Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

I have seen a few posts from some of you that have mentioned you are also spinners. I am just beginning in that venture and am looking for a good source for raw wool. I have been to ebay and theres lots of wool but not sure what to get. I am looking for something to mix with my dog hair to spin. I have been taking classes and the dog hair spins better with the raw wool. If anyone can point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it. Plus would like a site where theres info and ect for newbies in spinning and fibers and weaving.
Sheri

I have seen a few posts from some of you mentioning you are spinners. I am just starting to spin and am wondering what raw wool works best for any of you? I am spinning dog hair and find it does better mixed with a little raw wool. I went to ebay and theres LOTS of wool but dont know what one is best to use, any help is appreciated. Also where is a good site to go and ask spinning and weaving questions?
Sheri

great critter, I want to try needlefelting a face onto one of my teddies, so mayn projects!!!
Sheri

thanks for the compliments  I am hooked, a very good thing to do while kicked back in the recliner and watching TV, or listening, I hit my fingers a few times when looking away, not a thing to do  :redface:
Sheri

I use the undercoat from brushing them, its finer. I used wool as the base then needle felted the dog hair over that, wasnt hard actualy. felted right up. I am in the process of spinning asome dog hair too. spins up nice and with the colors of my dogs it makes it interesting shade wise. I'm going to weave some scarves out of them.
Sheri

didnt see the dog come thru so will do it again

I finished my first felted items. I did the teddy first then the dog using my dogs hair. tried to make it look like an australian shepherd lying down but it looks like a collie, sheltie ect.

Is this the stuff you can iron and it makes a beautiful shimmery fabric? I've looked for that stuff in our local craft stores but guess I'll need to order it. wonder if ebay would have it.

I have been using  celophane , wire and glue then heat and that makes beautiful wings, love that technique ovetr the liquid clay.
Sheri

I went to the craft store yesterday and bought some different stuff and did some experimenting. I got some liguid fimo decorating gel, they didnt have liquid sculpey but this fimo is about the same I think. I made a wire frame of a wing and put the liquid fimo on it then sprinkled lots of glitter on them and baked, they are great, nice and sturdy and the glitter melted into the fimo. another thing I found was some Deco art liquid rainbow paint n peel, I took some of that wire mesh stuff and layed it out on some glass then poured some of the paint n peel on it, it has to dry and this AM it was a nice sturdy wing, I dont think by itsself it would be sturdy enough thats why you would have to use something as a backing but it is transparent so thats why I used the wire mesh. I also got some gallery glass and found a butterfly mould in the candy section at the craft store, I poured some of the gallery glass into the mold but as of this AM its still not dry so will let you know how that turns out. I also poured some paint n peel on a piece of glass just to see how it turns out, you might be able to use it like the liquid fimo and make an wire form then pour inside it but dont know if it would stick to the wire or not. but so far I like the fimo best.
Sheri

I have some bolts and lock nuts here of my husbands I was messing with, my question is.... if you use the bolt and lock nut wouldnt you not be able to get it tight cause the locknut will not go past the end, other words it wont tighten down to the disk? or am I doing it wrong, I can see where the set screw would tighten but not with the bolt???

Can I use the ones my husband has or are there different ones, these look the same except the disks instead of being the hard board they are metal. But the bolts and lock nuts are the same I'm sure.
Sheri

here is a photo of the plastic bottle butterflies. you can leave the beads from the center off and fold the wings in the middle, they fold great then glue to your angel. I did a quick search for this book and didnt find it, I bought mine at Ben Franklins years ago, it is wonderful and has a lot of patterns for butterflies and dragonflies and some hummingbirds.
Sheri

you dont have to use glass paints, in reading the instructions here is how you paint them, you use the gallery glass liquid leading to outline the wings and do the inside lines then on the underside of the wing use metalic fold art or sparkles folk art paints, then when painted and dry you coat the underzside where you did the painting with gold or silver metalic folk art paint. I will take a photo of a butterfly from the book and post it. they are beautiful.
Sheri

I used the same pattern for my first bear. I sew from the nose tip to under chin and end at neck. this I do by machine then I sew the gusset in by hand starting at the nose, you take the gusset rounded end is the nose part, fold it in half and mark center of gusset then start sewing up one side first, starting at nose and center of the gusset sew all the way over nose over top of head and to the neck. You adjust as you go to make sure the gusset fits then go to the other side of the gusset and do the same thing. the flat edge at the one end is the bottom of the neck part. I dont know about the extra piece for the neck, I didnt do this part, I wanted to understand the pattern as it was for my first one. I'm new to this myself so if my inst. are hard to understand maybe someone else could help you out.
good luck and dont give up, once you7 get the hang of it you will be addicted.
Sheri

I found the book that has the plastic bottle technique, its actualy for butterflies but you can use the idea for angel wings. its called Magical butterflies by donna Manchester its put out by Plaid. the pictures are wonderful, you can make some beautiful wings!!!
Sheri

I used needle nosed pliers to bend the cotter pin. Are there instructions somewhere for the lock nut joints on how to do them?
Sheri

wooohooo!!!! love these bears! My mind is just flying with different ideas for bears. Here is my second bear, did a panda with some kind of synthetic stuff. I used the cotter pin technique for joints. What do most of you use? The limbs seem to be way to loose and floppy this way or are they suppose to be like that? I bent the cotter pin as close as I could to the disk, what about those plastic child safe joints, they look like they would be more stable?

This bear was a little easier cause the fur was shorter than the first one I did, that makes a big difference when it comes to having to trim the muzzle. I would like to try some real fur, there are several places here for a variety of furs. I still need to work on the paws, I needle sculpted but they still dont look like how I picture them to be.
Sheri

oh my, I'm on a roll now. just remembered another way to do wings. I use to crochet those angles with the string and then put stiffener which I usualy used the white glue mixed with a little water, pinned out then let dry, you could sprinkle glitter on them and ect. oh gosh, now where did I put those patterns!!!
Sheri

hi Richy, I'm very new to bears myself and just finished my first one but I have had a lot of experience with patterns cause I have made lots of cloth dolls. One thing I have found is when I sew the head I do it by hand, this ensures a nice even fit for the middle gusset, then when stuffing dont over do it to the point of busting at the seams. also when I made my first it looked very strange with out the ears and nose as Cheryl stated. Dont get discouraged, it takes practice and your first always helps with your technique and where to make adjustments for what you want. Keep on sewing
Sheri

another technique I just remembered is wings made with plastic bottles, you draw the wing out on the bottle or cut the bottle first to get a square piece and lay over a pattern then trace with a permenant marker, the wing will be slightly curved, gives it kind of a natural look. Anyway then you paint the wing with glass paints, I like to use that porcelain paint you can bake in the oven on glass. cant think of the name right this minute, i'm sure any paint would do realy, I use gallery glass liquid leading or glitter paint by tulip in gold or silver to outline the wing and veins, paint inside the lining or use clear glue and sprinkle glitter on, the possibilities are endless. a great way to recycle 
Sheri

As soon as I get some made I will most definately post some photos. I am still in the palnning stages of trying to figure out how to put a loop in the glass for attaching. I might go to our glass place here and talk with the gla there about some ideas.
Sheri

forgot last step, after the glue has dried before I do the veins I cut out the wing shape, trim around the wire form then do the veins. I also leave a couple inches of wire out of the end of the wings that will attach to the doll or bear and I twist the wires togeather then cover that with a strip of the fabric with glue to hold it in place.
Sheri

How funny but I was just looking for wing ideas this AM. I found a site dont have the addy but if you do a search for bonnie McCaffery she has a video on her site you can watch about this craft tinsel and the irredesant colors melt, you could make some beautiful wings with that stuff. I am going to see if I can find any of that in our stores here in town.

Anothr technique I have done myself, dont know if someone else has ever done it but I take a pretty see thru glittery type of material and I take a piece of wire and form it into a wing shape, I then take clear drying glue, and put the glue all over the piece of material, place the wire on top of this and then place another piece of the see thru material over this, so the wire is sandwitshed in the middle of the fabrics. I let dry then use a glitter glue or a craft glue and make veins then sprinkle glitter over the glue. I hope this is clear enough of an explanation, if not please let me know and I will try and explain better.
Sheri

I posted a message but it never came thru so will try again, about the russian glass eye artist, I went to her site and was mesmerized with her eyes, just beautiful. I wanted to email her but didnt see an email addy?
Sheri

I have a kiln and have done some small jewelry type of glass fusing and ect. I have been thinkin on making my own glass eyes. I would have to make my own molds which wouldnt be hard but I am trying to figure out how to make a way to attach them, any ideas or would they work just having aflat back and gluing them on?

I saw a technique I want to try for some different type of eye, you take copper foil and with those scrap booking punches that have different designs you cut out a pattern from the foil, lay it onto the glass and cover it with a clear glass then fuse, so i could make eyes with stars in them or hearts, any other ideas?

I could even make designer jewelry for the bears with that technique, make some with bear paws or? I saw some posts on how some are tired of the same old accesories, I could do some special order glass items if you have any ideas. I also have some ceramic  clay, trying to figure out some cute accesories I can make with clay, Ideas please!!!!
Sheri

I am VERY new to teddy bear making, never made one yet but i have done several soft sculpted dolls. I skimmed thru the archives and didnt see what I was looking for, I'm sure its there but I could sit here for hours looking so instead of searching more I'll ask.
1. would like to find some good sources as books and instructions on bear making, the techniques I'd like to also learn are
2.  needle felting of the pads and muzzle,
3how to needle sculpt the paws,
4how to insert claws and made from what
5 what to use and how to use joints.
if you can give me a list of books, videos, website tuitorials I'd appreciate it. I am so amazed at the beauty of some of the bears I see made by different artists and would love to be able to make my own.
Sheri in cold snowy Alaska