Fraggle Fur?

[Steven J]

This might be a dumb question but here it goes..... I am in the process of trying to build a Fraggle, but for the life of me I can't seem to find the fabric for the body (I looked at curly fleece, and at poodle/sheep faux fur, both look fairly close although the curly fleece is closer). Thing is I can't find the right shade of green (I am making a replica for my partner, who is disabled, this is for a gift, not being paid or anything. He would make it himself, but does not have use of his arms or hands).

I thought of trying to "distress" regular faux fur, as I thought I saw something online on how to do that, but now I can't find that either.

Any help is VERY appreciated!!

 

[Slackbot]

I buy a certain kind of fur, which is sold as "Punky Muppet" fur from Mendel's and "luxury shag" from Fabric.com. Same fur, but Mendel's has more colors and higher prices. If you're making a Wembley, I suggest the olive fur.

When I use the fur for a Fraggle, I boil it. Basically, I boil a big pot of water, dump it in an industrial bucket, then swirl the fur around in that for a minute or so. rinse it in cold water until it's cool enough to handle. Press as much water out as you can--I like to put it between towels and walk all over it--and then dry flat. The fur gets this lovely wooly texture, which you can see here:

The first one was boiled once, giving a soft, nice look. The second one was boiled multiple times, making it look rougher, but it's still very soft to the touch.

I hope this helps.

 

[Steven J]

Thank you! That is EXACTLY what I was looking for!

 

[Slackbot]

Glad to have helped! One thing I forgot to mention: this fur shrinks a little when you boil it, so either boil it before you cut it, or do what I do and cut the shapes large, then trim them to the pattern after boiling.