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For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
When you draw your leg patterns is the seam allowance included? I always draw mine with it included so when I measure up for the footpad I remove a little bit for the seam allowance (make sure you include both seam allowances if you have a two piece leg or just one for a 1 piece leg). This may be why your footpads are a touch bigger then you need.
I have always loved your patterns. I am working on one of your eagle patterns at the moment.
What sort of thread are you using? You need a nice strong thread for sculpting so it won't break. You can always restuff the head, making sure not to stuff it it so firmly.
Cannot help you with gluing as I have never done it. I either use a cotter pin or a grub screw in the head joint. Grub screws are great - no gluing and no need to leave an opening in gusset. All you need is a ring spanner and an allen key to tighten.
I have recently been selling a few odds and ends on ebay. I had a few buyers who took more then three days to pay, one was almost a week. Not one of them let me know there would be a delay in payment (I actually ask in payment information to be contacted within 3 days). I always inform the seller if I am not paying for a few days, but some people don't. Hope it works out for you.
I finally started on mine last night. Hopefully I can get it finished before I go on holidays.
Monica Spicer has a good tutorial on her blog. http://teddybearstutorials.blogspot.com … bears.html
I am working on a pattern at the moment and I think I will turn it into a panda for this challenge. 
I have heard of a 50/50 mixture used as a fray stopper. Heres a good topic http://www.teddy-talk.com/viewtopic.php?id=4799
Hard for me to choose!! I have shopped at pretty much all of the online Teddy Bear shops here in Australia. You can add The Teddy Tree (http://www.teddytree.com.au/Teddy_Tree/About_Us.html) and Art of the Teddy Bears (http://www.theartofteddybears.com/prestashop/) to the above list. I do agree that some of the websites suffer from a serious lack of products syndrome!!! Its good to have a choice to shop from as they don't all stock the same products.
Welcome Back Judi 
Definitely one of Monica's. She has a pattern called Dufus which is very similar juts with an open mouth. Its an applied open mouth so you could just leave it off to get that look. http://www.monicasattictreasures.com.au/dufus%20p.html
Ohh good, im glad some of my cards made it. 
I have received one card so far. I am a bit behind due to illness, but I will try to post my cards out this week.
Hi. Whereabouts in Australia are you?? We have loads of Teddy Bear Supply Shops in Australia which sell both mohair and growlers. Here's the links to their websites..
Gerrys Teddy and Craft Design in QLD
Beary Cheap in QLD
Teddys Bits in Sydney
Art of the Teddy Bears in Sydney
Bear Essence Vic
Teddy Tree Perth
I need to get writing as well.
Just sent you a pm. 
Thankyou for sharing your photos
I have done both online bear making courses and in person workshops. I work full time so I can't get to as many in person workshops as I would like to. Online workshops are good because I don't have to travel anywhere to do it and you can work at your own pace and in your own time. It also allowed me to do workshops with artists in other countries I would never get a chance to meet otherwise. A good course needs to have lots of pictures with clear explanations. They don't need to involve a whole bear either. Courses on certain techniques are great as well.
The cons of course are that you don't get the same personal interaction with the teacher or other students.
I have paid between $30 and $60 for online workshops depending on the length of time and difficulty of the project.
Lisa Pay does a Schnauzer dog pattern.
I usually have at least three or four hanging around that I am actively working on. Since I don't sell my work I only sew when I am in the mood for it or if im making something for a competition. Having a few around means I can just work on what I feel like at the time.
With Cotter pins I like to insert them into the leg/arm, then stuff the leg/arm and close the opening. I don't attach them to the body until they are stuffed. Then I joint them to the body. This allows you to alter the position of your arm/leg without bending over the cotter pin. You could always insert the cotter pins and add some stuffing to the body to check joint position. This way you dont have to pull the whole joint out and start again.
I always mark my joint positions on my patterns. When I started designing my own bears I always tended to put my arms too high. I ended up having to study many of the patterns I had bought to see how joints should be placed.
Here's a couple of old topics on jointing..
http://www.teddy-talk.com/viewtopic.php?id=935
http://www.teddy-talk.com/viewtopic.php?id=2828
And ants eat Ultrasuede. Have seen this myself!
No back issue for me as I have a subscription. Not that I need any more back issues - I have a huge stack I got mostly from ebay. Got quite a surprise when I found a picture of my sister at the Sydney Teddy Bear Fair in this issue.
Mine arrived in the mail today. Hopefully the next one will be in three months and not six.
