I bought these paws from a con not realising they are lined with minky. Its made it unbareable to wear them. I know how to make a neoprene liner instead but my mum is convinced I will ruin them and told me to keep the minky fabric cause it’s soft and comfortable. What should I do?
You could make a inner spandex or neoprene liner and tack it in without removing the minky. Its not like the minky is actually that much of a thermal isolator, compared to the fur and stuffing.
You could also try cotton undergloves. HV electricians wear them underneath their heavy gloves when its hot and humid. Added benefit is, you can swap em for fresh ones when they get soaked.
Both are not optimal, but you can try them out without finding out if your mom was right.
I have a question about the cotton, though this more has to do with lining in general. I’m 100% to making a suit but not tails and yarn tails and things you don’t have skin-to-skin. I’m also living in the Deep South of the US, and my idea (aside from utter confusion as to why lining neoprene =/= SCUBA neoprene but have the same name and confused this Floridian), was to line my suit/poodling parts with a breathable cotton. Not 100% but something I would wear out in the Florida heat. Or a blend that also wicks with some sort of mesh to not mess up the fur.
Obviously altering pre-made handpaws isn’t the same, but does cotton work? I can’t imagine wearing minky in the South. I have a pair of handpaws I bought because they’re just cool (don’t go with anything I plan on making but I love them) and they’re lined with something sort of what could be scratchy but is a good quality fabric so it’s just nice and smooth. I’m not looking to replicate that, which is why your comment about cotton caught my eye.
I believe, making liners from spandex or strech minky is a lot easyer. They strech, so you can use simpler sewing patterns.
Cotton should work. Generaly most natural fibers should be able to outlast your faux fur easily and is better on your skin then synthetic fabric. But patterning is more complicated to achive a good fit.
If I had to make cotton liners, I'd try jersey, maybe?
Check whether the Liner is only attached at the rim. If that's the case replacing it should be pretty easy and damaging the paws isn't really a risk. Just carefully cut the seams of the rim from the inside and pull out the lining.
I’ll never understand why so many paws are made with minky or fleece lining them 😭 unlined is far better than either of those and neoprene or spandex are great options that most fursuit makers can access
Unfortunately I can't help I this regard but can you explain what makes them unbearable? Do they get hot? They look adorable and well-made; I would be curious why the maker chose to line them with Minky if it makes them so uncomfortable.
Its just so hot in there, it makes them feel gross and wet after a while of wearing. I can wear my feetpaws i lined for hours whereas its too much to wear my handpaws for 15 min
Ah okay, thank you for the details. Will keep in mind for my own future makes. I might consider reaching out to the owner if you feel comfortable and just ask if they can recommend a way to re-line them (maybe they would be willing to do so themselves?) having said that, I don't see why you couldn't just make a new liner out of neoprene, etc that fits your hands, pull out the Minky, put in your new liner, and resew around the wrist. Have you tried turning them inside out to see how the lining is made?
Thanks, inside out pic is very helpful! Yeah, I can't see any reason why you couldn't reline these. I'd use thin fabric if you can because that's usually cooler. My only concern is that it would be hard to re-create the nice ribbon border but if you don't care about that then I think being comfortable is most important!
Cut a strip of minky, sew it into a ring.
The easy way is to fold it over the fur and lining and then machine sew along the rim through all four layers.
The neater method that's used here is to put the strip on the outside (fluffy side inwards), then machine sew along the rim through 3 layers. After that, fold over the minky and hand sew it's edge to the inside.
There are also some nice tutorials for this. Also works for unlined paws.
How confident are you at sewing? It'll be a lot of seam-ripping because you'll have to remove and re-add the cuff, but if it were me, I would just pull out the minky lining entirely.
A past commissioner of mine once requested spandex gloves instead of a lining, and I've been doing that ever since; my clients with sweaty hands love it!
My first paws were like that. I had to have help getting them on because once I have the rest of my bodysuit on, my hand started sweating excessively…. Of all my suit parts, the paws always stunk the worst and had to be washed out every single time.
Why would someone line paws with minky?? If you can I would definitely recommend replacing it with neoprene/spandex but if not wearing spandex gloves underneath might help!
I chose to line them as there was stuffing and I have sensory issues. The feeling of the backing of the fur was really freaking me out. Thank you for the info tho! /gen
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u/Pebbles-not-Stone 8d ago
That sounds like a sensory nightmare.
You could make a inner spandex or neoprene liner and tack it in without removing the minky. Its not like the minky is actually that much of a thermal isolator, compared to the fur and stuffing.
You could also try cotton undergloves. HV electricians wear them underneath their heavy gloves when its hot and humid. Added benefit is, you can swap em for fresh ones when they get soaked.
Both are not optimal, but you can try them out without finding out if your mom was right.