Look at you guys! No wonder we're dangling at the bottom of the food chain!
Shenzi, The Lion King
The front legs ended up being far easier than Stoney and I had anticipated. To make one set of legs, all it required was a set of aluminum crutches, an angle grinder (to cut the crutches), two 4" PVC couplings, a wire clothes hanger, foam (the same foam used for the hind feet), black fabric, duct tape, a drill, and 4 pennies.
The front legs ended up being far easier than Stoney and I had anticipated. To make one set of legs, all it required was a set of aluminum crutches, an angle grinder (to cut the crutches), two 4" PVC couplings, a wire clothes hanger, foam (the same foam used for the hind feet), black fabric, duct tape, a drill, and 4 pennies.
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| Freshly cut crutches |
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| Penny over the cut edge for safety |
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| Fully duct-taped crutch ends |
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| The arm cuff, secured by duct tape |
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| Top view of the taped-in cuff |
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| They work! |
For the next step, we cut out the paws out of foam (same as with the back feet, but we didn't have to worry about gluing the foam onto shoes), and carved them to look more like paws and less like big blocks of foam. Because the paws will be going onto crutches, you also have to cut a hole in them, which will allow the crutch pole to go through. We carved the hole wider on the bottom to allow the foam foot to move with the crutch as we walked. We also spray-painted the bottoms black just so they would blend in if we started waving our paws around.
At this point, you will need to get out the power tools. To attach the paws, we drilled a hole towards the bottom of each crutch (the foot of the crutch pulls all the way out, and that is the pole you drill into).
The goal was to get the paw to sit around the foot of the crutch without spinning around and getting out of place. This is where the hole comes into play. You drill straight through the side of the pole, and then, using a thin metal rod (we used a cut up coat hanger, since we had already used part of it for the ears), you push the metal through one side of the foam foot, through the hole in the crutch, and then out the other side of the foot. Like so:
Once the metal has gone through, use hot glue on both ends to create a cap, which will prevent the metal from piercing the fabric and/or coming loose entirely.
When furring the feet, we did all of the toes first, then put the foot on the pole, and then finished furring.
The final step to creating your front legs is furring the rest of the crutch. To do this, we essentially just created a fur sleeve, and then glued the fabric at the top and bottom to stabilize it. Cut out a piece of fabric that can wrap around the length of the crutch (give yourself about an inch of extra fabric on the sides, and some extra on the top). Sew down the length of the fabric to create your sleeve (we did the stitching on the inside to hide the stitches, but at this point you can do whatever you are comfortable with). Before putting the fabric onto the crutch, you are going to want to make a cap for the metal screw that keeps the crutch's hand grip in place. We just used a piece of foam that we cut a slit into and glued down:
Now just slide the sleeve up from the bottom to the cuff, and use hot glue to paste the fabric onto the inside of the arm cuff. This acts as padding for the cuff while also keeping the fabric in place.
Slip the foot of the crutch, which now has the furred foot attached, back onto the crutch. Use hot glue to attach the bottom of the fur sleeve to the foot. At this point, you have a fully finished front leg!
At this point, you will need to get out the power tools. To attach the paws, we drilled a hole towards the bottom of each crutch (the foot of the crutch pulls all the way out, and that is the pole you drill into).
The goal was to get the paw to sit around the foot of the crutch without spinning around and getting out of place. This is where the hole comes into play. You drill straight through the side of the pole, and then, using a thin metal rod (we used a cut up coat hanger, since we had already used part of it for the ears), you push the metal through one side of the foam foot, through the hole in the crutch, and then out the other side of the foot. Like so:
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| Coat hanger poking through to other side of foot |
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| The end result: foot held onto crutch |
When furring the feet, we did all of the toes first, then put the foot on the pole, and then finished furring.
The final step to creating your front legs is furring the rest of the crutch. To do this, we essentially just created a fur sleeve, and then glued the fabric at the top and bottom to stabilize it. Cut out a piece of fabric that can wrap around the length of the crutch (give yourself about an inch of extra fabric on the sides, and some extra on the top). Sew down the length of the fabric to create your sleeve (we did the stitching on the inside to hide the stitches, but at this point you can do whatever you are comfortable with). Before putting the fabric onto the crutch, you are going to want to make a cap for the metal screw that keeps the crutch's hand grip in place. We just used a piece of foam that we cut a slit into and glued down:
Now just slide the sleeve up from the bottom to the cuff, and use hot glue to paste the fabric onto the inside of the arm cuff. This acts as padding for the cuff while also keeping the fabric in place.
Slip the foot of the crutch, which now has the furred foot attached, back onto the crutch. Use hot glue to attach the bottom of the fur sleeve to the foot. At this point, you have a fully finished front leg!
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