I have now made over 30 Kigus and I had a fair share of customers, who were rather surprised by the way I do things – In a positive way. This made me realize I need to get more into detail how I do Kigus and how they are made.
A lot of times I mention that parts are „professionally finished“ and I mean this quite literal – I went trough a seamstress apprenticeship and learned how to properly sew clothing which is knowledge I carried over to my kigurumis and costumes.
Here are some details and inside photos from my recent kigus:
All Markings/Spots/Stripes anything on the kigu is embroidered in different „strengths“ – this ensures that there are no open fabric ends and no fabric that will break or fray, making the kigu last longer. This is also a main reason stripes or freckles are so expensive – I have to embroider around 100 spots for some species, which takes a lot of time.
All Seams are double sewn ( lap-felled seam) to make them extra durable. I try to make sure that all markings that meet at seams are clean and not off more than 2-3mm. This is the main reason my kigus take so long to make, because I basically sew every kigu three times – the first seam, then overlocking it and then sewing it down again.
All seams on the inside are clean and „overlocked“ which means the fabric is closed and won´t fray. When you turn your clothing inside out, you will see these kind of seams – they are useful for clothing because non-overlocked fabric tends to fray and break, especially fleece when it’s worn.
Zippers are properly sewn in – this means they have a stopper at the top and a „garage“ at the bottom, as well as overlocked fabric edges:
My faces are my pride and joy. I did develope my own style over the years which is due to the way I do my faces: Each one is handdrawn first and then roughly embroidered with an embroidery machine. Afterwards I do a lot of details and smaller stuff by myself, which gives each face an unique look. I do not reuse parts like eyes, noses, snouts etc and try to give each kigu their own face.
They are very much handmade: I have a special type of sewing machine and I lead the machine by hand to make all these details. A different embroidery machine is used to do the basic details in symmetry, but afterwards I add colors, light, shading and different lines so each face is not 100% symmetrical but also not two are alike.
And here are some close up from different embroidered faces:
I hope this inside look gave you some more impressions from our kigus! If you are interested in ordering from me, check out my price & information site and my social media accounts for open slots.