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Alright! Well, after much planning and sewing I made a prototype for what the final will look like.
The final will have actual fur for the mustache though, and perhaps slightly longer arms.
What do you guys think?
I've yet to start making the shirt, vest and suit but I'm HOPING those won't take way too long...
I've got a question guys:
How do you get your ears to "cup"?
I can't accomplish it for the life of me...
The model looks great, DDar, but I do have to say - You're going to have a busy day!
Are you set on making the whole pattern yourself? I ask because my advice would be to buy a pattern in the size you want (and with a nice, big schnozz) from eBay. The rest - and the features that will make the bear look like Teddy R. - will be up to you. There's a section in our library on Mouths, and you're going to need to figure out how to applique (or something) the fur to the head.
On the other hand, if you're intending to make a whole bear pattern by yourself, well - you're going to have a busy day! But maybe do a search on pattern draping. I don't know how to do it, but I know that's what you'd need to do with your sculpted model.
Becky
Well, I may buy the pattern for the body off e-Bay if I find a suitable example. I've got a pretty specific vision for this bear. I want him to have old-fashioned Teddy bear proportions, you know?
And thanks for the suggestion with draping. It sounds like this would be perfect for getting the face JUST right!
I personally would not make an open jaw for this design however he is your bear so you may do whatever you feel he is telling you he needs. I would make him in a long-pile fur of your choice, preferrably one that could withstand strong needle-sculpting, and make his head a realistic bear shaped head. To get the mustache kind of theme you have going on the front of his face I'd just scissor-sculpt the long fur to make them stand out more from the realistic head shape. Also if you choose a long fur you'll be able to get that parted hair look between his ears you have on your sculpt. You'll also be able to needle-sculpt the eyebrows and then just use bear glasses after he's finished. By the way, great sculpture that's a great way to see how you want your bear!
Also you mentioned you are not an experienced bear-maker ~ so I have to say you'd probably be better making this bear's pattern in a long plush fur you don't have much attachment too first to experiment on, and then maybe using mohair or whatever fur you plan to use for the finished result. I would go about it this way as then you would be able to know what mistakes you made first time around and change them on the "real" bear.
Good luck and I hope what I said was helpful and most of all made sense lol :)
What I was hoping to do was use mohair for the entire bear except for the hair on top and mustache. I want those to be real fur, I thought it'd be fitting.
And I don't want him to be open mouthed either. But I was challenged to give him teeth, so I'd like to make it so that he can open and close his mouth in a way that his teeth aren't visible unless you want them to be.
May I ask though, what exactly is needle sculpting? Is it things like using darts, or is it something else?
Also, I'm totally going to take the "make a prototype before the real thing" approach, since I want the final to be super nice and with a growler and everything.
Hey guys. I need to make a very specific Bear for a college class. I need to make him look like Theodore Roosevelt.
Now, I have an idea of how I can make his body and limbs, but his face is giving me an insane amount of problems as I'm not exactly an experienced Bear pattern maker. I sculpted out a small example of sort of what I want it to look like.
I plan on making it so his jaw can open and close to reveal teeth (I plan on doing this by making the extra fabric in the muzzle extra long so I can sew a wire into it. I'll also put an extra amount of fabric inside the mouth so that the teeth can fit in there.) and his mustache and hair will be real fur.
Also, I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but I really don't have enough time to take a full-blown online course right now. Also, all the amazing books that are listed in discussions pertaining to this topic all seem to be sold out or going for hundreds of dollars nowadays.... So yeah...
But anyways, I digress. I was hoping maybe you guys could give me some tips on how to make the pattern or something?
Any help at all is appreciated, really.
Well, I feel kind of bad posting this here since all your bears are so amazing. But I guess this would be the best place to get feedback on it and demonstrate my very first endeavor...
Anyways, this is my very first bear ever! I made him with a pattern I found in a book to sort of try and learn the ins-and outs of bear making as best as possible before endeavoring to make my own pattern.
I hand sewed him (and it was my first time sewing), so I was a bit timid with how much I stuffed him but... Yeah.
Feel free to post any criticisms you have! I'd love to improve!
I've got a question for those of you who use machines:
How do you do areas that curve and that need to be attached to other already assembled parts? For example: Attaching the muzzle to the head, or attaching the ears, etc...
And for those of you who hand stitch:
How do you get the stitches to be as strong and tight as those the machine makes?
I've been looking at all your fantastic Bears and have been simply amazed.
I've noticed that some of you are able to sculpt faces though and make extremely vivid expressions. I was wondering how you guys went about doing this.
What I meant to say is IF you hand stitch your Bears AND you want to differentiate your product from other people who make Bears using a sewing machine, you should say so in those words, "Hand Stitched."
I totally see what you're saying. However, now that I hear that one is not actually more valuable than the other, I think I'll give machine stitching a try. I have a hard time getting my seams to be as consistent and strong as those that the machine makes.
Or do you need to hand-sew it for it to count as hand-made? I'm just wondering if using a sewing machine diminishes the value of a bear in any way.
Wouldn't sewing a patch of fluffier furry material into the specific area of the mustache also work?
