hi. i am a pretty new cake maker...when you make figures and put clothes on them (this time i am making mice, and what to put on little shirts)...do i make them naked first and then add the shirts on top? where does the seam go? does this make sense? thanks for the help.

I would say it depends on the figure. Some figures you might find it easier to craft their "bodies" simply in the shirt color and therefore, the "body" IS the shirt. You leave a deep impression into which you insert the wrists/hands or bare part of the arms. I have done a few figures like this, take a look at my Elvis guys; they didn't have bodies first; the white fondant jumpsuit WAS the body. Same with Naruto (the one w/the guy in the orange suit) - his pants WERE the top part of his legs, and his orange jacket WAS his torso - I did not make a torso first and then drape a jacket over it. That can be hard.

However some figures you really can just clothe. I did that with Cinderella's mice, but that is because their jackets were open so of course there had to be a "body" underneath. Surfin Santa was the same way. It can be a challenge to cut a "shirt" out of a single piece of fondant because the shape isn't what you may think as you drape it over your figure. If you go that route I'd recommend making the figure first and letting it harden. Roll your fondant really thin for best results.

As for the seam, you can work that into the design, or else try to rub the fondant with a wettened finger to melt it away a bit. I would follow the seams of normal clothing and shoot for a front seam or else a seam down one side.

You might want to look up Aine2's profile and follow her links to her many wonderful video tutorials. I don't always do things the right way so you have to take my advice with a grain of salt but she is an absolute master and you will learn more from her videos than any poor soul like me could possibly tell you .

u-tube has alot of video's on figurines