This fursuit was done as commissioned work for my friend Lee Strom. It was a joint effort between the two of us; I focused on creating the body while he managed the head. This was Lee's first serious fursuit effort, so it also served as an excellent learning opportunity as well. The goal was to create a cute cartoonish raccoon character, hence the large proportions of the head and the shaping of the body. The color scheme was chosen to match the natural colors of raccoons as well as possible while still providing distinct and recognizable markings.
Chairo Itazura, the finished costume
The bodysuit was assembled from a modified sewing pattern (see sidebar). Once the pattern was determined to be close enough, the shapes were cut from the fur and assembled.
Several of the pattern pieces contained multiple colors; for those, we drew the color transitions on the bodysuit while it was being worn to establish the correct lines. These were then transferred back to the pattern pieces. The separate pieces were cut from different colors of fur according to the lines marked on the cardboard, sewn, and compared as a single piece to the pattern piece to make sure there was no inaccuracy. These could then be assembled like the original pattern pieces.
