Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

How do you get eyes to look realistic and appealing? Like when I see other plush animals, even the factory production line ones, they eyes look real and have 'character' . But even though I buy the really expensive glass eyes, I can't seem to get this look. The eyes I've used are ones on a wire loop that you inset/sew into the head. Can you get some that just glue on? Is this where I'm going wrong?

I stuffed my second plush dog with these. They add a squidgy feel to whatever you put them in, which I guess is why they use them to put in reborn babies.  The less tight you pack them, the more 'floppy' the body is. I put them in a pouch I made, then put this in the body, so that they'd 'flop' without clumping up in other parts of the dog .

They are oblique/clear, it's quite difficult to explain exactly what they feel like, the best I can think of is that their like little blobs of silicone, and although they seem ultra light when you pick a few up, they really add weight to your plushie! They don't go that far IMO, I got a large freezer ziplock type 1kg bag of them, and have used up most of them in one 11" dog, certainly you wouldn't get more than one plushie out of a bag, unless they were really small, or you used them sparingly. I wouldn't fill the whole body up again, too costly, but they work out well if you just put a small pouch in the belly of the plush though, as it makes it realistically squashy. And no you can't cut them in half, you'd be there forever and a day .

Hi all, sorry I've not been on here for a while, I didn't just get the answers I wanted and run off, I've just been very busy. Since making the plush pom, I have made another one, this time experimenting with the stuffing to make it squishy instead of poseable! And a customer who brings her dog for grooming saw them and asked me to make a copy of her dog! To say I was astonished is an understatement, I've made two plushies after never sewing more than the old button and somebody is asking for a custom! Crazy!

Anyway, I agreed and have already sewn the body up. I inherited a sewing machine off my dear late gran, an old style Singer, its a wonderful, simple easy machine to work, especially as I had no previous experience using one, and instead of taking weeks, I had the body sewn up in two afternoons! This little dog is different to my others as it's made of mohair not faux fur. It looks so realistic and the backing is firmer so its much easier to work with. Its  also a lot more expensive  . I am currently waiting for some armature from CRs crafts and decided to do the ears and tail whilst waiting. The dog is a greyish color but with darker/black ears, and I got wondering how to apply this, because I had such difficulty getting hold of a color and length match in mohair, buying different mohair wasn't an option. Out of curiosity I coloured an offcut using a permanent black marker pen and so far, it looks ok, hasn't gone sticky, seems dry and not smudging.  But it got me wondering how is fabric actually shaded, google bought up Copic markers, but I can't find any info on how to use them. Do you just draw directly on to the fabric? If so what stops it rubbing off, or do they dry on their own in an hour or so? Or will the pen I've been using be fine to use? Any advice, as always is much appreciated!

Here is a pic of my second plushie pom, no armature this time, it's filled and weighted like a reborn baby doll for weight and cuddle-ability. It's made out of the coyote faux fur off faux throw.com:

Appologies for not posting sooner, I've been crazy busy with work!

I have finally completed my Pomeranian, the very first plush, indeed pretty much the first real thing I have ever sewn before in my life! I am extremely happy with the way she's turned out, and I have to say I'm rather proud of her too, as generally the most I've sewn before was the odd button or hole in a top, so to do a dog, is to me, quite an achievement, I have literally amazed myself that I could even do it :D.

So meet Lily, named after what I intend to call my real pom when I finally get one:

I have really enjoyed making her, and want to say a massive thank you to everyone who gave me help and advice, because without all your assistance I wouldn't have even known where to start on bringing a dog to life from a piece of fabric. I have learnt techniques and crafts I'd never heard of, and didn't realise how addictive it is either! I've already started on Pom number 2!!

I will stick with these then, hopefully they will look even better once their fixed in, and possibly an eye socket scuplted for them.

I have a couple of questions on fixing the eyes:

Do I need to put white felt behind them?
Can I use a bradal or does it have to be an awl to poke a hole for the eye to go through?
Will any of these threads do?:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gutermann-Top … 3f0eaa8a9f

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10m-Strong-Li … 415ff388ed

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Waxed-Linen-t … 27dd4e9b3e

I got the replacement eyes today, so here's mark 2:

Their a MUCH better style and colour, and I think the size (12mm) is ok, but would like an expert opinion:D. Are they right or do I need a 14mm?

Thanks for the replies, I have sent them back and should get a replacement in a day or so, which will hopefully be right this time. I have now attached the ears, so I'll re stuff the face properly and see how it looks.

The reason I've not completely stuffed the head, is because I'm not sure if the eyes and nose are easier to attatch with or without the stuffing first. I'll clip the fur down a bit and try once more, but I really don't think those eyes are going to work. I think the pupil is also too small, making them look stare-y instead of soft and natural :P.

Zhennijen, is that a real dog or a plush one? If its a plush, it's amazingly real! And that's how I wanted the eyes to look, whereas the ones I've got look so odd!

I'm going to try swapping them for 12mm ones in a darker colour. The face hasn't been clipped down yet (there's also no stuffing in the muzzle as I just put some in the head to try the eyes out), it needs clipping where the nose is, and the face needs the fur shorter, but I was going to leave it until it's finished then clip it all together. Do you think it would be better if I clipped the face before then?

I bought some glass eyes from Eyedentity and they arrived today. However, when I inserted them (their on wire) to try them out, they don't look right - at all :(. So I cut some out of an old plush dog to try instead, and they don't look right either. Even the eyes on the cheapest plush dog I found look right. Can anyone explain what I'm doing wrong, or why they don't look right please? Their 16mm, are they too big?

Thank you for the replies :). I am no longer using the taxidermy eyes I'd planned to, as when I phoned up to order them, they said they would be far too heavy. Instead I've bought some from here: http://www.eyedentity.co.uk, which have either a straight wire, or a loop on the back. How do I fix these in place please?

I'm at the point of filling and stuffing my plushie, but I'm not sure if I should put the eyes in first. How exactly do you fix eyes in place? Especially taxidermy eyes, which are what I'm thinking of using, because its for a dog, not a teddy?

Wire frame is going well. And I've got the steel shot and wadding for stuffing, but before I do, does the body need to be empty to fix the eyes in? In fact how exactly do you fix the eyes in? Especially those taxidermy ones without a loop?

Ok I've measured the nose, and it is roughly the same size as a 5 pence piece. I also measured it up against the nose on a plush dog bag I have, which is 19mm x 15mm, and its a very good match at that :thumbsup:. That is as accurate as I can get it I'm afraid, because its soft and squashy whilst trying to measure :P.

I've started on the wire frame, I called into a hardware shop and got a roll of galvanised garden wire, £1.69 for 20 meters! Way cheaper than the aluminium craft wire which is £6 odd for only 5 meters!

Thanks SilverClaw

Don't worry about it, I didn't expect to have sewn it up so quickly, given I've only done a bit each night! I'm at work at the moment, but I'll get you the nose size later on today.

I've had a look at the fibrefill, do you get quite a lot for a kilo, or would 2kg be better, along with this:

https://www.mohairbearmakingsupplies.co … rylic-felt

for inside the ears?

Hi all, an update and some more questions!

I have now finished sewing the dog pattern as far as I can go for now, leaving the back of the legs, feet and back open, and minus ears and tail:

SilverClaw, I can now give you the actual size of the nose area if you need it, it's pretty small and I've not clipped it to shape yet

So I now want to order the filling, but there's so many I'm lost! Is there a stuffing that holds posture and more weight to it, as opposed to pillow type stuffing? And armature wire -which size is best?

The filling needs to bulk out the fur, but how do I stuff it well enough to still be able to close it afterwards, when it's got steel shot, wadding, wire and lockline in it?!

And if anybody has any suggestions for the bit I've done, please tell

I've just started to make the armature this afternoon, and found the cable wiring is too thick to shape or hold together. So I've decided to use some actual armature wire instead, so it's more pliable and the frame can be made in one piece, but there's different gauges/sizes and I'm not sure which one is right. Can anyone give any info on which size will be both workable and strong enough?

I've been at Crufts for the last few days and I got to see lots of poms, and hold one, so that's given me a good idea of what to aim for. Elli you were right, they are built like a chihuahua under all the fur and surprisingly light

I didn't think of the fact that I wouldn't be able to turn the fur  I think that like the ears, I will wait until I have the main body done, then I can see how it needs to be properly.

As a thought, if there's lockline in the tail, does there need to be wire as well to hold the pose? I'm intending on putting some fine wire in the ears, just to help them stay upright and in shape.

Thanks Elli Now its finer, I can see instantly what you meant about it being too bulky, it looked a bit like a German shepherd type shape:P 

I have done some test ears, but because the test dog's head is so small, they might look completely different with the thick fluffy fur, so I've decided to leave them until I've done the head properly. The tail though, I have had a go at:

It's very fine, I had a job to turn it the right way out! Not sure if its too fine to get the lockline type stuff in actually, or if it does, no other stuffing will fit with it.

Mark 2 - I have done the alterations so it looks more like what you suggested, have to say it looks much better, far less bulky/muscle-y :D:

Against the pattern:

I have also sewn up the muzzle, your right, it didn't need making smaller, by the time it's clipped down it will be small enough I think.

Do you think it looks better now, or does it still need a bit more alteration?

I'll leave the muzzle as it is then for now :). I never realised how difficult it is to find a good pic of a pom's body shape! These are the two best ones I've come across:

I'll try and pin it more into the shape you've shown, see if it looks better :).

I did consider cutting the pattern into more pieces, but as I've never done something like this before, I decided I'd be safer to use as few pieces as possible (less to go wrong!), and just ordered another quarter of fur :P. It was only £6 anyway so not a big hardship, but it would have only been £8 for a much bigger piece to start with - ah well you live and learn :D.

Yes my test dog is now done, I want to play about with the tail and ears a bit, but its complete in itself. I am very glad you told me to make one first, because apart from lining everything up properly and making sure it fits, the whole thing gave me so much practice and has given me confidence for the actual one. Here is my test dog:

And a close up of the face:

It's not made out of the best material, an old cheap t shirt because I didn't have anything else! Awful stuff to work with, it stretches terribly and curls up instead of laying flat when cut :P. I have purposely left the muzzle undone so far as I was trying to gauge it right, it needs to be smaller than what I altered it to on the pattern, and I think the right size is what is in the pic. I haven't ordered any wadding yet, so just to have a quick check I stuffed it with cotton wool balls and some socks, so if it looks odd and lumpy that's why!:lol: It's not the best looking thing, because I used a black marker and thread so I could clearly see my marks and stitches, but I am happy with how its turned out and think its a good shape, but if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions please say :).

Next step - need to make the wire for the inside!

Thanks for the stitching advice SilverClaw  :). Well the fur and thread has turned up, and the actual piece is much better than the sample, as bits of loose fluff doesn't shake out of it :D. However, I have underestimated how big a piece to get as I forgot that the fur has to flow a certain way, and I can't get all the pattern pieces the right way up on the one piece, so I've had to order another one :rolleyes:. I am however, going to at least cut one side out over the weekend (although I am going to practice cutting the sample first!), and I know not to just cut it with scissors or the actual fur will cut, but how exactly do you cut it with a craft knife/art scalpel? Surely putting a knife through it will also cut the fur, or at least put slices into it making it uneven? Also, seeing as it can't be stitched until I get the other piece, is it ok to cut it and leave it, or will it start to unravel like a loose thread on a sweater would?

PayPal is fine for me, but I really don't mind, whichever is easiest for you :). If you let me know the total I'll get it sent to you straight away :).

I didn't realise the steel shot was that small, I was imagining something like mini marbles :D. I've just ordered the quarter of fur needed, so as soon as it turns up I can finally get properly started.  I'm a bit unsure of what thread to use though:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Coats-Nylbond … 2c7481144e

Is this going to be strong enough, or is there some special thread used for bear/doll making?

SilverClaw that would be amazing if you could do that, thank you so so much for the offer :). A black silicone nose would be perfect, and I could pay you by PayPal if you want? Obviously I'm a while off from needing it, but I will pay you upfront if you wish? Etsy is fine by me, if you can explain to me how to use it as I've never actually done so (I'm assuming its a bit like eBay?).

Steel shot is a great choice as its nice and heavy, but will there be space to fit it , especially in the paws by the time the wire and wadding is also in place?