From Sketch>3D>Pattern>Test Piece

Been wanting to work on a new paw pattern here at the shop and decided to make the pattern  using Zbrush (3D program) and my 3D printer. Overall this is a very easy way to create patterns without having a lot of wasted material, plus no issues with symmetry. 

Let's begin.

I started off with an idea of what I wanted the paw to look like. I drew it to scale and made a drawing of a paw that would fit my hand and have a shape I was happy with.

I took the design into Zbrush and built on top of it and used the piece of art that I did as a mock up. I did alter a few things as I went but kept it relatively similar to the idea I started with.

https://youtu.be/b0iDWKfQGu0 

Once I was happy with the design, I printed it in 2 parts. I mocked up one of the sides with claws to see if I liked placement and the other side without claws. Made sure the 3D model was to scale, I check all measurements in Meshmixer. I have digital calipers that measure my real life objects in MM and highly recommend getting one if you want to print to scale. Meshmixer is a free 3D app that I highly suggest if you plan on printing models, it fixes a lot of issues and you can measure objects to make sure they fit correctly.

Print took about a day, quick print, nothing fancy as you are just using it to make a pattern.

Had not cleaned the supports as of yet but wanted to see how both sides would look. Was happy with the result.

Testing to make are my hands still fit, which means I was able to measure correctly on the computer.

Supports have been cleaned off the 3D print and how I can start to pattern. I use manila folders to create all my patterns. Way more durable than paper and easy to work with. Since the paw is mirrored I only needed one side. Drew it on the manila and folded it in half and cut. This way I had the pattern for the bottom part of the hand paw.

Taped the paw, only needed that one side since I was going to mirror the rest.

Marked where I wanted the seams to go, then cut the pieces out.

Put the pieces down on manila and started to trace them. This way it is easier for me to work with the pattern. Plus if I need to alter it I can do it a lot easier.

Passed the patterns over, cut them out then traced them on fleece I had laying around. When I am testing patterns I tend to test them on cheap materials before going with fur.

I mark my pieces specially when I am testing a pattern. I go overboard with marking them but this way I can make notes and alter the pattern where it is needed. All the parts were pinned and sewn together in the machine.

Bottom and top were sewn together. Put some loose polyfil inside to see how I liked the shape. Was pleased with the look.

Once I put the hand paw together I saw that I definitely need to make the inside of the finger have a different connecting point. This is something I did not notice until I stuffed the hand. It bubbled up a bit, but it can easily be fixed by altering the pattern and how the middle fingers join. Since I work with light fleece when doing patterns I can mark the fabric to see where I would alter it.

I usually use resin claws on customers so I wanted to test it out with the ones I had in hand. I plan to do 2 versions for these hands, resin like the ones in the photos and sewn. Was looking to find the best placement for them.

Marked the area and popped the claws in. The claw placement is all a matter of preference. Some people like them higher up or more in.

Drew the paw pads just to get an idea of size and tested the hands out. Overall very happy with doing patterns like this and easy to alter, a whole lot less messy. You could do pretty much anything with this method, even print smaller items and just size up if you are comfortable doing math to do so.

Next step will be to alter the pattern in the areas I want to make the changes, create a second mock up to be extra safe until I like everything. Once the 2nd mock up is perfected I will move on to making a set of fur paws using the pattern.

If you are curious on how to make pattern from a 3d print from sketch to final draft I plan a video soon showing the entire process. Next update on these will be the follow up draft version then the final.

If you have any questions be sure to ask.