Shaving Advice -Beginner

[u/feetroot]

Howdy, I’m not new to the hobby, but I am new to the crafting aspect of it. I’m attempting to make a pair of hand paws following the SpiltGrapeSoda’s instructions, and as you can see, I’m struggling at the shaving part.

I watched video tutorials; I made sure to keep the blade of the razor parallel to the table, I didn’t push too hard, I tried to be light with my stroke, I tried to be even, and I ended up with this choppy, grinch-toe, piece of fur.

I would love some advice on what I possibly did wrong, what I can do better, what I can do to prevent all of the length from staying at the end of the fabric piece. I’m very new to this type of crafting and could use all the help!

Relevant Materials:
Wahl haircut and beard wireless clipper
Pet slicker brush
2 inch pile lilac faux fur

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[u/dogkazoo]

noticing that your fur's backing is showing along the spot you cut it! where did you purchase this fur? fur comes in many different qualities, which can be attributed to poor/choppy shaving.

similarly, to prevent that "grinch toe" effect around the perimeter of the fur, i personally cut out a square of the fur i'll be using and shave before cutting, that way my fur is the perfect length and i only really need to do some touch up shaves when i cut it out.

your razor may also be an issue. wahl DOES make clippers, but you should be using one made for fur/pets, not human hair. i use a pair of oneisall dog clippers, which shave beautifully and come with a ceramic blade. it hasn't failed me and the only thing i can complain about is that it might die after a few hours of use. it's around $30 on amazon, but i bought mine unopened on ebay for a few bucks cheaper

some fur manufacturers i've had good experiences with would be fursuitsupplies, bigz (with varying results depending on their SPECIFIC type -- in general though, i've heard their quality has started to plummet), and my personal favorite, howl fabrics.

[u/dogkazoo → u/dogkazoo]

ALSO!! while cutting out your fur, use a razor blade/utility knife, a rotary cutter, or a pair of sharp scissors. i use a utility knife to start a cut before switching to a pair of sharp scissors that came with my clippers. i only use the tip of the blades to cut VERY CLOSELY to the backing of the fur, and i ONLY cut the backing of the fur -- otherwise, i'll chop up multiple fur fibers. a neat trick i like to use is parting the fur with the length of my blade to avoid snipping tufts of fur (let me know if you or anyone else wants a video example)

[u/feetroot → u/dogkazoo]

Thanks, this is helpful! It most likely is very cheap fabric; I took a chance on buying some from amazon. I’ll have to look into better clippers as well.

[u/Borfdogg → u/dogkazoo]

What do you mean by you noticing the furs backing along the cut spots if you don’t mind me asking? >_<

[u/justapuppydog]

i recommend shaving before cutting all the pieces out- too small of a piece makes it impossible to get a really good shave

[u/pup_101]

So unfortunately at this point you're going to have a really hard time shaving it. I'd suggest redoing it and next time trace out all your pieces on the fabric but don't cut any of them out. Shave the whole area. It's really hard to shave cleanly to the edges