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Costume Project: Wisteria Fox Day 5

 Still waiting on that last bit of Peachskin fabric, so no kimono progress. But I was able to start working on the tail. 

Obi and Tail Mechanics


So first, the animatronic tail arrived which helps with where to place the tail on the costume. It's a tinge heavier than I expected so I do not think I want to attach it directly onto the Obi. The tail comes with a nylon webbing belt and a clip plate. 

The tail comes out of the bottom of obi.

While waiting for the tail to arrive I did make the above doodles to figure out where I could attach the clip plate. The Obi pattern requires a backboard which it suggests to be made from cardboard. But I could use something a bit sturdier like PVC board to make it strong enough to hold the tail. I could possible attach the clip to the Obi directly!

However, because I want to reuse the tail skeleton for future projects, I will not go the route of attaching the tail directly to the obi. Instead, the current plan is to go the route of wearing the default tail belt then wrapping the obi over it to cover the clip plate. The box thing will be covered by the tail itself, speaking of which...

Knitting a Tail Cover

In my post for Fur Tails, I mention that one of the methods I was going to try out was knitting a tail with faux fur yarn. Well, I have started that. Took a bit to remember the basics of knitting and newly learn knitting in the round. (It was acrobatics with many needles.) My hand is very cramped already. 

It took several restarts because for starters, ya can't see the stitches! I don't know how many I have in the round. However, because of the nature of the yarn, it's not too bad because you can't see holes or skipped stitches or anything! It just looks like a fluffy donut at the moment. 

I've only knitted 7 rows out of...er...1000?

Now this will need to cover the animatronic tail which as you may have notice had a big motor box. While knit does stretch I don't think that the current hole is large enough.

Nevermind...just did a quick test and actually...the knit does stretch enough to go around the box so I do NOT have to knit the tail into the tail cover. I can tell this will be a slow process since I'm not as proficient in knitting as I am with crochet. 

I am using the notes from Moral Fiber: Mega Tail Knitting. Although mine will not be 55 inches like that project. My plan is only to make it 27 inches or so. The animatronic skeleton is 24 inches long so need enough to cover all that. 

Takeaways

So current thoughts about this are that my hands hurt pretty badly from knitting all weekend, but I still like the result better than sewing faux fur fabric. I'm also enjoying learning how to knit and see myself doing more in the future. I will test out a few tail patterns before my Goro project which will need 3 tails. 😭 Although for that one I may end up going with a Crochet method. Goro will not have an animatronic tail.

Sometimes an elaborate scheme is not as great as a simple solution. I think I do want to keep this costume versatile so I can wear the kimono on its own or with the fox parts. 

The robot tail is pretty cool. I'm already getting ideas for other tails I could cover it with. 😼
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