Since Halloween is just around the corner I thought I would share this tip. When making an animal costume with paws for hands, (great if it's cold on Halloween like it is here) take a glove in the size you need and cut it apart.
Once apart pin it to the fabric you want to use for your paw and mark out edges. Make sure to pin or mark where your sewing allowance will be. (You can leave the glove in when sewing if you want it to be more comfortable for your hands. You will just need to leave more allowance so that they don't get too tight.) Then just sew them up.
One thing to remember with fur is that you need to brush the fur in the opposite direction than its natural flow pattern when you cut. Otherwise you will cut the hair and have odd shapes. You will lose some little bits of hair in the cut, it's just inevitable.
I always use different colors for the pads of the paws and those are easy to sew in before sewing the gloves together. Just make little circles out of the different fabric and after trimming the fur in the area you want to place it down sew them on top.
By lifewithmadman from Little Rock, AR
