Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Thank you for that, I will do some experimenting and give it a go with my spare fabric. I have both watercolor paints and pencils so I'll try both out 

Is it possible to make paw pads out of polymer/Fimo clay or Sculpey and fix them securely to mohair at all, to give 3D doggy paws? Or will it be make the paws hard and breakable?

Nail polish I never thought of that! Thank you!   Does it have to be actual polish though or will nail strengthened varnish do the same job? As I already have a bottle of that, but I've never seen anywhere selling clear nail polish

The last nose I coated with PVA glue which worked, however I noticed if it got wet it would peel off. So I'm wondering if there's a better option for varnish to give a shiny wet doggy nose look. I had though of gloss modelling varnish but I'm not sure if it will work on rubber, or what else will. The nose is one of the 'soft touch' rubber ones off mohairbearsupplies.

Are art markers different to copics/pros then? And by water colors do you mean paints or pencils? I'm guessing the detergent is fairy liquid, but what's a wetting agent (other than water? )? ive got some spare mohair offcuts so I'm going to try and practice shading on them.

Awesome, thanks for the replies, I get how it works now . I've just received my order today, perfect amount with some left over just in case :D, and the mohair is just beautiful! So soft and gorgeous colors - now I can't wait to get started on my next project!  

How do you shade with oil paints? I tried shading using Promarkers, copics, permanent pen, watercolours, you name it I tried it, none of them worked as they wouldn't stop rubbing off on your hands as soon as you touched it, so I gave up trying to shade :(.

I am trying to order some mohair off Probear, but I don't understand the measuring they have . It says to order in steps of 5cm - what exactly does that mean? And how much would I need to order to get a fat half, or two fat quarters (whichever works out cheapest)? Thanks

Wow I've not checked here for a bit, due to it being Christmas and everything, but thank you so much for all your lovely kind comments :rose:. I was feeling a bit down about it to be honest, it knocked my confidence, sort of "did I go wrong somewhere?", but the comments here has helped me gain it back, and certainly taught me a valuable lesson for the future.

And something else that has helped me gain my confidence.... I sold my little dog!!! I couldn't believe it, I took her down the town to show someone who I'd gotten talking to the day before, and whilst waiting for them, someone saw her in my bag and bought her on the spot as a Christmas present for their wife, who I was told would adore her as she collects dolls and such. I got £180 for her, not as much as I'd originally asked, but it's my first sale, you live and learn,  I'm happy enough with it, it's enough to cover the cost of the materials, plus a bit extra, and has given me a boost to make more. So as soon as Ive paid up, I'm going to order more fabric and get started on the next one!

A huge thank you for all your help and advice over the last 12 months, I've learnt to do stuff this year that I never thought I could, and discovered something I really enjoy doing. xxx

I've finally finished my little dog! I set her all out and wrapped up ready for my customer then phoned them to collect and gave the price for everything - £300. All ok and agreed for them to fetch this weekend. Then they rang back a few minutes later, saying that it was far too expensive, they couldn't afford it, it was going to be a Xmas present for their dog and they thought I'd said it would only be £40-50. I told them it was no way that cheap, that the cost of all the material and stuff was £160 without my time, skill and efforts to actually make it!! And when they originally said, 5 months ago, that they wanted one, I said that I didn't know how much it would cost and they said that they didn't care as it was worth it. So now I'm £150 odd out of pocket and all my efforts were for nothing . I'm quite annoyed too, I shelled out on the stuff in good faith as they'd said 'money no object' and now it comes to paying they don't want to fork out more than £40. Im not the sort to take action over something like this, but out of interest, where do you stand in such a case? What can/do you do when a customer refuses to cough up? Is there even anything you can do?

Here is the finished pup, I'm so pleased with her, just upset though that my efforts were in vain :

The iPad camera is not that great quality, her nose isn't as 'big/blocky' as that!

Got my copics today and tried them out. They are much much better, but there's still some staining left with them. I just can't understand why I'm having such a problem, could it be because the colors I'm using are a dark grey and black? Or am I not doing something right? I get the marker, color a patch of scrap mohair as if I was coloring a picture then leave it to dry. This is starting to bug a bit, the dog has to be finished by Sunday night, if I can't find a way to stop this staining, I'm giving up on the shading and it can go as it is. I just don't get why I'm having such a problem when everyone else's seems fine .

Well, after trying several methods and getting nowhere, I finally contacted the company who sold me the mohair to start with, thinks perhaps it had been treated with something that was stopping it absorb dyes. They told me that Promarkers aren the same as copics as their not really designed for fabric, and not to use them on mohair. So now I'm waiting for some copics instead and will see how those go!

Nope still not working . I've tried using the blender pen, and whilst it's better, it's still rubbing off on my hands. If you make a teddy bear and shade it, do you get staining on your hands after holding it? What are prismacolor markers? Seeing as the Promarkers aren't working, I'm thinking of trying copic markers, but their double the price and I'm concerned they won't work either. I've been down to a craft store who tried a permanent black marker and it still won't stop staining. Even a piece I've let air dry for 2-3 weeks is still coming off when touched. Just to clarify, the marker is staying on the mohair, but it's staining if you touch it.

I have tried hushing a hairdryer after colourings makes no difference, and I tried your tip of wetting the mohair first, and although it's better. It's still staining my hands if I pet or ruffle the fur after. There must be some way to stop this, I can't sell someone a £300 dog that after holding, your hands look like you've been scrunching up newspaper!! Help!!

EDIT: I've also tried watercolour pencils, their even worse, and watercolours which aren't sticking.

I'm not sure, but after trying it, I wouldn't like to rely on glue alone to hold the eye or the cord in place! It may get work on plastic eyes, but it was doing nothing for the glass ones, and as I suspected, it was extremely difficult to not get glue on the eye itself, even using a cocktail stick to apply it :P. I did thread the cord through two holes either side of the eye so that the cord is fixed into the head, but when I found it wouldn't glue in place, the only thing I could think of was to sew it in, using black thread in the most unnoticeable points so you can't actually see the thread. It seems to have worked anyway, the cord is tightly fixed on, and as an added bonus it's tightened the eye and held that in place as well.

I also experimented with putting some tippex on with a cocktail stick,and it works quite well, it's white enough on the glass, dries instantly (it was drying as I was applying it), and using another stick I could scrape off any extra or that had splashed on by mistake. I like the effect the cord gives though, so I'm going to keep practising with it!

I want to shade parts of the dog I'm making to make it closer resemble the real thing, so I've bought some Promarkers.  I've had a go with them on a scrap offcut, it was quite easy to do, and although it went a bit scrunchy, after brushing it it softened up. However, if I rub a fingertip over it, it's leaving staining behind, which is no good as the dog isn't designed to just sit in a glass case, never touched. It's meant  to be like doggy version of a reborn, needs to be handled with care, but still holdeable/ cuddly/ play around with without it falling to bits . Am I missing something out with the markers? Do you have to heat them with a hairdryer or something to set them, and if so,is it safe to heat mohair? Or will it dry out itself in a few days?

Well this is certainly a learning curve . After pulling the cord through holes I made just by the eyes, I tried the glue method using a cocktail stick. It didn't work, it wouldn't stick to the glass of the eye, and I didn't trust that it would hold, so I sewed it in instead, and it's now safely attached. I now see why people say sew rather than glue if possible :P.

Wow you eyes are amazing!! So real looking! how do you do the whites? I love the idea of using wire! Am I right in thinking if you make a loop on either end, you can then sew/tie it in like an eye loop? I'm wondering if there's any way to poke a length of wire through the leather cord somehow to do this?

Rikkisbears - you are so lucky to have gotten hold of one of those dogs! I look every so often and there's never anything there, and the one time I did find one it went for almost the same as it would new anyway!

Those dogs are awesome, I honestly have trouble telling if their real or not! I did originally contact that artist asking for a custome made Pom, but sadly the cost was out of my price range .

Having read that eyelids thread, I'd like to try it out, I don't really want to use just glue as I'd worry about it coming apart after I've sold the dog! But I'm not sure how to work it, my dog hasn't got an open neck, the head and body is all one piece so sewing the cord into the neck would be almost impossible. I'm thinking of making a tiny hole either side of the eye, threading each end of a short piece of cord through then glueing it onto the fabric around the eye, as close as possible, with fabric glue, but again I'm not sure if it would work or not.

Has anybody used Hemline fabric glue? (a pink tube in a little pink and white box, looks like something you'd get at the pharmacy!!) if so, is it any good Nd does it dry clear?

Sorry, If I've misunderstood, but do you mean to actually sew the cord in? As I haven't got a needle with a hole big enough to thread it, and if I try to actually sew it I'd imagine it will look awful. If I make a hole and pull it through by hand, how do I secure it? My brother has very helpfully told me not to glue anything to glass as nothing will stick to it for long.

As an experiment earlier, I removed the eyes I had put in my custom dog and placed a set of plain black glass eyes instead and they instantly look much better. I borrowed a black leather necklace cord and wrapped it into a loop around the eye and WOW the alteration is immense, it actually looks like a proper eye instead of a plushie (this dog is meant to be a lifelike replica for someone so I have to get the eyes to look right, as I think eyes are one of the main things that 'sells' a doll/bear/animal to someone). The black eyes I'm using aren't taxidermy ones, they've got a tiny wire loop on the back, however, as the eyes I put in before were safety eyes with a bigger back peg than these loops are, there's a hole right where they need to go, so I'm not sure how to sew them in securely now?

I'm thinking of using a dab of tippex on a cocktail stick to put tiny white lines on the side of the cord (don't think it will stick on the glass) to give the impression of eye whites, but is there anything better/more effective? I'm thinking of tippex as I know it sticks to fabric from my school days, when there was a mad craze to color bags/cloth pencil cases/clothes/shoes in the stuff!!

I will get some leather jewellry cord then and give it a go. How do I fix it in place? And if I try taxidermy eyes, will fabric glue fix them on?

This is the sort of look I'm trying to get:

http://www3.telus.net/pococritters/arch … my0085.JPG

They look like plain black eyes, but when I put plain black eyes on one of my dogs, they don't look right . The site I got that from, I read that the artist used ultrasuede to make eyelids? And white felt behind the eye, but again, mine just looked cartoony instead of realistic when I tried putting felt. I bought a whole bunch of different eyes, none of them look like the ones on the dog in the link. Help!

WOW!! I'm really glad you did take the plunge because your critters are awesome!! The difference just folding that fabric over is astonishing, I'm going to experiment with they eyes I've ordered on some offcuts of fabric when I get them, and I'll definitely try folding it like that! If you cut a slit into the fabric where the eye is going to sit, how do you stop it sinking into the stuffing behind though?  And I love your shading, did you just color it on with markers, or paint it?

Realistic doggy eyes are what I'm after. I did as an experiment cut some white kitchen towel up and scrunched some tiny pieces behind the eyes of the two dogs I've already made, and wow it really makes a difference! Though I'm having trouble working out where exactly where should be white, it has shown quite obviously that the white part is needed, so I've ordered some white felt and a few pairs of different eyes from mohairbearsupplies to try out in my custom dog, see which look best. I've also read through some of the eyes section of the library, there's loads there including methods I've never even heard of before and some I haven't a clue with (like needle felting), but I think I'll try and master a basic white section first before trying any of the more complex ideas!

Thanks for your reply . How do you needle felt something? And no I haven't got any eye white showing, as I'm not sure how to achieve it, would a circle of white felt behind the eye work? As for shading I'm still working on that, if you use those marker pens do you just leave them dry on their own, or use a hairdryer or something?