Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

I very nearly bought Victoria at the Fair.  Was a tough choice and was sad to leave her behind (and your beautiful duck and rabbit).  Wish I could afford to give her a new home now, but am sure someone will be happy for her to join their hug.

Keep up the beautiful work   

It doesn't have to be oval, just a four piece belly pattern would be great.  I know you said 'standard' four piece pattern, but all my googling I am STILL yet to find any like that!

The polar bear pattern is great, but was hoping for a teddy bear or even panda bear pattern.  Worst case will try to resize etc to fit a pattern I already have.

Or would it maybe be easier to modify a pattern that I have?  That sounded a little complicated for a beginner like me.

Thank you sooooooo much for your help 

Hello everyone ***WAVES***

Hoping someone knows something like what Im looking for and can point me in the right direction.  Im looking for a bear pattern that has a separate coloured belly area.....like the Care Bears have. 

I want to make a special bear for my sister for her 30th birthday.  I have a panel from her wedding dress which I want to sew in as the belly and paws.  It has some beautiful embroidery which would look GORGEOUS on a belly panel.  I also have some lovely recycled fur that I would love to use, if the pattern will allow for it.

Does anyone know anyone that sells patterns like that?  I have googled by not had any luck so far (not an experienced bear maker, so might not be defining my search enough).  Any help is very greatly appreciated.

THANK YOU   

He is just soooooooo cute!  I just want to give him a scratch behind the ear 

Have had quite a few views.  Can't anyone point me in the right direction?

Hi Ladies 

Was just wondering what bears are marked on in competitions?  What makes up the score card?  What actually makes the best bear?  Or does it all come down to the personal opinion of the judges?

As it gets closer Im getting more excited. 

Bit stressful too as Im trying to get as much done as I can of the bear I am making from the club before I go, as well as selling a house, getting the house ready to sell   taking on extra work for my parents for the near future AND my girls seem determined to not let me sleep for any longer than 4 hours at the moment 

Regardless, Im counting down.  Only 4 more sleeps  :dance:

Hugglets sounds really cool to.  Shame there's no way I could be part of that one.  Maybe one day 

I have actually read through a lot of the threads in the library about this (although only about 4/5ths through it) and it all just seems to confuse me further.

For some reason the words that you ladies are using is making me feel a little more comfortable and a little less frightened.  I just wanted to say thank you for your words.  I do appreciate your time, especially when this topic has been done before.

The Sydney Teddy Bear Fair is on next weekend and Helen from Bare Cub Designs is running a workshop.

I have been admiring her bears for a few years and they are what inspired me to start making my own bears.  I am currently a member of her Bare Designs Club, where I get a pattern each month and detailed instructions (as well as help from Helen directly if my newbie head just can't work something out!).  I am currently making my VERY FIRST BEAR following her pattern and instructions.

I have been waiting patiently to find out if my husband, Mum or Sister could watch my beautiful girls for me so I could attend the workshop (my hubby will be in cricket semi finals if they win today, my Mum may have been going to NZ on a business trip and my sister has been very under the weather with her pregnancy).

Well my Mum's plans have fallen though for now and my sister is feeling better so I CAN GO  :dance:   I really am VERY excited and am looking forward to it very much.

No real point to this post, just needed to share my excitement 

I am a LONG LONG way off selling any bears, I may never even go into the commercial side of bear making, so this isn't really an issue yet, but it does really concern me.

**Sorry for the long post.  Trying to properly explain myself**

I have read a lot lately about people feeling their copyright has been breached.  (Some have been very blatant coping bears to the detail, not from a pattern, others feel that their 'trade mark traits' have been copied.)

I am really worried, more Im sure that it will happen, that I will step on someone's toes at some stage and breach their copyright or trade mark feature.

Im sure that there is a bear maker somewhere that has a trade mark feature of the ears/eyes/nose for every size/shape/position/color possible!  Same of all the possible trade mark features (bigger/smaller noses, puffy checks, mouth style, etc, etc, ETC!).  Same of colors/shading.  Most people shade very similar places in very similar ways.

I fully intend to make bears in a style that touches my heart, rather than copying another artist.  But I feel that it doesn't matter WHAT I DO someone will have done it before (whether I have seen it or not) and I will be seen as copying and possibly upset people.  And I possibly will develop a certain shape to my checks/feet/eyes/ears/nose/mouth/etc that I just really like and tend to use on all my bears, but Im sure that other people will have done it before or have a very similar style they use now.

Especially being new to bear making I am looking at different techniques available and will be trying them out, so am worried about offending. 

Some examples.

It is the puffy checked bears of Bare Cub Designs that have inspired me to make bears.  I just ADORE them.  (I don't mind the vintage bears, but they don't make me warm and fuzzy, if that makes sense).  Since joining this site I have seen a couple of other artists that have similar face sculpting, again that I adore and have started following as well.  Puffy checks is something that I really want to give my bears moving forward (I do need A LOT more practice, and am looking at doing a workshop with Helen from Bare Cub Designs).  How do I make my 'puffy checks' different enough that I don't upset anyone without having to vary it to something that really doesn't warm my heart?  How much can you REALLY vary a puffy check?

Im also looking at experimenting with trapuano toes (sp?) and needle felting toes.  How do I make sure that my shape/designs are different enough not to be 'copying'?

Same with even color combinations.  I had thought about doing a bear with a heart belly in contrasting fur for my daughter (again, not looking commercial, but what if I was).  But I have seen some beautiful ones done this way recently (Im sorry I cant give credit by who, Im still getting to know everyones details and I don't remember).  If I had been working on a series of bears with heart bellys for sale would it have been taken as copying the other artist (I imagine so).

How can I possibly stay try to my feelings and visions when making bears without upsetting people?  Or is it really just inevitable??

***SIGHS***

Thank you thank you THANK YOU!

I really didn't have much luck Googling.  Maybe after Ive been making bears a while Ill have a better idea what to search.

I am super excited about getting some bright and tactile materials to make some cute bears for my future niece or nephew 

Hi Everyone,

I need your help.  I am looking for a duck pattern.  Maybe 2-3 inches?

My sister is pregnant and they call their little bundle 'Duckie'.  They also have a lot of duck toys and duck themed clothes ready for the bub when it arrives in August.

I was wanting to buy a heap of bright colored and textured material to make a lot of little 'duckies' to hang on the pram and mobiles etc (you know how they have the little tags to move from toy to toy these days).

So they wont exactly be artist duckies, but just need the pattern.

Can anyone help me?

He looks like such a Sweetie!  I hope that the operation has done its job and he never has to go through anything like that EVER AGAIN.  Why do bad things happen to good dogs?

She is such a CUTIE 

So strange....I was just wondering about this the other day!

I mean, surely there are only so many shapes and combinations of shapes, sizes etc that you could make a bear.

I hadn't thought about ramifications of very similar designs.

Isn't it more about the fabric, sculpting, trimming shading etc that gives each bear its character and brings it to life?

What about if you use a pattern you have bought from someone?  Can you sell it as your bear, or do you have to sell it as the pattern producers?  If the bear isn't as good and the pattern producers Im guessing that they wouldn't want their name to it anyway 

Will be following this thread with great interest.

I can never tell in the pictures (because you can very rarely see both at the same time) are the front and back paw pads the same?  Particularly if you are using felt sculpted or trapunto styles.  Are they the same pattern/design just different sizes?

This is a REALLY sill question, that my husband asked me and I don't know the answer.

With mink bears, the ones that I have seen are made from reclaimed mink.  Can you also get mink for bears etc that is made in a similar way to the alpaca and mohair, where no animal is harmed in the making?

Thanks 

Thought I should echo this over here.

I will be stalking this thread with great interest 

The club which I have joined, which is getting me my start in bear making, you get a new pattern every month (from Miniatures to Mohair to Mink bears) with tips and tricks, step by step guides with lots of photos, tools of the trade and loads of ideas, options and techniques.

There are tutorials each month and topics covered include shading, open mouths, raised paw pads, sculpting, clothes, adding character to your bear, noses, clay and thread covered, vintage bears, eyes with lashes, miniatures and much much more including a bumper mink issue.  The tutorials are very well explained with detailed photos.

A new workshop every month, in my home, whenever it suits me!  (Which is just perfect for me with my two very beautiful but energetic girls of 2 yrs 4ths and 11mths    )

Here is the link if you want to check it out:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Bare-Designs-Clu … 4498wt_966

Cant wait to see what others have saved in their favourites!

Dangerbears- I had had a little look though the library, but didn’t know what to look under!  Thanks for the pointer, heaps of useful info in there.

Teeeej- Awesome tutorial!  The number and detail of pictures is soooooooo good.  I will feel much more confident being able to refer back to these.

Rowarrior-  E-Bearz University is so cool!  There are so many of those courses that I REALLY want to do.  Will have to pace myself.  I mean I don’t even have my tools and materials for my first bear yet (-;  (I am TRYING to wait patiently for them to arrive lol)

Being so new to bear making I have NO IDEA where to even START looking.  These links have given me a heap of inspiration, but also a realisation that there is so much information, coaching and guidance out there that I had no idea was available, and have no idea how to find it.  Im hoping that hanging around here I will be privy to a lot more of these helpful links (-:

Thanks again!!

Just as the title says, Im curious how you all manage to part with your creations?  When so much love and care goes into making them, and they 'come to life' before your eyes, how do you say goodbye?

How many bears to you have in your collection, of yours and other peoples?

Do you ever make bears that you just get too attached to and can't sell?

Once you start to sell bears do you have to detach yourself right from the start on the process?  Does that change the way that your creations ultimately end up?

Do you just take lots and lots of photos, from a million different angles and a million different settings and different lighting before they are re-homed?  Does it help??

As an absolute beginner I have joined a club (don't know if I can mention the name in the forum) where each month for a year I get a pattern and step by step guide, with a tutorial on a different technique each month.  If I manage to make the bear each month then that is 12 bears!  I have no idea where I would put them all, but I also don't know how I will bring myself to give them away after I put so much of me into them.

Interested to hear how other people get their heads around this.

Hi there,

I am VERY new here.  Have been following since just after Xmas and am enjoying learning from you and find all your creations inspirational.  (Will make sure I post in the newbies section once I get my girls to sleep tonight 

I am waiting for my tools and materials to arrive via post so I can start my very first bear  ***nods excitedly***

I have been thinking about how I am going to give my bear character.  I have seen some good tutorials on feet, noses, a good one on eyes came with my pattern.....

What I am looking for is a tutorial on how to trim the fur into shape.  Do you have to brush it a certain way before you trim?  Do you position the scissors with or against the grain?  Im sure that trimming is one of the most important parts of giving a bear character and I am nervous and don't know where to start!  I have Googled without much luck.

My bear will be made of 1" straight dense alpaca

If anyone could point me in the right direction I would be very appreciative.

Rinn.