Easy No Sew Fox Tail

Making your own fox tail (or wolf tail, we don't discriminate here) is a great addition to your costume. Here I' going to show you how to make a realistic(ish) furry animal tail, without the hassle of sewing, knitting or gluing!

So whether you're planning to cosplay or just want a fluffy addition to your wardrobe, you too can make your tail with a little time and enthusiasm!

In order to create your fluffy animal tail, you will need:

• Chunky Acrylic Yarn/Wool in two colours
• Scissors
• Metal Pet Brush
• Hair straighteners/flat iron

Top Tips!

These are the basic supplies. If you are making a wolf tail, you will only need one colour.

I use chunky wool as it is much easier to brush out. Most metal pet brushes work with the chunky wool, if you do choose to use normal yarn it, a carding brush, like the kind you use in needle felting, would be a better option. Although sometimes I just use a baby comb.

Always use acrylic wool/yarn, as natural wool will shrivel up once the piece is straightened. Oh and if you don't have a flat iron, a general clothes iron will do, as long as it's very, very low.

The length and thickness of your tail are decided at this point. The more strands of wool you use, the more thicker the braid and the fluffier the tail.

I was going for a reasonable sized tail, so this is double the length of my forearm.

I took my wool/yarn, folded it in half and then tied a know at the top, leaving a space for a loop. We want a loop so that it can be easily attached onto a belt.

Take the loose strands, split into three lengths and loosely braid the yarn until you are ready to tie it. You can leave a little bit at the bottom and brush it out, to use as part of the tail, or you can just cut off the loose ends. It doesn't mater what colour wool you use for this if you're snipping off the ends.

Take your main wool/yarn and make a length about the length of your hand, fingertip to wrist, this is the length of our woolly strands.

For ease, gather your strands together, in bunches of five or six, you won't need any more than that per bunch.

Cut a separate length, we're going to tie that around the centre of the bunch of strands. This is also what we're going to use to attach the tufts onto the tail.

If you haven't done so already, cut the loops so that all the strands are dangling.

Note: How many tufts you'll need depends on the length and width of your tail base.

I just kept making them until I ran out of wool. One ball of chunky wool, made two tails for me.

This is the part that can freak people out. Holding onto your two anchor strands of yarn, brush out the rest using the metal pet brush. You may have noticed that you are losing a lot of wool.

DON'T PANIC!

This is normal. If you're worried about wastage, set the yarn aside to for stuffing or to make felt.

Keep brushing the wool until it is fluffy and no more bits are coming off.

On a low setting, use hair straighteners/flat irons on each tuft, this gets rid of the kinks and smooths it out.

Take the wool/yarn tuft that you're using for the bottom of the tail and attach this to the lowest point on your tail base.

If you're making a fox tail, if you've chose to make a wolf tail, then it will be the same colour throughout.

Start attaching tufts, working your way up the tail, to alternate sides for maximum coverage. Using the anchor threads, tie the tufts to the briad, to the right side, then the next tuft to the left side.

This should continue until a third of the way up the tail base.I like to smooth it out and go over it with a baby brush before adding the next colour.

Do the same with the primary colour as you were with the tip of the tail.

Tie it through alternate sides until you reach the top knot of the tail base.

If you are making a wolf tail and/or are using only one colour of yarn/wool, then you will be working alternate sides until the top too. As you won't have had to stop and change a third of the way in.

You're finished!

Unless you're pedantic like me. You may notice that you have loose anchor threads dangling out the back of your tail (ish). So what I like to do is brush them out and straighten them, thus making the tail even fluffier!

Well there you go, one no-sew fox tail! If you have any questions, or what not don't be afraid to ask me and I will do my best to help and/or explain anything. xx