !
I've always liked your guys' fursuits and it's good to see the time and effort put in to them