Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Those are gorgeous. Have you ever thought of making custom bear eyes?

WOW! Good for you. I wish we had a shop like that here where we could browse. My highlight is looking for thread and BB's at the local store.

Gosh they are all so cute! I love seeing them all together on the table. 

Thanks everyone! I've at least got a start, and a list of do's and don'ts for my next one.

I think next time I will use black for the nose unless I am working with white, darker eyes (maybe black).

Going to try foot pads next time. I actually had some cut out, but the seam for the leg was going to close on a curve again (dumb). I had drawn a leg that was a one-piece that is folded over so I couldn't cut the back open as I would have no seam allowance. So I decided to close the curve of the leg and stuff through the bottom of the foot, ending my footpad venture. I am also going to add paw pads to the arms. Do y'all ever flip over your mohair and use the backing for the pads? Seems like a perfect color match. Is there any drawbacks to that?

I am going to cut back on the neck. The neck is too long for my liking.

I must also read the nose directions again when I am practicing, not when I am sewing on the bear. Sounds lame, but I can't figure out the "Y" at the base. I totally did it by the seat of my pants. I followed some instructions on here but I got lost.

I had a hard time with the lock nuts. When I was tightening it down (putting on the head) the whole bolt started to spin and it wouldn't tighten. So I took it apart and used a cotter pin.

Thanks Shelli for the tip on putting the steel shot in a knee-hi nylon, knotting it and folding it over and over itself until it's a small pouch. I didn't realize how little you need to weight a bear.

I used matilda's directions for sinking the eyes, thank you. I liked doing it that way, no dimples and totally invisible.

Well I finished her today. I aptly named her BooBoo because I am sure there are a million of them in this little bear. It took me longer than I expected only because I dragged my feet. I had so much anticipation of making this bear that I was scared it was going to look like poo-poo. I had this image in my head, then I put it on paper hoping when she came to life it resembled what was in my head. She came close. There are several things I learned on this journey of a "first bear."

1. Do not close a seam on a curve.
2. Do not make bears when both your kids are home.
3. Make sure to mark the joint placement on the outside of the bear.
4. It's okay to remove stuffing.
5. Steel shot goes at the BOTTOM of the bear.
6. Cotter pins can be removed.
7. 1/32nd of a inch is a LOT.
8. Upholstery thread does break.
9. Reading directions for sewing a nose is frustrating.
10. The ladder stitch is the greatest invention.
11. It's okay to re-work the pattern in the middle of the bear.
12. I still can't figure out the nose instructions.
13. Prismacolor pencils are pretty darn good, even if you bought them in 1986.
14. The instructions on TT for sewing on eyes were fantastic (I will find who posted those..thank you!).
15. Photographing bears is tough. Booboo looks much better in person.
16. Again, do not close a seam on a curve (what was I thinking? duh).

I have lots of changes for the next bear. I could not have made this bear without y'alls help. Thank you. I hope to get much better in the future. I have a looooooong way to go and lots to learn. She ended up being 8 inches tall, made from sparse, curly matted mohair. The pre-crimped glass eyes were easy to work with, although next time I am going to get a darker color. I am not too keen on the rose color I picked. Oh well.

I've been digging around the library for an hour and I am not finding my answer. So either it's a huge secret or I am not understanding.

I am seeing muzzles that are very sculpted, some pinched looking, and some with unique shapes.  I keep reading that they are "needle sculpted." I don't know what that means. Are you taking a nip and tuck from inside the head or making darts? Since I am coming from a needlefelting background, needle sculpt means to jab with a needle until you get a desired shape if you are needlefelting. But since I am looking at traditional bears (and currently making one), somehow I don't feel this is what you guys are talking about. Some muzzles are obviously left alone after they are stuffed, but others I can tell have very precise moulding happening and are being referred to as needle sculpting...and I am not sure how y'all are doing that...?

(P.S. I am not referring to the inset muzzles)

That's awesome. Trail/cross-country is so much more fun than street running. That is so cool, I wonder if we have stuff like that here. I wonder what it would be called? I have friends that do Primal Quest and XTerra that have a combination of events and it lasts for several days and you're on a team; including running, climbing, kayaking, biking, trekking. It's totally hard-core, your husband and son would love it.

Ooooooh I love them so much!!!! I love Halloween. Fantastic color. These are absolutely adorable. 

Yes, it has skinny arms. I drew the pattern so it would fit on a 12x12 piece of mohair. (I know, that sounds so cheap, but I wanted to make sure I was going to like doing this before I bought a huge piece). Next go-around I am making fatter arms. Turning those buggers was a pain. Good thing I had locking hemostats. But the 5/8 disks fit snugly in the arms. I think the bear is going to be right under 8 inches standing.

BTW, I did find washers, cotter pins and lock nuts at Home Depot, the same size I got from Intercal. So next time I can get my stuff at Home Depot with the exception of the disks.

The disks for the legs are 1" so I went a bit bigger there.

P.S. I've already made notes of things I will and won't do on the next bear.

Thanks Daphne, that's what I was thinking...washers are a good thing...always. Maybe Intercal just doesn't think a 5/8 warrants a washer? But I will use them.

I am using cotter pin on limbs and nut/bolt on head.

Most definitely!

I wonder why Intercal doesn't sell the washers with that particular size of joint set? I got washers on all the other sizes I ordered, even the one inch cotter pin set. Washers came with the stop nut/bolt set. So you're saying I don't need washers with the stop nut set?

(what would I do without this board?) 

Did you fix it? It looks perfect to me. Your blog is really really nice!

I noticed in my baggie of 5/8 joint there is no washer. But I read you should always use a washer so the pin doesn't make a crater in the disk from movement. My 5/8 is for my arm and I would think that would require a washer, no? I could see where you wouldn't use a washer if your bear was like four inches because there wouldn't be any room. But my bear will be 8-10 inches when complete. I am thinking that is worthy of a washer.

I took the advice and used wax on my Gutermann's thread. I didn't like that it was polyester because it was sooooo slick, but the color match was unbeatable. The wax totally did the trick!

Absolutely incredible piece! The face on the doll is sooo cute. It's perfect. I see you didn't use the goth hands. 

Thanks everyone!

I already do the quilters knot and didn't even know it. I will try the wax since I already have some.

I am using Guterman upholstery thread for my bear. But I am finding it quite slick, unlike my Coats and Clark upoholstery thread.  The C&C thread is nylon and Guterman is polyester. I am already not liking the Guterman because it's so dang slick. But I went this route because the lady at the store said it was the strongest thread she had and it matched my mohair perfectly. When I make my knots the are not staying tight. So I have to tie a knot then go back through to the other side, knot, go back to the other side and knot.

Also my first knot is not just a single knot on the end of the thread. I am actually tying the threads together so there is no chance of the knot slipping through the material. Same with the ending knot. Is this right?

Also is it a mortal sin to drop any kind of glue on the final knot after closing a seam? (Don't worry I didn't do it, but I had to ask).

Isn't it amazing Sue Ann? I know I shouldn't complain, my water bill is so low. Biking in the 100 degree heat is miserable in Texas. Today it never cracked 80. I guess I can be somewhat thankful...I went so stir crazy I ventured out to start making my first real mohair jointed bear. I should call it Rain or something. When I get mad I stew until I find the positive side of the situation. Now that I found it, I am okay. 

I feel your pain. We have had 35 consecutive days of rain. And in the last 90 days, it's rained over 50 of them. This summer is downright depressing! There is no forecast within the next 2 weeks that predicts a dry day. Pffffft. We also had a tornado two nights ago about 30 miles up the road.

There is a give on the bias. Is that good or bad? I would think I would want that for face sculpting, no?

It has to be vintage, my sister had one of those growing up. I never liked it because it was really stiff, like sawdust for filler and it crunched when you hugged it.

Hairspray is awesome! I took my 10 year old to see it and we both loved it.

Thanks. I will get some Aleene's before the next bear. I used Dritz because I had it on hand. The bead was thin and quite consistent. I've used Dritz for quite sometime and it's never clogged. But I don't like the bleeding effect at all. I had to be very very careful not to touch my lines.

Another question...wondering if I should do double seams? My bear will be about 10 inches tall. I am going to hand stitch the initial seams and wondered if I could/should machine sew the second seam?

I want to come back and say I did another test. I noticed that the fray check caught some of the hairs and  bled through to the front. So I did a third test where I put the fray check NEXT to my drawn line and it worked better. So I think I will put some on both sides of my lines instead of directly ON my line.

Haha! I am glad I am not the only chicken to make the first cut.

I did the Fray check test.

All of these colors ran...
Sharpie (all colors)
Ball point pens (black and blue)
#2 pencil

This did not run at all: Pigma Micron Archival Ink.

LOL, that's funny!

I had a similar experience. When I yanked off my pants a lizard fell out. Then I had to catch it in the bathroom! ICK!!!