Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

25mm is 1", those are easy enough to find. At that size, cotter pins are used more commonly than nuts, though. Good luck!

When I sew on white velvet, I use a very thin micron pen or water-vanishing marker to trace out the pieces.

Welcome! Where do you live? Assuming you're in the US, Glass Eyes Online carries 1mm glass eyes on wire.

Here's some photo-tutorials to help get you started.
https://www.deviantart.com/thisusername … -214111813
https://www.deviantart.com/dot-doll/art … -496330994

Fortunately it's a very forgiving technique. If you screw up, you can just cut the thread and start over!

Thread sculpting can help remedy that sort of problem. Do you have a long doll needle?

Yeah this is a very, very slow forum nowadays.

I've been developing a modular mini monster pattern, for mix n match critters like manticores and chimeras. Where'd you get your start making minis?

Oh thank you that's a good tip!

Oof, I've spent years snooping around upholstery shops trying to find "the good stuff" with that woven backing, without much success. If you ever strike gold let me know! Crate and Barrel's tragically discontinued Valencia fabric had the right backing, tipped pile, and a range of colors :'(  I don't know if they've got anything suitable these days.

I've used Jacquard Acid dye on that velvet a few times, but eventually switched over to Rit Dyemore because liquid is less of a mess and easier to measure than powder.

Oh wow! We should chat over PMs or something

OMG Thank you for the info! This is a huge relief!

Welcome, clipping curves is pretty essential to avoid rumpling at the seams. I find it best to turn the plush right-side out and brush out the seams, then flip it inside out again before clipping the curves.

Always happy to see another mini maker! It's a painful road we walk, trying to find suitable fabrics for mini plushies. I haven't had much success finding long pile upholstery plush either, so I hope somebody else can chime in. 

Mohair Bear Making Supply's faux cashmere is wonderful, so I just endure the overseas shipping cost.
https://www.mohairbearmakingsupplies.co … x-cashmere
(A word of caution, the colors on the website photos are quite inaccurate). It's only got a 1mm pile, but it's so dense you can barely see the backing at all. It can also be dyed with Rit Dyemore (but you gotta be careful not to damage the pile)

Edinburgh Imports' miniature fabric also has the right backing, but I don't like the pile quiiite as much.
https://www.edinburghimports.com/index. … ath=11_405

I'm sure some other users have noticed Sassybears.com went offline last year. Does anyone know what happened? Has anyone found a satisfactory substitute fabric?

Welcome to the hobby!
I'd imagine it's to protect the fabric. The edges of a metal washer could easily wear away at the fabric over time, not to mention the potential rust stain/discoloration.
Fiberboard joint discs are a specialist item in general, I think most people have to buy them online.

No problem, let me know if you need further guidance.

Here's a tutorial on safety eye installation: http://fluffyland.com/blog/index.php/sa … -tutorial/

You can also buy clear glass eyes on wire and paint the backing: https://www.glasseyesonline.com/glassey … oops-clear

That's crazy!!! How much of it did you have to sew right-side-out?

Welcome to the forum! Sorry it's a bit slow around here.

General methods to avoid tearing seams are to use a shorted stitch length, backstitch instead of straight stitch, and apply fray check to the edges of the pieces.

Pulling at the seams is an unfortunate reality of working with felt (the main reason I personally don't use it). What type of faux fur are you using? What kind of backing does it have? How big are your bears?

Welcome to the forum! It's pretty slow around here, but there's tons of information in the library.

"String Jointing" in teddies means something different than it does for BJDs. The end result is basically the same as disc jointing. Here's a tutorial:
http://teddybearstutorials.blogspot.com … -bear.html

Anatomy of a Doll by Susan Oroyan covers a lot of different jointing methods. Cotter pins and washers are normally metal, only the ones labeled "safety joints" are plastic. If you plan to bake metal parts into the clay, I would reinforce it with epoxy post-baking. Wire or loc-line armatures provide the widest range of motion. Loc-line is pricey but very durable and holds positions well. Unfortunately smallest size (Labeled 1/4", but actually has a 3/5" outside diameter) is still too big for smaller plushies.

Soft bodies with clay/resin faces and paws aren't my thing, but I can point you in the direction of some artists who use it. You may be able to find some progress photos that show how the hard pieces are attached. If you have an account you could try asking them directly.     
https://www.deviantart.com/escaron
https://www.deviantart.com/anyaboz
https://www.deviantart.com/satani

What style plush are you thinking of? How experienced are you with sewing? For simplified styles like classic teddies, a single base pattern can become very versatile by changing ears/tails/ect. If you want to make more complex or realistic stuff, that's a long, hard road fraught with pattern testing. If it interests you I can link a bunch of resources on plush pattern design.

The end of the URL got cut off. Here's the full one
https://howtoadult.com/make-new-teddy-10982.html

That looks way better! I do think the claw impression could stand to be a tiny bit oblong, rather than just a circle.

I'd be interested to hear about the process you use to make these.

Anatomy of A Doll by Susanna Oroyan has some information about needle sculpting, though it's for human-like dolls that are generally made from different materials than teddies.

Here's some online tutorials as well:
https://www.deviantart.com/thisusername … -214111813
http://dragontry.com/?p=540
http://sfmclothdollswithattitude.blogsp … orial.html

Edit:
Oh and here's one more specifically for eyes
https://www.deviantart.com/dot-doll/art … -496330994

I've had that same problem. Try gathering the edge where the muzzle and face meet.

I just heard back from Sassy Bears! She'd gotten caught in a hacking scam and had to close and reopen all her accounts. I'm glad to hear she's ok.

(Sorry, this is probably not the right subforum for this question, but I wasn't sure where else to post it)

Sassy Bears hasn't answered my correspondence in the past 2 months. Has anyone heard from them? I hope nothing serious happened to the site owner.

That's incredible!

I'd like to see some photos of plushies made with it. I'd be happy to hear any other fabric suggestions you guys have. I'm looking for sparse fabrics in the 1/4" to 1/2" pile range.

I want to make some tarantulas somewhere between lifesize and 2x size, and I need a fabric that is sparse, but has an evenly distributed pile, unlike the clustered together fibers of sparse mohair. Here are some photos of the look I'm trying to replicate.
https://www.tarantupedia.com/cache/com_ … 7758d8.jpg
https://www.tarantupedia.com/cache/com_ … e93294.jpg

Sucking at something is the first step to being good at it! (I have to tell myself this A LOT haha) Also thread sculpting is a pretty forgiving technique since you can always just cut the thread and start over. What size needle did you use for it? Without a gigantic needle it's a miserable undertaking. I use a 5" needle for it, but I mostly make minis. For bigger plushies I've seen needles up to 12"long!