Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

my seam allowance is smaller if I use fray-check on the cut edges. I should think that
consistency is more important than the actual measurement - just so long as all the
parts are the same!

extraordinary - you have really nailed the essence of a persian! Great job.

Thank you so much! I have such fun making the painted muslin stuff :)

LOL yes I did gesso & sand - tinted the gesso tan-brown, so that in sanding/aging, if
it shows through, it won't show through bright new white. I like the way the gesso
obscures the seams & makes it look sorta like a molded rubber toy or something.

I just got the email, client luuuuurves the doggy, wants to keep the wheels! YAY :dance:
Here is the real life version:

thanks again!!

Shadow is a real live dog who lives in the UK...I made a toy version of her though.

8" tall not counting base - 11" long from nose to tip of tail. Sewn muslin, stuffed & painted.

It's from this dalmatian that she wanted her own dog made:

I hope she's happy I got carried away, instead of disappointed....!
Shadow isn't attached to the cart yet anyhow, so at least if she doesn't
want the wheels, that is still ok!

this hedgie is SO perfect. wonderful work!

angelina fiber is FUN. you can also put it between 2 sheets of parchment paper & then iron it to fuse it,
to make your own lacy sheets to use for fairy wings, decoupage, collage, quilting, etc. & yeah you can
mix it into roving to felt! Also if you are spinning yarn.

You can see the angelina sparkle in the hot pink felt I used in this piece:

& here:

This thread is a hoot... :crackup:

Daphne wrote:

Oh my...would you let him call you 'sugart!ts'??

I am doing pretty good this year. I want a house like Daphne's dreamhouse but
with some goats & a mini donkey & a horse instead of sheep    Now Andy's
got a new job though - in the town we want to move to, even - so there is a better
chance of this happening, once we pay stuff off first, anyhow.

Him getting that job was a BIG hunk of wish fulfillment!

So I can't complain - everything is looking up. I'd not mind a respite from the sinus
headaches I've had since getting a wisdom tooth pulled, though. What's with that?

I would like a 1" pinback button maker - I could make some cool teensy little
buttons. & some Mango Mandarin body splash from Bath & Body Works - it smells so good!

Andy wants way more stuff than I do - he's learning to build banjos, mandolins etc & that takes
a bunch of specialized hand tools that you can't just get from Home Depot. So holiday gifts are
permission to get fretwire pliers or something 

ah you guys are so helpful! thank you all so much for your input.
I think upon further reading that I am going to do no joints at all -
for a totally floppy, entirely soft huggable guy. embroidered eyes
too.

The fact that you absolutely have to get plastic joints right the FIRST time
is definitely a factor too!  :redface:  :crackup:

naturally I'll share the teddy when I've made him!

Hah - patterns!! Directions! Instructions!!! I do not speak these languages  :crackup:
There is only ONE set of instructions that worked to teach me to knit & I was SO happy to
find it. Let me find it again, to use as an example of what I need versus what is mostly
offered & apparently works for other, more normal people:

here we go: http://www.tomfarrell.org/textiles/knit/frameset.html
this is the only one that worked for me! Look, he shows you just how the yarn
goes etc. I love this man, he put it in a way I can understand. thank you thank
you thank you! lol

By comparison, this is typical, & utterly incomprehensible to me:
http://www.mycraftbook.com/Cast_On_Stitch_2.asp
I have no idea what is happening between each photo, I don't know what direction either needle
is going, which bit of yarn is in front or behind, etc. It's all far away, all the same color, etc. Apparently
this works for most people, because most instructions are like this. But to me? Useless!

& that's how knitting & crochet patterns are for me, too. A beginner like me needs more than how many rows
etc. I don't even know how to properly finish a line of crochet - I can't make a SQUARE to save my life. Everything
is wavy & lumpy & misshapen! I am doomed to trying to make spiral hats...they are pathetic...lol

So I must surely be the lowest common denominator of people who cannot follow patterns...but the Tom Farrell
link above DID work even for me, so there is hope!

Oh Catherine how lovely! What a lucky child His new friend is bigger than he is - he really is a NEW baby isn't he!
I was wondering about using a synthetic for washability. But then so many bear books I've got talk about making
child-safe bears from mohair like it's not a big deal. I should like this bear to be played with, loved, dragged around, fed jam,
etc. Maybe synthetic is the way to go, but I look at all those beautiful beloved BATTERED & balding bears from 100 years ago
& I think 'why not?' Surely they got washed too? I look at my old soft synthetic toys, & the softest plushest furs got the most
clumped & matted. I like your sheepskin-like fabric, I think it will age very well!

Do the nice synthetics from intercal & edinburgh have knit backs or woven backs like mohair?

It's VERY early - I have til JULY to figure it out but I am taking the opportunity to learn stuff, lol!
thanks so much for sharing the photos & your experience 

Hiya!
Well my brother is finally going to be a Dad this summer, so I'd like to make a child-safe
bear for The New Kid. I know to do the plastic joints, & either safety eyes or embroidered
eyes, & polyfil to stuff. But I want to use the very softy-softest fur - got any favorites? Will it
be fine to toss in the washer? I should think so, but you guys know best - I've yet to make a
bear that actually gets to BE someone's binkie, so I would value the wisdom of bearmakers,
moms, & them-who-are-both!

ooooh...maybe I can do a bunny with satin inside the ears....I LOVED to rub blanket-edge satin
on my nose when I was a littlun....

If you've made bears for wee tiny kids & babies, can I see 'em? 

thanks!
-Kim

Judi, it sure seems like you're getting a bunch of horrid luck out of the way in one big chunk -
maybe the universe is doing it to you in one big RIP-  like getting your legs waxed! - instead of spreading
the misery over a longer period of time?? But it sure does hurt I know. I hope this means you have
only GOOD things happening for a very long time now!

I am so glad the pupper is going to be ok. It wrings my guts out to worry about ANY family members.

Last time I drove through the town center to go to the library during the 15 mins a week it is open,
there was a great big white-faced old golden retriever NAPPING in the road! This was right by the town
common, the big victorian houses with the gracious porches, the church & town hall right there & all.
You can only drive 15 mph around the common in my little town but still - a nap?? I stopped the car.
He wagged at me.

I ended up backing up & going around the other way!

If people drive too fast around here they're liable to get pulled over if they're lucky or a moose through
the windshield if they're not. That person who was driving better hope the next thing he hits isn't riding
a bicycle.

COOL!
Bats are such excellent neighbors. We got one in the house once. I was able to get a dishtowel
over him & put him out. He did several victory laps around the yard, I took it as a thank you.
I'd have liked to examine him closer but I didn't want to freak him out more than necessary.
Your pics are more than suitable as a sort of consolation prize!

Thanks for sharing your fotos!
I have to ask if you plan on needlefelting any bats, though - what a keen mobile you could make.
The bear has turned out so well, it looks like you had fun?

he looks great!
now tell the story behind your username, cause I am intrigued 

I was more trying to get this certain section of the felt (outside base of ear) to flatten down
towards the head a little more if possible. Not possible after all, lol

If you're trying to kill it with the nice needles, it may well be much harder to do.

I hope I don't find out  :crackup:

hahahahahah only the EARS are felted. (well, and the toes)
the rest is mohair 
Thank you, I will absolutely be ordering needles after sleep!

I only used the 42 needle - it's only some life-size cat ears I was making.
Not foster's needles! Random ones boughten off of ebay. & yes - the barbs
seem quite sharply cut in.

Where can I buy the Foster's needles?

I overfelted    :redface:

Trying to get some cat ears as hard & dense as possible, the bases started getting SQUISHIER instead of harder.
I could sink my finger into the softened felt. & pull it out in little chunks, exactly like when the dog is shedding his
coat. So I pulled the entire ear off - WAY too easily!

I am taking a nice hot shower & then having a go at some new ears after some mint chip ice cream!

I was using a single 42 needle on the merino-rambo, by the way.

I hope this saves someone else some trouble!

I don't have any fun links that haven't been mentioned yet - except Art Doll Quarterly by Somerset Studio is an
awesome magazine with delicious dolls to look at, made of all sorts of materials - dollmaking is a very fun pursuit!

You are gonna have fuuuuuun 

I'm not too proud to give poopy bears a home     
those guys are gorgeous!

I love distressed & distressing bears!
I have a spraybottle that is full of a mix of brown & black inks, jacquard dye na flow fabric paint,
water, & walnut hull dye. I squirt it between jointed areas & mist it over the entire bear. I trim & pluck
the paws & toes & forehead & nose & tummy. I smudge with colored pencil & sand paw pads.

I also love to tea dye & dye multiple times.

It's way fun 

it hasn't happened to me, thankfully! I am using that lovely merino-rambouillet batt you've recommended in the
past Bobbi It is far & away the finest, softest  wool I've used. But I was not sure how hard, rigid & firm
I could expect it to get. It's so soft, like a warm cloud! I just used it for some life-size cat ears, so it's not like
I have a full round shape. But it got pretty solid & did all I'd hoped it would do. I just wondered what would happen
if I pushed it even further. I'm nosy like that 

I seem to recall the term over-felting but I'm not sure what it means really. I don't want to
wreck something by taking it too far - how do you know when it is as firm & smooth as it is
gonna get, & what happens if you keep going?

thanks!
-Kim

my guess is, by smooshing two or more colors of polymer clay together
but not blending the colors completely. Then sculpting the nose shape,
sticking a wire loop in, & baking it to harden.

does that sound plausible? 

Here's my first guy ever, he's made in flannel with wool needle-felted on for color.
Based on a pattern from one of the bearmaking books - the one in the book is a little
red bear whose head comes off, to store needles inside. I didn't do that though.
His eyes are black paper fastener tops. His ears are felt. He's from Sept 2005. I'm coming
up on a year of bearmaking now

Here's my first *original* guy, the second bear I made. Oct 2005.
I needle felted wool onto flannel, again.
He's so utterly ridiculous 

My most recent guy is this chihuahua:

& panda from last month:

Great thread!!