Measurement Guide

Cawstumes > Fursuits > Measurement Guide

To join the flock, you must measure up!

We’ve provided a measurement guide to help our commissioners send us proper measurements, and everything else that may be needing depending on the commission! You can send measurements in inches or centimeters, we have measuring tapes for both! Please use a measuring tape for all of your measurements, do not use a ruler.

These lovely measuring doodles were provided by Quirachen, please check out her page for more lovely content!

Here is what we need for each project:

Heads: Just the head measurements.
Paws: Trace of your hand with measurements
Tail: None
Feetpaws: Pair of comfortable shoes, we recommend slip-on house slippers. Please write your username on the side or bottom!
Bodysuit: Duct Tape Dummy
Armsleeves: Arm measurements.

Handpaws

You will need:

Paper
Pen/pencil
Measuring tape/ruler

Take the paper, lay your hand flat on the paper and trace around it exact, it’s best if you lay your arm flat on the table and trace part of the arm up until halfway as well.
Take the ruler or tape and start measuring the width of the palm and the length of each finger. Do the fingers by measuring from between the finger lines to the tip.
For full accuracy of the handpaws, you can mail the trace to us, trace 2-3 more just in case one gets lost! If you are shipping shoes or a dummy please include them if you ordered paws.

Armsleeves

Please only include these measurements if you ordered armsleeves as well! It is best if you have someone help you to get the measurements as accurate as possible.
Also do not pull the measuring tape too tight as the armsleeves will be tight as well! (We leave some extra wiggle room.)

Measure the length of your arm from the top of your shoulder all the way to your wrist line. (Generally where shirt seam-lines are)
Measure the length of your arm from your armpit all the way to the wrist line.
Measure the top arm circumference.
Measure the lower arm circumference.
Measure the wrist circumference.
Note all of these down and send them our way!

Head

Toony heads need all the measurements, resin-based heads only need the green and orange!

1. Circumference of the widest part of your head. If you have a bit of weight this could be your cheeks.
2. Length of your nose bridge.
3. Between the eyes.
3. Chin to hairline.
4. Chin to top of the head.

Please note that these measurements should be straight, and not go with the curve of your forehead or nose.

Bodysuit

You will need:

Painters overall WITH zipper. (Acquirable at any paint or hardware store)
Silver Gorilla Duct Tape (If you’re under 6ft and 180 pounds you need 2 rolls, anything above will need 3-4 total. DO NOT USE BLACK OR DARK COLORS, they’re difficult to work with for us.)
Bandage scissors (The ones that have a curve for easier cutting)
Sharpie (To mark up name and joint points later)
Paper towels (for ankles, wrists and neck)
Some friends to help you with! (3-4 is best to get everything done asap and avoid staying in a dummy for 2 hours)

We no longer accept dummies made with the cheap brand. We highly recommend the Gorilla type as the others start peeling overtime and will result in you having to remake your dummy.

Step 1:
Before you start, make sure you are hydrated with water and use the bathroom beforehand. The dummy process will take roughly an hour to two hours depending on the amount of people you have helping you!

Also make sure you are in a well ventilated area as well as a cool one. Use a fan if needed since dummies WILL get hot after a while.

Put on the overall or old loose clothing. Tape the ankles, wrist and neck so that they stay in place properly!

For the next few steps make sure you tape tight to the person, but not too tight to a point it’s cutting off circulation. The point of the dummy is that it’s your exact body for us to make your custom fit body on!

Step 2:
Make sure you have your back, arms and legs STRAIGHT. Do not bend your arms, have them hanging down when taping or flex them. Also do not bend over and stand as you normally would, as whatever stance you are keeping for the dummy, will be the form of the dummy! Do the arms last as they will get tired over time! The reason for the arms being in a T pose is if you leave them hanging low, you won’t be able to lift your arms properly in your bodysuit due to the dummy being incorrect.

Step 3:
Start with your crotch area. We all know how awkward this can be, but make sure this place is taped properly. It will need to be tight against your crotch as well as proper layered tape. Do not keep making straight lines with tape, instead cross each piece over different direction to ensure it does not fall apart.

After the crotch spread out down to the legs. Move on to Step 4.

Step 4:
Once you get to the ankle, make sure you tape OVER the heel so that we can make sure where your foot ends. Use paper towels to reach over your heel with tape.
Do not stop above the ankle or at the ankle, please continue with the just mentioned step to ensure the ankles of your bodysuit are long enough!

Step 6:
Make sure the arms are straight, use a broom or something else at the shoulder level to keep the arms straight! Continue down the arms just like the legs. But around the armpit make sure you tape it just like the crotch, tight against the person so it doesn’t create an awkward gap or bump! Use paper towels if you can’t reach all the way to the wrist without taping the skin. Make sure it goes all the way to the wrist line!

Step 7:
Mark an X where your knees, elbow and essentially the tail would rest. You determine this by imagining wearing a belt, and you mark an X where the middle would be for that tail.

After that mark both arms from the neck to the wrist, and add either hash marks or X’s and O’ so that you can tape it back together easier.
Mark a line from one leg to the top middle or off to the side. The other leg only needs about up to the hip marked.

Step 8:
Carefully cut where you marked the line. Keep in mind body hair since this can pull when cutting through the tape. Be especially careful around the neck area, once you get up to that area it’s safer to stop around the shoulder and start cut from the top of the neck down to where you left off.

Do the same for the legs, if the person in the DTD is wearing underwear, make sure you know where it stops so you don’t accidentally cut it!

Step 9:
After you’re done cutting, tape the dummy back together the same way as you taped the dummy. Criss cross a few LONG pieces to make sure it doesn’t pop back open, avoiding small pieces on the cut part and just use long ones like you would tape a normal DTD. If you do not tape it back together we will charge a $50 fee as it takes time to assemble back together. That’s why the hash marks / symbols are important so you can tell where it goes back!

Mark your username on the dummy as well as your email so we can find you back easier!

You’re now done with your dummy and you should hydrate again!

Ready to mail everything?
We generally recommend to re-use boxes like from Amazon or other shipping boxes, they’re cheaper than using the ones from the post office. If you taped the dummy properly you can fold it as much as you want without breaking it. Add in the hand trace, shoes and an extra sheet of paper for the arm measurements. If you can add your username somewhere on the box that would help a lot more! If you want to make the shipping cheaper you can ship them in thin bag-like envelopes.

For those asking, yes you can add candy or any other surprises! As long as they’re appropriate. ^_^ Just remember if you are international there are certain things you can’t ship such as milk products (including chocolate). We’ll make sure to tweet about it since we absolutely love random surprises!

You can mail your box to:
Cawstumes
P.O. Box 3082
Acton, Massachusetts 01720
United States

Email: [email protected]
And for phone number please leave blank as it only causes spam calls. (Same is recommended for your side)

For international customers, Acton is the city and Massachusetts is the state!
We will not provide our real address, our post office box is valid for all states and countries to send mail to. Only government issued papers cannot be send to PO boxes.