Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Thank you!!!

And Merry Christmas

Hi,

Let me introduce Odin and his snowboard. He's just over 2.5 inches tall, with a hand-knitted hat and scarf. The snowboard is made from fimo, painted and varnished.

Hope you like my little winter-themed bear :)

Daria 

Thank you!!

Hmm, I'll try water on Sovereign, see what happens to him.

Thank you for your ideas!

Hi Becky,

This is a photo of my Charlie Bear Sovereign. When he was new, the fur above his eyes (the "eyebrows") was a little stiffer than the rest of the fur and would lie more readily in the direction it is now. With time (and lots of cuddling) whatever product was used to make it stiffer has worn off and its now soft like the rest of his fur. It felt almost like a tiny bit of human hair gel or something of that sort.
Can this really be achieved with just water? That does sound alot safer and more pleasant than glue 

I'm mostly looking to reach the same effect of eyebrows on plush bears. Sovereign's fur is quite long but when the pile is shorter, it's more difficult to get it to make those sweet charismatic eyebrows that I've seen some artists achieve. My main reason for doing this is that while I know how the fur is meant to look and I can brush it into place before displaying the bear, people who receive my bears might not position the fur the same way after taking them out of the packaging and the bear will miss out on those cute eyebrows I intended. Maybe I'm just being paranoid I was just hoping there was a way to, at least initially, show the collector how the eyebrows are meant to look.

Daria

Hi everyone!

I hope you can help me with my question.

I've noticed that some artist bears have "styled" fur i.e the pile, usually the eyebrows, has something brushed through it that makes the fur lie in a particular direction and stay there. Sort of like human hair styled with gel or hairspray.
I can only assume its very diluted glue, but I'm too scared to use it in case it leaves a residue and I'm not entirely sure what kind of glue to use.

Any help would be greatly appreciated  :rose:

Thank you in advance,

Daria

Thank you Vicki!

He's so sweet! I love his big ears

Thank you!!!

Hi,

This is my first attempt at a more realistic bear. He's made from cream plush with felt pads, he has glass eyes with corded eyelids and a fimo nose.I knitted him a scarf and gave him a little Christmas decoration to play with for some festive cheer
I attempted a few new techniques I had never used before and wouldn't have had the confidence or the information to try them out if it wasn't for the wealth of info on this forum. So I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who contributes(-ed)!

Daria 

Hi!

This is Austin, he's a little antiquey mini bear with a few bald spots. He stands just under 4 inches tall and he's made from dense brown mohair with felt paws.

Hope you like him!

Daria

Hi!

Please meet Scribble. He's a little bear, about 5 inches, made from amazing hand-dyed mohair, looks like he had a painting accident 

Hope you like him!

Daria

They are just gorgeous! I love Nola's little hat.

Wish I still went to Uni, so I could go to that shop and get one It was my local

Daria

Hi!

This is Limoncello. He's 23 cm standing, made from hand dyed wavy mohair. He has cotton pads and a silky ribbon.

Hope you like him

Daria

I'm not as experienced as some of the artists on this site, but I'll try to help
When I make standing bears I put card in the feet (use the footpad pattern piece to cut some out but make it smaller, excluding the seam allowance), that goes between the footpad and the stuffing. Then weight the bottom of the feet, stuff REALLY firmly but try not to bend the card in the foot, double it if you have to. When you stuff concentrate on the ankles, I find thats where mine flop. Make sure that you tighten the leg joints as hard as you possibly can. Then tighten them even harder (they always seem to find a way of loosening themselves).
The shape of the body also makes a difference. For example if the belly is very big, or you want the legs placed further back on the body, the bear may flop forward. You can try correct this by altering the pattern or by playing around with weighting- put more in the bum than in the tum:P and vice versa if he has a small belly and a large hump etc
Come to think of it, I've made a big stading bear with no card in his feet and he stands quite well. But to make extra sure use the card

Hope that helps!
Daria

Hi everyone!

This is Violet. She's made of a lovely dusty purple Helmbold sparse mohair, she's sculpted and stitched to have a lovely empty, rumpled tummy. She's plucked, stained and "fixed" to within an inch of her life but I think she looks better for it She has two buttons and a brass rocking horse charm around her neck and a wooden horse friend for company.

Hope you like her 

Daria

Yup, a wooden chopstick is my weapon of choice too:) It's one of those "disposable" ones that are stuck together at the top. I find the top end is good for bigger bears and the pointy end good for smaller ones.
x

Lovely   The mushrooms are so sweet!

He makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside

Hi Elena, welcome to TT!

Zipper is gorgeous, he has such a sweet face!

What a lovely question!
I don't really have a perfect bear but I think a uniting factor in all my bears is that they have to make me smile. I think the closest one to being perfect is actually a cheap plush bear I got a long time ago. I was out shopping with my mum and she held it up to show me from across the shop and I burst out laughing (embarrassing! ). He was this strange, lanky hairy thing with a big smile and massive feet and I just loved him, the shape was so original, who-ever designed him had an amazing sense of humour. He still makes me smile even though I've had him years.
I have to say that I prefer buying bears "in the flesh" though, I have to hold them and feel them. I love that feeling when you pick up a bear at a show and realise that you won't be able to put him down    

Gorgeous!      Love the colours!

      His face is so sweet!      

Lovely:) 

Hi Donna,

I'm sorry I don't have any experience with this, but I was just thinking that maybe you could iron on some of that fusible interfacing fabric that is used to stop fraying (I can't for the love of me remember what it's called)? Would that make any difference?

All the best,
Daria