Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

He's very cute!

One of the things that helps with seeing the holes that the needle leaves is to start with larger needles and switch to smaller ones for detailed work.  I always start with a 32g or 36g and work my way down to a 40g needle.  The smaller the needle the less you'll see of the holes or needle spots ^_^ But yes like Joanne said make sure it's very hard and firm & that will help with the holes too.

As for felting onto mohair you have to start again with the larger needles and them work your way to the smaller one's for detail.  Joanne is an expert on felting muzzles onto mohair & I no somewhere she had a blog tutorial post.

So I still have a ton of fabric scraps that I just can seam to throw away LOL
If anyone wants them I can stuff a flat rate box full.  I just stuff a small flat rate box to Canada for $11.95 and I was surprised at how much fabric I could fit in that little box. 

Anyway I have tons of faux fur.  I think I've given all the mohair & real fur scraps away but I might have more.  I keep cleaning and finding more stuff!!

Most scraps are under 4" so they are great for small bears or trim, or adding in with other things.

Small flat rate box-
$5.20 (sadly they went up in price)
or
$11.95 to Canada (not sure if its the same to other countries but I think it is)

Medium flat rate box-
$10.95
Would have to check on the international flat rate price.

If someone wanted a medium flat rate box I think I could stuff all the fabric I have in there.  So just pay shipping & the fabric is all yours ^_^

Hope everyone had a great day!  I ate waaaaayy too much LOL  :hug:

Hi there & welcome to the forum!

I specialize in whimsical fantasy plush, needle felted creatures and soft sculptures.  I'm no stranger to making creatures from movies (done a lot of animals from the Labyrinth) and I'm a huge Potter fan too ^_^

Here are a few of my creatures

You can take a look at my creatures here~ http://www.featherheart.net/
Or my Facebook page~ https://www.facebook.com/FeatherHeartCreationsTX

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.   :hug: featherheart@suddenlink.net

LOL  :crackup: I know right LOL That lady said she had $7 on her & they told her to take the machine!  So glad it didn't end up in a landfill.  This one was only $40 and it has tons of feet, including a ruffle foot, a rolled hem foot, quilting foot and tons more.  I've been playing with it all night, can't wait to sew some real fur on it.  I don't think it will have any issue with the leather backing like my other machines have ^_^ So I'm sure you'll all be seeing more real fur plush from me soon as I just found some vintage coats at a yard sale!

Oh boy.  This thing was soooo dirty on the inside.  We rewired everything and I've ordered new brushes for the motor. I think I've washed everything 10 times and it's still dirty.   :crackup: Just re-oils and greased it.  The old grease was so gross LOL.  Should have it running smoothly soon. A lady at the thrift store said she go a similar machine off a guy that was going to take it to the dump So sad to think people would throw out these old machines.  :doh:

ah cute bears!  They all look to be made of mohair which is great.  I'm not sure the maker but they don't look to be Steiff unless the one of the fare left has had the mouth re-stiched .  That one does have a Steiff looking body. The smaller one in the middle might be a Merrythoughts because he has the large style ears ^_^ As for age I would say at least the 60's or 50's maybe older.  Hope the info helps a little Great find by the way!

Oh Oh so happy just had to share!  I just found a singer 15-91 machine in a cabinet with all the extras (feet, button hole foot,paper work etc..) and bench for $40!!! Oh and it works!!! I'll be sure to upload pictures soon!!!!

Here we go.  It needs a good cleaning but works great.  I might have to do a little rewiring as it's from 1952 but for the most part the wires are not showing signs of cracking.  This thing can sewn threw 4 thick pieces of leather  :dance: or so I've seen on YouTube ^_^

Thanks everyone! That's not my auction lol I just linked it so people could see what he looked like & get an idea of how much other people are asking ^_^ I'm asking less than both auctions because I don't have his box or COA. Plus I really need the money fast. If no one on the forum is interested I'll end up listing him on E-bay later next week after I take some pictures ^_^

Should I move this to the "Other Teddy Bear Art" area under Market Place sense I have this bear for sale?  I know the Teddy Bears & Other Friends is just for artist bears so I didn't want to list him there.

I don't see the picture

Looks manufactured bear too me. I have a few that look like this, some are made by American Bears others are bears people have bought at craft stores & made hand made items like clothing to go with them. So I bet the dress is artist made.

Any Steiff collectors out there?  I ask because sadly I'm having money issues so I have to sale some of my collection. 
I have this bear for sale, that's not my e-bay listing I just haven't taken any pictures of my bear yet.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Steiff-Black-be … 500wt_1337
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi … 796wt_1322

He's a limited edition of 4,000 and 16" tall Named "Schwartzbar"

I don't have his box or COA but he's in mint condition with a working growler, and from a smoke free home, and he still has his chest tag (both the one's listed on e-bay are missing that tag) & ear tag. 
I would like to get about $500 or best offer, for him which is way less that the $800 value.  If anyone would like pictures of him or more info just let me know.  I can also take payments on this bear if anyone is interested.

Ok Thondra I sent the PM again.  Hope it works this time LOL

Thanks DangerBears!
He's a dragon goblin creature thing not really what type of animal he would be.
LOL yeah his head comes off because he was a creature from the 80's movie The Labyrinth called a Fire Gang or Firery.  In the movie they could remove their head and legs LOL I used a strong magnet to hold his head in place.

Oh Thanks SueAnn I didn't know that.  Well I can describe the scraps the best I can.
They are small so if you're looking to make a bear from them it would have to be a mini bear (under 5" tall)
The scraps would be better to add to fur you might already have or use for trim on something.  There is faux fur, real fur (some 4" size pieces) felt, leather, and ribbon scraps.  Some of the faux fur was left over from garments that where made into bears so there are a few larger pieces in really odd shapes but again to make a bear over 5" tall you would need to mix and match the fur.  Hope that helps and all makes sense lol

Oh there is nothing wrong with unjointed bears & plastic eyes, when your buying for a child or you want that style.  When I make kid safe bears I do it this way.  What I'm saying is if a company for years has made something one way & then suddenly changes to cheaper plastic eyes but does not change the price tag it's a let down to a collector.

I haven't posted any yet lol I was saying I can take some if you want ^_^

So sorry about Micky

Your dog and cats are wonderful!

Aww I love the face!  You did a great job on the felting!  i want to hug him  :hug:

I call my work Soft Sculpture because it seams to be an easier term for people to under stand LOL When someone see an stuffed animal for $200 they seam to be weirded out but when I call it a soft sculpture it's more "fine art" LOL it's a bit of a mind game if you will ^_^ But I also make "traditional" teddy bears (jointed, hump back, etc) that I just call artist bears.  I use the term soft sculpture for my plush animals that are needle felted or painted in some way.
Here is a good example of one of my soft sculptures, but there are other things that can be called soft sculptures

wow!  I can't believe the nerve of some people. I've thought about making some patterns or a book for sale but I'm worried something like that would happen.  I'm glad Etsy removed it.

I'm just talking about general bears & stuffed animals coming out of China.  For example I collected a line called West Cliff for years, but then they changed their name to Classic Collection and the quality went way down but the cost of the stuffed animals didn't change I was so disappointed with the last few things they made.  No longer making items jointed, cheaper fur, not airbrushing, plastic eyes instead of glass, and stuffing with something weird LOL.  So no I'm not sure which bears you're talking about, but I was just talking about more recent changes.  Even companies like TY & Gund have cut down on their quality in some areas.

It should be, if you make small bears, or if you don't mind combining the fabrics.  Most pieces are about 2" wide or smaller, odd shaped sizes trimmed off of garments and things like that. I can always take pictures if you like  :dance:

PMed you Thondra

I'm still cleaning so I'm sure I'll find more eyes too ^_^