Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Janet,

Your babies have furr collars but not you?  It looks like the weather would warrant one for you too.  Tells those babies of your to share...

They are very sweet.

Dilu

Oh  Cindy

Too too cute.  Thank you for sharing!

I just can't get over all the talant. 

Dilu

When I make mini bears with the English I have to fray check everything right off- So Winney I think you are right- the English is a looser weave.

I don't have to fray check the German mohairs

I make a lot of minis into Christmas ornaments-  My own ideas but along the same lines as the Steiff ones....however since I'm making them they are much much cheaper....Just couldn't afford enough Steiff ones to do a tree this year. 

Of course mine don't have buttons in their ears either...oh well....

Dilu

Gee wilikers Dale

I'm thinking we need you around all the time!  What great ideas...I feel like I have learned so much from all of you and its only been, what, a week?  Maybe 2.

Thank You

Dilu

Maybe you gals couild be the SUGAR BEAR BABES?

Wasn't there a cereal along these lines when we were all young and innocent?

The memory is fading...sooo sad....

Dilu

Oh Winney

Absoloutely, please share your stories.  Each and every one of us here has a story that just might be something someone else really needs to hear, right at that very moment.  Be it inspiration or a good laugh-everyone please keep them coming!!!

Dilu

Aww Donna thanks.

Do you guys dream bears?  I do and then think it happened in real life.  But great ideas come in dreams.  And a really neat thing about menopausefor me is that  I don't sleep very well, so that helps me remember my dreams.

Actually the three bears were all the same pattern and same fabric.  I played with enlarging and decreasing patterns durring that time.  They are about 8 months old now. 

Donna I bet the box didn't get there yet...it can take 10 days for mail to make from here back to Oakhurst/Mariposa.

Hope you like it.

Di

Ohhhh Judi,

How I wish I had seen it, I am sure it was priceless!

Dilu

Isn't interesting how many of us are from medical backgrounds.Hmmmmmm  I wonder what it means.....

You mean you aren't sewing while you wait for stuff to happen.  Amelia got her embroidery done while I was on last night.

But I would be more productive......gotta go.

Dilu

OHHHHH darn.

I just made my quarterly trip to walmart-internet here I come.  Thanks guys

Dily

Judi

You are so right regarding the fingersticks.  I use the accucheck compact.  I like that it is fast and needs little blood.  I too check my sugars, but not 8 times a day, just 3 plus problems.

I so totally agree with you about the stress level!!!!!  Making bears is much calmer and the really great thing, I don't have to chart!  YEAH!. I was obsessive compulsive when I worked.  I credit that neurosis for saving me from medication erros. I do remember one though-I gave Ativan instead of Xanax.  (same benzo family)  I had to call the doctor, who was from India, with a great sense of humor ( for a psychiatrist) and I told him what I'd done.  He said:
     " Ativan? OOOOOOO well maybe he need two!"
So then I said ; how about one for the nurse.
"Oh No No NO.  You are driving"  Meaning I was head nurse.  I got lucky.

   I am cutting back more and more.  At 53 its time.  Besides there just aren't enough bears in the world and I have so very much more to learn.

A man who dances and milks-as long as he isn't dancing with the old gal he's milking!  What a sight that wouold be!

Did I mention I was a psychiatric RN?  Guess you can tell why.

Dilu

Just got my e-mail notice from INTERCAL, and was checking out the specials and the first thing to pop up is one of Judi's bears, then on the next page, Sue Ann's 

It is really nice seeing the bears made by the talant on this web site. 

It just makes seeing the bears more interesting, sort of knowing the folks who made them.

Dilu

I don't understand why, but my honey wont let me use his electric shaver on the bears.....

What kind of shaver works best?  The round heads or the straight ones that go back and forth.  Any input?

Dilu

WOW!  I am totallly floored ladies.  Totally!

Wendi; I'm with you, love the internet....almost have to though cuz of where I live. 

Shelli; 2-3 per week comes out to 2.5 per week average and thats 130 bears!  And Miss SueAnn is doing 50-70!  I can't imagine.  I spend most of the day doing bears.  OK I cheated when I put the garden in, but you gotta eat.  I don't think I will ever get as fast as you gals. 

The differance between enthusiasts and professionals.

I did have a learning curve when it came to designing my own.  Well all of you professional ladies and gents, if Dale weighs in, have my admiration.

Dilu
I like the way you think.  I would have a hard time out sourcing.  You can't be sure of quality control.  AND it is your name out there, not the outsourced person's.

Winney-

I've made one mink bear and one sable-  I have 2 more to go- (I was given a sable short coat and a mink stole.  It really is a neat little story if you have the time:

  This 96 year old lady is now in a nursing home. (private) and these furs were hers.  Her daughter sent them to my friend who got me started on ted's.  My friend gave them to me along with this story:

  Jayne used to work in a swanky restaurant in San Fransisco.  She was one of the " mermaid girls" who swam underwater for the patrons who watched while they dined.  This would have been in the '20's.  She had many admirers who gave her many gifts, including these real furs.  I think she was a very busy little gal.

My friend said to do whatever I wanted, she didn't want to bother with them.

I thought about this sweet little gal in a nursing home and decided if I made a mink bear it had to be for her.  So I did.  It was my first experience with real fur.  It really came out great. Alas, I didn't know how to use the digital camera at the time.  I have learned since then.

I am so grateful for all my prior sewing experience, it really helped.  I gave the finsihed bear to my friend who sent it to hers.  It turned out they were able to take the bear to M iss Jayne on her 96th birthday, and she was thrilled.  I understand she keeps it with her all the time.  I don't blame her, the fur was luscious.

I love the idea of her holding her bear and remembering her colorful past.

Then I started on the sable.  I was able to creatively cut out 3 bears.  One for the the daughter, one for my friend and one for me. 

Pretty neat huh? 

I really like your idea of pellets- Because I realized working on the first sable bear that I had to be very careful, as the leather was not yet brittle, but not still soft and pliable.  I believe your idea about the pellets is just the ticket.

I too developed a pattern that would be adaptable to the pelted fur.  Fewer stress points, and those there are I can reinforce.  Also I also cut from heavy duty muslin the same pattern pieces and lightly glued them to the fur pieces.  I think this helped in the mink bear.  I wish I had known about this site when I started on the sables.

I am sorry about your hands.  I've got some of those elastizised (sp?)  gloves that leave your fingers free.  They help alot, and I consider them a real blessing.  Have you tried those?

Also I have one of those melted waX things, that really helps me, and feels so good, and also pulls off any annoying dry skin as well. 

Isn't if funny that no matter how badly we hurt we will still keep doing what we love.  Thats what life is all about. 

Here's hoping your hands feel better soon.....you hand sewed the pelted furs???  Yikes!!!  No wonder your poor little hands hurt.  That took some real determination and grit!

Dily

For you professional guys and gals:  I am curious, since you sell at shows and on line and all, just how many bears are you able to make in a year? 

How do you do it?

Do you source out parts?

For you non-professionals, who don't have quite the pressure to produce on you, how many do you make?

Dilu

Eileen
The closest he has ever gotton to taxidermy is helping bolt my bears.

No, it just takes an awful lot to get him to crack a smile.  And when he does, goofy guy, he swears he is laughing out loud!

Dilu

PS I know what you mean about lights, we have four floor lights that have those special bulbs, for daylight.  First of all you need something like that here, cuz it rains so much, but then when sewing they are an eye saver.  Especially on black fur......

Oh No Dale!

Ive already spent my allowance so I can't buy a jigsaw and router.....how will I ever STAND not being able to try your method on my next bear?

My honey has been wanting some of this stuff....I think I'll tell him its time to develop his workshop...

Now, since you are our BEARLY ENGINEER I have a question, problem:

When I joint a big bear, 18 and up, I tighten down the nut as tight as I can and then cut off the excess bolt in the body cavity.  I try to have no movement in the limbs.  I use 'nylok'?  the nuts with the nylon insert that are supposed to never come off accidentally, but then after I cut off the excess bolt I think it is pretty safe.

The problem is after the little guy is all stuffed and stitched the limbs are looseer.  They sort of flop around when he's not sitting or standing.

I have never had a failure....but then I've only been doing this 1 year.

Am I doing something wrong, or is there a better way to do it?

The bears stand and sit like they are supposed to.  They are very well behaved.  But I worry.

Many thanks in advance for any wisdom anyone can impart.

Dily

OK Shelli,

quess I need to get some oil paints to try this....do have a particular brand that you like?

Dilu

KimKC

Hi, glad to meet you.  You enjoy stuffing?!?!  I don't mind at all on anyone under 7 inches but the big guys really bog me down.  I think my problem is mostly arthritis and the big ones need a lot of the certain hand motions that cause it to flare up.

I'm still trying to figure out a better way to do it.  I'm convinced that there is a trick to it I haven't figured out yet.

When it comes to stuffinh give me a 3 incher and I am a happy little stuffer.

Dilu

Winney

Believe it!  Following the same type diet as Judi, Daphne and other diabetics who are serious about staying alive is the best thing in the world.  And it is common sense.  I follow it religiously too, ( except for the few Jelly Bellys I slip in) Because it helps keep my sugar from going too low. 

Check with you doc.  Most docs I know would love to have a patient stick to a common sense diet.  It is really hard in the western world where everything is fast and supersized!.

Dilu

Wedding dresses... ah ha!!!  A fellow couture sewer hiding out behind a teddy bear!
As far as I'm concerned you can hang out with us anytime.  Some of my best friends have made wedding dresses.

In grade school I was stealing fabric from my mom's stash-  like cutting a ten inch square of the silk she was saving for some special occassion.  yikes!.  I had really well dressed Barbis.  Well I thought so.  Did yours have silk underwear?

I got in a lot of trouble, but then she got smart and decided that I ought to be making my own clothing by JR HI.  Again, I thought it was great stuff.....don't ask what I think now, 40 years later.  Good news....I really can sew now.   Good news.... I never see the people I went to school with, so I don't hear them laughing...really good news...I have skin as thick as a rhino's.

Just remember- bad things happen....Suffering is optional...and life too short for that option!

Dilu
dilu

That's it!  Just read Eileen's post to my husband.....he wan't nearly as amused as I was.

The only problem with the eye patch is that I have to tri[ple check my posts or no one could undertand them.

uneditewd

Dily

I thought I pushed the self destruct button earlier- everything just went away.  Boy am I glad you guys are back.  Still can't get a handle on the avatar business yet.....maybe  soon.

Oh my goodness!  What stupendous ideas  using  taxidermy eyes.  Eileen and SueAnn I'm going to print your posts.  I think I understood it and wow, such a clever methods.

Now I want to try it-have to do a web search for taxidermy supplies.  My philosophy is once you've done something successfully it's a 'talant' you have forever. 

(So when I painted the bedroom I told my huisband I was super talanted.  He just rolled his eyes!)

Dilu

When I have a pattern piece that seems just a tad bigger than I anticipated, (How on earth did that happen?) I take the piece and put gathering stitches in it so that I can loosely gather it into the size I want. This usually happens on feet and paws if its going to happen. Because our felt is wool as well as the mohair, after I have it basted in I use steam to shrink it up just  enough so that when I do the final sewing it fits well. 
This works fine if you haven't already preshrunk your fabrics through a dyeing process.  If you have then smaller gathering stitiches will allow you to fit your piece and then hand sew it, so that you havent got little tucks.

This usually happenes on my feet.  So I don't bother cutting the feet out until I am ready to insert the pad. 

Also I have been known to cheat, (please don't tell) if the fabric is really dense and 5/8" or longer I will take a dart in an emergency.  Pick out the fur from the stitches and brush it down.  You can feel the dart if you are looking for it but you can't see it, because mohair is so very forgiving. 

Another example of stealing ideas from another form of fabric art.  I used to do courture sewing- and you wouldn't believe what they do to fabric. Yikes!  But this idea is something I learned when I did fancy sewing.

I'd rather make a bear and live in jeans, than fuss with silk and inter inter facings and fittings and necklines and....

Dilu