Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Shelli,
I am guessing here that you have a leather foot pad and a mohair leg going together, is that correct?  Have you tried having the mohair against the feed dogs and the leather up facing the needle?  Are you changing to your leather needle and then changing back to the regular needle?  I don't use a leather needle on my machine.  I sew everything with just the regular needle.  I make my stitches a little longer for the leather.  I think I also remember that you use the mastex thread on your machine, try changing to regular old cotton sewing thread and see what happens.  I had a machine that did this type of thing when ever the needle got dull.  I will try to find my trouble shooting book for sewing machines.  Stay calm, breath in the good sewing machine vibes, breath out the bad sewing machine vibes. 
Donna

Laura and Deb,
I am glad to hear that the Ultimate stuffing tool is helping.  I saw a big difference once I found it and started using it.  If anyone is interested, there is a thread with pictures if you do a search for Ultimate stuffing tool.  You can just hit my email button is you need more info.

One of the things I have found that really helps also for noses is to do them first thing in the morning in front of a window or outside (weather permitting).
Donna

Duff,
I don't do minis but have done a few little mice to go with my cats.  You can do a ladder stitch on the tail, stitching it on the outside.  Another idea I have been toying with is to needlefelt a tail and then attach to my mouse.
Donna

Jenny,
As all your creations he is magnificent!  May I ask what medium you used for the white around the eyes? 
Donna

Daphne,
I used this method when I first started making bears and was using synthetic.  I hated it, it was so hard to sew and you had to be so careful to get all the layers.  I have not done it since I started using mohair but now that you have brought it to mind it would greatly speed up the process of getting the head finished.  It would need to be a design that I was comfortable with the ear placement being permanent.  I think I am ready to go back and revisit this technique using mohair.  I have a friend that designed the bear head with the ears as part of the head.  I was amazed at how quickly she had her bear head finished.  After it was stuffed and the eyes, nose and mouth added she would go back and take a couple scuplting stitches to the ears.  They looked great.  It sounds to me like this book is going to have you trying some new techniques.  Go for it!
Donna

Daphne,
I use it for all of my bunnies!  I have started using if for my four and five inch bears.  You will want to trim the seams before stitching this nose or you will have wild hairs  coming out of the side bottom of the nose.  If you want to get really fast with the nose you can put the ultrasuede or felt on the tip of the nose before you stitch it then you have your template already in place.  The way my seams end up, I have a little of a bump where the nose is which I like.  I like to have a little of a raised nose on my bears.  Thinking about it now, I don't know why I don't do it this way all the time!  I guess I am just a creature of habit, I learned the other way and that is what I continue to do most of the time.  Try it on a head that you could use as a pin or ornament so that if you don't like it you are not wasting too much mohair.
Donna

The bear he donated to the Katrina auction brought in $10,000 at the San Diego auction.  And I was impressed with that amount.  Wow!
Donna

I just wanted to let anyone who might be interested in donating a bear or critter to the Ronald McDonald House Charities that they are still accepting donations.  The bears need to be to Art Rogers by Feb. 15.  If you need his address just let me know.  The bears will be on display at the Eugene Field House & St. Louis Toy Museum, 634 S. Broadway, St. Louis, Missouri from Feb. 29-March 24.  They will also be on ABCUnlimited Productions website until the auction.  The auction will be March 24 at the St. Louis Marriot West, 660 Maryville Center Dr.  St. Louis, Missouri at 8:00pm.  The auction is being held in conjunction with the ABC St. Louis Bear show.
The proceeds from the auction will go towards playground equipment for the Ronald McDonald House there in St. Louis.
Thanks,
Donna

Jenny,
I just love all of your faces!  How many pattern pieces does Hamish have for his face?
Donna

Debbie,
Can you wear surgical gloves while you work with the mohair?
Donna

I hope someone here can help.  Another bearmaker and I are having a major difference of opinion as to the Toby Nominations.  She is convinced that anyone who pays their money and sends in their pictures is considered a Toby nominee.  My understanding of it is, that only the ones chosen by the judges get a nomination.  The ones that appear in the magazine for us to vote on are the only ones that are nominees.  Please someone who has entered and or read the rules please end this debate for us.  It has been going on far too long and needs to be cleared up.  I am worried that bears are being misrepresented to collectors as Toby nominees when they are not.
Thanks,
Donna

Do you have any suggestions for removing needlefelting from a mohair face?  Does it destroy the cotton backing where it has been needlefelted?  First it was a needlefelted mouth, then it became a chin also.  Now it has to go, it looks awful!
Thanks for any help!
Donna

Try rubbing arnica gel or oil on what ever hurts.  It won't hurt you but it really helps me.  There are also pills you can take and then there are the leaves and flowers for making tea.  I would put it on about 10-15 minutes before you are going to do something that you know will cause you pain.  It may get you through the cutting before the pain becomes a problem.   Is there anyone close by that could do the cutting for you?
Donna

Winney,
There is a knitted sweater pattern in the current Teddy Bear Review.  Maybe someone on here could scan it for you.  I would but we can't get the scanner to install. 
Donna

Letha,
Are you using sinew or upholstery thread?  If you use upholstery thread for any sewing, you need to leave around 1/4 inch tail behind the knot or the knot will untie itself.  I like to set my eyes the German way which Armella Dana taught me.   Put your thread on the loop of the eye and tie a knot close to the loop.  Go in the front face of the bear where the eye is down to the back of the neck close to the disc.  Take a small stitch about 1/8 back to the hole that you came into at the eye hole on the front of the face.  Separate out your threads and pull the eye in tight to where it has a nice deep socket.  Then tie at knot on each side of the eye top and bottom.  I then tie an overhand knot and sink it behind the eye.  By doing it this way you can see that you are setting the eyes at the same depth.  I hope this has made sense.
Donna

Daphne,
I'm just thinking out loud here, since I haven't done this before.  Would the felting hold up to the friction of rubbing the cold wax onto it?  I would try the method where you melt the wax and brush it on.  Again, I would worry about it holding up to the buffing action.  My guess is that as long as you were not real heavy handed in the buffing, it should work.
Donna

Marie,
I got your message and have it in my bag to go to the show.  I hope she will at least get ahold of you and let you know that she will take care of the situation.
Donna

If you have a steamer, I would try that first.  If no steamer, do what Estelle recommended.
Donna

Hi all,
The owner of Sierra Meadows will be at the San Diego show Jan. 14-15.  I'll make a point to go by her table and let her know how her poor customer service is impacting repeat business.  I doubt that it will do any good since I have had these discussions with her before but it won't hurt to try.  If you want to send me a private message to give to her, I would be glad to print it off and take it to her.  At least I would know that she read it if I stood there and watched her read it.  Doesn't mean you will get your product any faster but at least we can say we tried.
Donna

Jenn,
I want you to know that I am so proud of how you are handling this situation.  You are a much bigger person than what I think I would be in your place.  I am going to be gone for a few days but will be thinking about you.  Can you pop in here and let us all know that you are okay?!?  Thank you for bringing this to the board.  I think sometimes we get in a hurry or have things going on in our lives that can make us not always the best communicators.  I will stop and think before I make comments that could be taken as something other than encouraging and helpful.  Also we must also think of all the lurkers that are reading the posts but never jumping in.  I must be vigil that what I am putting into print does not come across as being critical of anothers work.  Thank you for sharing and thank you for all that you add to this board.
Donna

I can't remember if I started making bears in 1995 or 96.  I was working in a bear store and I got to do all the repairs.  You can't believe how many manufactured bears come with problems.  I got to meet some of the artists and enjoyed seeing all the artist bears.  I was hooked!    It wasn't long and my wonderful hubby paid for a class from Jennifer Laing for a birthday present and sent me with cash to buy mohair.  And it was all a surprise.  What a man!  I was way over my head in the class but it got me headed in the right direction as a beginner.  I still try to take classes, you learn so much, not only from the person teaching the class but from the rest of the people taking the class.  It seems like there is always a new technique to learn. 
Donna

Jenn,
I am so sorry this happened to you.  I would be so proud of you if you could go back to this board where this happened and make it public knowdlege what happened.  You would be the big person here not those saying and doing unkind things.  This gives the entire bear industry a bad name as far as I am concerned.  If you could do it in a matter of fact presentation so that it is known why you are leaving that board it might help prevent it happening to another person.  If this board is sponsored by someone like this one is Intercal, I would make it known to them how inappropiately their help advisors have behaved.  You hang in there kid and know that the majority of bear people are warm and cuddly people.
Bear Hugs,
Donna

Shelli,
Fels-Naptha is an old time laundry bar soap.  You dampen the area to be treated then rub the area with the bar.  You can also grate off about 1/4 cup to add to your washer.  It has many uses in the garden and around the house.  We took it and a wash cloth with us when our son was small.  It was the only thing that we found that helped keep him from being covered in poison oak.  Now that he is 25 he still keeps it handy when he has been out for a hike.   It also will work on stains that have already been laundered.
Donna

Hi Jane,
You could try Fels-Naptha.  I think it might be easiet to just cut out two new paw pads then ladder stitch them on over the existing pads.
Donna

Thanks Matilda,
That Kitty is made from deer hide that was dyed.  I had never sewn deer before and while I was making him I swore I was never going to sew on deer again.  Now that he is finished, I am thinking I may have to make another one.
Donna