Reasonably crafty people help me please

[emjacobs]

Can you buy two colors of blue felt and hot glue instead? It will be quicker and easier for you. Will the hood stay up on his / her head or will it be flopped back like in the picture?

[Deleted]

I think you need felt or add interfacing to your fabric--I suspect this will be too floppy.

[shostakovich]

Oct 20, 2014 13:30:51 GMT -5 mp said:

Oct 20, 2014 13:29:10 GMT -5 emjacobs said:

Can you buy two colors of blue felt and hot glue instead? It will be quicker and easier for you. Will the hood stay up on his / her head or will it be flopped back like in the picture?

Felt. Ok. This is a better idea than material + batting.

How do you think I can make the felt stick up? Can I make the felt hard easily?

I don't have the sweater in hand yet, so I don't know. I am willing to cut the hood off and add a ribbon to tie under his chin if I need to in order to keep it on his head, lol.

Most craft stores have stiff (he he) felt, as well regular (floppy?) felt.  The stiff stuff should stay up on its own.

[emjacobs]

Oct 20, 2014 13:30:51 GMT -5 mp said:

Oct 20, 2014 13:29:10 GMT -5 emjacobs said:

Can you buy two colors of blue felt and hot glue instead? It will be quicker and easier for you. Will the hood stay up on his / her head or will it be flopped back like in the picture?

Felt. Ok. This is a better idea than material + batting.

How do you think I can make the felt stick up? Can I make the felt hard easily?

I don't have the sweater in hand yet, so I don't know. I am willing to cut the hood off and add a ribbon to tie under his chin if I need to in order to keep it on his head, lol.

Make a mixture of white glue and water, brush the under side of the felt, let it dry and it will be stiff. 

[Deleted]

I agree with emjacobs. I'd go with felt. Much easier and it will give the stiffness that you're looking for. It will be super cute and not too hard.

[emjacobs]

Plus you really don't want to get involved with hand sewing a dog halloween costume. You will hate it and it won't be fun. Hot glue you can finish in an evening with a glass of wine.

[bania]

Stiff felt and glue for the stripes. I would stitch the fins on. Needle and thread, super easy. It will look so cute! Will he be the flounder to your Ariel costume?

[speckledfrog]

Yes, do felt. I would do the side fins with a wire hanger or a few pipe cleaners twisted together.

[iamali]

spitforspat

[stacyb1983]

Felt for the pectoral fins and stripes. Craft foam for the dorsal fin.

[Deleted]

Buy this and make your top fin and stripes one continuous thing for each side.. Glue the top fin halves together with the glue and it'll be super stiff. Then glue down the stripes on the side.

www.amazon.com/Aleenes-Fabric-Fusion-Permanent-Adhesive/dp/B00178QSE6

Hard to explain what I mean...

[jigsy]

I think you will be good. The foam is a good idea too.

[jlt19]

I cannot wait for pictures of this (both of you together!)

[firelight1210]

I have no help, I just want to say that that will be the cutest costume. Is this for Stinky? (You do have other dogs, right?)

[firelight1210]

He is, lol. I think he would be a perfect Flounder too. I hope you post pics!

[spitforspat]

I would probably use craft foam for the fin. It is stiff enough to stand up on its own.

I can't wait to see it!

[speckledfrog]

Oct 20, 2014 13:41:20 GMT -5 @astrid said:

Oct 20, 2014 13:39:15 GMT -5 mp said:

I wouldn't have even thought of that!

Do you know what the thingy is that I'm talking about?  They usually have them with sewing kits.

Seam ripper

[MixedBerryJam]

Oct 20, 2014 13:36:20 GMT -5 oceanspray said:

Could you maybe find something a little stiffer but lightweight? Like blue styrofoam?

Ooh, this is a great idea for the fin on top (my fish biology escapes me)! I've been trying to think of a way to keep that fin vertical. Can you sculpt, mp? I'd probably sculpt the top fin out of styrofoam or even soft foam, which you can cut with regular scissors and then spray paint that blue, and use blue felt for the other stuff.

Also, if you want to use felt for that top fin, you could just make something this shape
../\
_/ \_

out of cardboard to insert into that vertical fin to keep it upright, glue it to the spine of the costume and just cover the flat sides with the blue felt on the fish's back (and I don't know who that fish is but I do know who Ariel is!)

[captainmal]

If it does start to look like a blob, maybe try adding eyes and possibly a mouth to the hood.

[MixedBerryJam]

Oct 20, 2014 13:40:22 GMT -5 mp said:

Oct 20, 2014 13:36:27 GMT -5 bania said:

Stiff felt and glue for the stripes. I would stitch the fins on. Needle and thread, super easy. It will look so cute! Will he be the flounder to your Ariel costume?

Yes. I will be Ariel in her land clothes and not her mermaid outfit, but whatever. I think it will be cute anyway. LOL.

Promise you'll PIP!

[suburbanzookeeper]

You can run picture wire in between the pockets of felt to help give it some sturdiness, I use it with my Halloween decorations all the time and it's pretty easy to work with when using hot glue or E6000. Home Depot sells big spools of it for $3-4.

[shananagins]

For the Mohawk and fins get headliner fabric at Joann's or any big fabric store. It's a fabric with a foam backing. It will stand up on its own and you can paint it easily. It's what I always use when I need to make animal ears for a kids play.

[verycontrary247]

Keep in mind I'm a sewing person, but personally I'd probably cut the back up the middle, add the felt fin and then sew it back together. I feel like hot glue always ends up looking crappy.

Eta: agreed to removing the pockets and hood. Sew on the side fins as well. You should've asked me sooner, I would've done this for yoooou!