Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

DUDE!
That's awesome! Huge congrats!!!

awww! So patient and well behaved, they are....!

I love the double stacked banners...not something I'd say on very many websites! But TT is unique
in the fact that pretty much anything clickable here is gonna be interesting to me 

too much for who? for you? Do the bears that inspire you! You're not obligated to anyone but
yourself. The ideas that excite you are the ideas to follow. Sometimes the projects get made
and only when we see a few of them do we realize they fit together as a sort of group. Not that
this helps with labeling and promotion as you make them one at a time......but don't argue with
the creative urge.

That screaming voice is your muse, listen to her before she gets hoarse  :crackup:

Uh oh you're gonna flog me....

http://www.snopes.com/glurge/fleming.asp

This fella's story is awfully inspiring though....a very good lesson on perseverence
in the face of repeated failures: http://hersheyhistory.org/milton.html
Scroll down to 'MILTON BEGINS HIS CANDY-MAKING CAREER', that's the relvant
bit 

Marlys that is comforting, thank you! I would hate to miss out for a dumb reason, lol

Yay frog! I can't wait to find frog eggs outside in a few weeks 
The skinks are gorgeous, are they bluetongues?

I've got a Tokay gecko, a ball python (royal python, I think non-US folks call them) and
a cornsnake. Every so often we put together a vivarium and host a toad for a while too -
they're rather my favorite (no surprise there) 

I just emailed Corey, asking if I'd miss out on the facebook issue if I waited for my subscription
to start. I got a email confirmation of my subscription on 2/11/07 - I'd hate to miss getting the
magazine just by waiting too long!

I'm bumping this post cos I was totally looking forward to seeing hump backed bears 
I usually add a hump to mine teeeej - yep right at the base of the neck! but I find I do not have
any photos of my guys SHOWING the hump.

One thing I am learning is don't worry how a bear looks til he is finished....a lot of my guys look
odd until they are put together, and then it works somehow. Anyway it'd be pretty easy to remove
the hump later if you don't like the look. Have you got collector books of antique bears? The early
guys have humps.

Here's a handsome gent:
http://www.thedollworks.net/drilldown.a … 5ECAAF8%7D

some more respectable fellows:
http://www.antique-information.com/anti … bears.html

I'm so sorry. He was lucky to have found you - you gave him the best gift possible.

I have a feeling he'll be sending you another needy cat - it seems to happen that way.

if it's a (non lop) bunny I include the height of the ears  If someone
has a tallish hat I will do a measure with and without, too.

if it is a bear who will readily stand on his own I just do head to bottom of foot.
otherwise I show a standing AND a seated measure.

oh good heavens, he is wonderful!
did you make his jacket? I love his whole self! 

Today was a fog for me. Woke up groggy and stayed that way! It is allergies, plus
something the dramatic temp changes do to my sinuses (we went up about 25 degrees
today, hooray!) Wasted most of the afternoon having to deal with tummy issues, but
managed to draw a new pattern, cut it out in mohair, and dump it into a big pot full of
tea and vinegar (bear soup!) where it sits still. White is for bunnies, say I! 

A nap set me much closer to right. A sandwich did me better still. Now I'm going to have
a delicious hot shower, and then I believe I shall dump the tea, set the bear pieces out
to dry, cook some roving in fresh vinegar solution, and paint it with acid dyes. I've been sorely
missing my spinning wheel lately (been concentrating on bears!) and I haven't any nice colors
of wool to spin. So it is time for fun. My poor little dye squirting bottles haven't even been used
yet!

I can only help with the first question  - buy yourself some mohair!
it doesn't have to be expensive... look on this page:

http://www.intercaltg.com/special/3.html

You can get an assortment of cheap smaller (but big enough to work with) pieces
for pretty cheap! It's a good way to try out a variety of different colors, finishes,
densities, and lengths. I think it's WAY more fun than getting one yard of just one
thing  It's my favorite page on intercal 

You'll find that mohair isn't stretchy and the woven cotton backing is a breeze to sew
through. You'll want to have fray check on hand, and some tiny scissors so you can
trim the fur from the seam allowance. Remember when cutting your pattern pieces out
to slide the blade of the scissors under the fur strands so that you're only cutting the
backing, not the pile. I can't think of anything else that would make it much different
from working with the fuzzy felt. The guys in your avatar are gorgeous, I can't wait to
see what happens when you get your hands on mohair!

I subscribed a few weeks ago! I hope I get it soon 

What is fleece - you mean like polar fleece? That stuff is stretchy, but mohair fabric is not -
you will get way different shapes when you stuff a stretchy fabric versus a non-stretchy one.
You can back a stretchy fabric with muslin to make it keep its shape, though.

I hate doing test shapes, I like the surprise of changing things with each pattern and finding out
what makes each bear different....going in directions that give more pleasing results but always
shooting a bit into the dark! But for a couple of projects I needed to recreate living animals in
expensive super-dense mohair, so I did tests in muslin. Muslin's great cos it is cheap and non-stretch!

What a fun roadrunner! I miss seeing them, they're adorable and of course we haven't got them in
New England 

Paperclay is AWESOME stuff, it is a joy to work with and gives such a smooth finish. I wouldn't use it
for something as slender and fine as bird feet, though, even with wire in them. Too many pointy small
ends that stick out and risk getting knocked against stuff! strips of paper dipped in a white glue/water
solution could be a sturdier alternative (and practically free) - TP, papertowel, newsprint, all of them get
pretty tough soaked with glue/water. Then if you have gesso you could do a couple coats to smooth
and prime the surface, and then they'd be sandable too.

I love the look of the needlefelted feet, the feet alone are really making me want to make an owl!
& I want to try wrapped glue-soaked fine thread for songbird feet....honestly you guys help me on
one hand & make me want to try new stuff on the other.....it's a win/win situation! 

woooohooo! I'll be sewing like a fiend today then  I spent last night ripping the Oops Bear -
I couldn't work on something new, knowing that he was prowling around all poorly seamed.
So now his parts are all good to go again! I have a bit of black in a similar fur, so I think for
good luck I must rework him as a panda, and put his old arms/legs/ears aside for someone
else later.

Denise my mom has an old whites, and when I say old I mean 'used to be grandma's' - it
looks very like the featherweights that I've seen people post pictures of. Was yours old like that?
Mine's just a newish Kenmore but at least it has a vertical bobbin - the drop-in ones drive me
crackerbats. & you will surely know that bear when you see him/her 

My dressed girls go commando. I figure, if Donald Duck can go pantsless, so can my critters 

Sometimes guys just need a certain garment....the bear will let you know!

Mine just never happen to be in as much of a hurry as I am.....they choose what 'finishes' them
at their own pace, sometimes they gotta be sitting on the shelf for a week before it comes clear.
The best I can do is make more of them to have around at a given time in hopes that at least
one of them will be easy to figure out!

ok, I tightened up the tension and shortened my stitch length.....
how does this look?

It is pulled taut over my finger. Can you tell I am
having fun with the camera's macro settings!  :crackup:
Sorry about the lighting, it's under the desk lamp. A sensible person
would shoot photos at noon....

Am I good to go? I am eager...lol
thanks!

You guys are awesome.

I took a nap, an aspirin, & am ready once again to experiment 

I will do scrap tests! The thread does look thick doesn't it...but it
is only ordinary all-purpose stuff. Maybe because it is just a really close-up
photo it looks big.

Don't apologize for repetition! Instead, feel confident by the fact that your advice is
confirmed by others 

If I need to fiddle with the bobbin tension I will be astonished! But I am pleased to
have insight on that. I hope I never have to touch it, lol

I will start with tightening the stitch tension, then make sure it's balanced top & bottom,
& then see what difference shortening the stitch length makes.

Thanks again you guys! You're my in-house experts, how lucky I am that you all live inside
my computer 

edited to add!
The thread was wound onto the bobbin from the spool - I am not brave enough to mismatch
threads from top to bottom. And the mounted faerie specimens are mostly bits of papier mache
over wire, with bits of angelina fiber & silk ribbon scraps & paint. & I am still astonished that I
do not get hate mail from fairy lovers about them!

thank you all again!

OK, so I'm trying my hand at machine-sewing bears. I'm happy with the speed! but upon stuffing my guy,
his leg seams look like this:

ewwww  I'm not thrilled with his pattern anyhow so I'm only out time & (a $5 piece of) mohair.
So I don't think I'll rip/redo him....but how can I have better seams in the future? is it a tension issue?
The setting is on 2. It's a kenmore machine, super basic, a couple years old.

I'm kinda down cos I have had bad hat pattern results lately & some other stuff going on.......it's just a crummy time
for stuff to not work out. I'll be grateful for advice on better seams, & any other advice on making the switch
from all-handsewn to using the machine.

thanks!

You could wrap the wire in colored fine yarn & then brush acrylic gel medium on it to seal it.
I'd do this if I wanted the legs to look a bit fabric-fiber-ish to match a wool or mohair body.

Apoxie sculpt is awesome. I've used a similar epoxy clay called Magic Sculpt. Great stuff to play with!

By the way, talc on your hands can work like flour with dough, to make it a little less sticky. A little talc
does not affect it hardening or anything.

I wanna see the birds & their feet when they're done!

Yes - body silhouette pieces, left and right side, with legs, neck, head.
And a belly gusset that has the legs also.

To make him stand up with legs straight up & down, cut out a football-shaped
dart from where each leg joins the body on the gusset piece (not the side pieces!)
This sort of dart:

You can do his mane as fringe in the seam of the back of his neck. I'd do a face gusset, too,
cause they have wide foreheads. I'd try to find a way to do really prominent eyelashes, too -
giraffes have marvelous eyelashes 

Oh no I love wee scones bears! How lovely a family portrait they make.

I want to kiss their nosies 

Little white has an endearing slightly smug look. He seems quite pleased with
his lot in life!

Gorgeous work!