Fursuit making: getting a head of yourself (base)
23-08-2025
I've decided to build a fursuit head, and although I've got some sewing experience, this is something I went into completely blind. Most things were a first time for me, and so, I've decided to write down my findings as a first-time fursuit builder!
Naturally, not all of these may make sense to an experienced maker, and this is merely a reference for other people who are just starting and want an idea of costs/what to expect/the amount of material to get.
Note that the foam prices are separate pieces - you can get much better prices by buying larger pieces of foam, or multi-buying with friends! I've got 2cm thick foam, which I was able to "butterfly" into 1cm thick pieces.
Balaclava
Tools
- Scissors
- Berry pins
- Box cutter
- Hot glue gun
Materials
- Foam (0.26mĀ², 1cm thick) @ Ā£9.00
- Glue sticks (1)
The balaclava was made with 1cm thick medium firmness foam, sourced from eFoam. I've used about 0.26mĀ² of foam, and only one small 11mm stick of hot glue.
The process was surprisingly easy, and by holding all pieces together until the glue cooled down with berry pins, I could do multiple steps in parallel.
One thing that made the process more annoying than it should have been was using a low quality box cutter - a decent enough box cutter would've made my life much easier, as well as a proper pair of scissors.
When measuring your head for the balaclava, especially if you have a protruding chin, make sure to account for that. Initially, I did not consider the chin and the head ended up slightly tighter than I wanted.
If you want lining, this is the best time to glue/sew some in, as it'll become really difficult after installing the eyes.
Head
Tools
- Scissors
- Berry pins
- Box cutter
- Hot glue gun
- Head stand (optional)
Materials
- Foam (0.8mĀ², 2cm thick) @ Ā£16.99
- Glue sticks (10)
The head was based on an angel dragon template by Mugiwara, with modifications to the jaw, muzzle (which was turned into a beak), and top of head, which now features a cockatiel-style crest.
The whole head was built in 2cm medium firmness foam, 0.8mĀ² of it, accounting for re-dos and prototyping of parts. I elected to build the head out of "modules" instead of carving a solid head to allow for more flexibility, as well as lower weight overall. I modelled some parts (like the beak) using FreeCAD and "flattened" them to see what the initial template would look like, then cut them out and adjusted them by size empirically.
All in all, it took me around 8 hours over the course of two days, and I cannot stress the importance of good ventilation enough. Hot glue is essentially melted plastic, and throughout the whole process, the foam also offgasses a lot, and it has an unpleasant and characteristic smell.
I did not have a mannequin/head stand, but I do not recommend getting one if you're only building one fursuit head. They are not a must, and I only dreaded not having one occasionally, such as when I had to glue the outer head to the balaclava.
The finalised head is surprisingly "sturdy", malleable and resistant - I've dropped it several times and it didn't even budge. Yet, it's impressively lightweight, I could easily pick it up with one finger. I'd say the whole head may weigh something among the lines of 350g.
Eyebrows, eyelids and accessories
The best way of having quick-switch anything on a fursuit are magnets. By embedding them underneath the fur, they are basically invisible, and have enough strength to hold on to most appendages.
I've purchased 12mm neodymium magnets, each with a 1.54 kg pull. These are overkill for this application, but everyone knows how awkward someone looks without eyebrows.
Embedding them into the fursuit is rather simple: get a double sided adhesive, or get magnets with preapplied adhesive. Do not use hot glue with magnets, since certain magnets lose their magnetic properties when exposed to heat for extended periods of time. It's not as violent as a magnet quench, but it leaves you with a useless magnet.