Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

I've heard of cutting discs out of old margarine tubs and they work quite well. 

I *love* Piglet! He might have been meek, but he was always very sensible

I have an original Piglet from this pattern, bought from a second hand store in the early 70s

I couldn't resist posting these - they made me smile and glow all day!

The little bare naked baby wombat girl at the end was found by the side of the road after her mother had been killed by a car.  The wombat rescue center have had her for 2 months now and are taking great care of her.

Enjoy

Brenda
aka teddyretirementhome

Thank you to everyone for answering!

I've now got some good solutions to some challenges I've faced:

I can get rid of unsightly knots by threading for eyes & nose before I attach the head, voila!

The problems I've had with wreslting with the head just to get the needle fed into the right position to start the nose after I've already attached the head to the body can be avoided by doing it BEFORE I attach the head, if I want!

I've only made a few bears but my order has been: attach head to body (the angle of the head/neck can make a bear seem happy or sad), eyes, then nose and mouth, lastly ears.

I can now do the nose before the eyes, and yes, I can see that it will help greatly for eye placement!

Cheers and thanks everyone!

Ps if this message looks funny its cuz I've typed it with one finger on an iPhone while eating brunch on a patio :)

I just did 2 bears' noses w/o the eyes in place and they turned out great!

This might seem like a silly question but I thought I'd throw it out there to see what everyone does:

When it comes to doing your bear's face/head, Do you do the eyes, ears, or nose first?

I've been waiting for 3 weeks (!) for delivery of a larger pair of eyes for a 16" bear, and I feel like I really can't sew his ears on, or do his nose and mouth til I get his eyes and put them in!

I know that putting the eyes in can affect the tension of the material for the nose, so its best to do the nose after the eyes, but O feel like I can't do the ears either cos his face might change so much once he gets the right sized eyes!

(Um, I think I'm also a litttle OCD) 

Cheers

Brenda
teddyretirementhome
aka woo bears

Beautiful!

Wa't a face! 

Your bears or others in your hug - do you carry them around and cuddle them sometimes? Are there a couple waiting for a hug in your bedroom, despite partners, etc.?

Am I going through my second childhood? I do find my favourite bears to be a real comfort when times are bad... and when I'm out and about, I'll sometimes have a little bear hiding in my purse, hitching a ride to see the sights - just knowing he's there helps me feel less shy!

Brenda
teddyretirementhome

Here are a couple of other pics of him - I used 4mm amber eyes for him, but the first photo didn't really show them!

My 3rd bear (2nd is 16" and waiting for big eyes!), Mister Wistful.  He's 6".

I've sewn 6" tall bears by hand, and 16" bears easily on my trusty Singer Featherweight, but what is the smallest bear you have ever sewn on a machine?

I love his face! Will you be selling him on Etsy or eBay?

He looks like he just toddles all around the place when you're not looking 

Adorable!!! 

Beautiful face!  Beautiful colour! 

My request for membership won't be accepted either.

It won't accept membership applications unless you are a "professional" bear maker.  They ask for photos of your work (so one person can judge them?) and to list what sales outlets carry your work.

Hrmph.

Hello

Has anyone ever swapped, traded or arranged payment in bears for a bear you just couldn't resist?

I think its a wonderful idea, but you all probably have what you like/want already.

Tell us your stories!  What was the oddest thing you received as payment or swap for one of your bears?

Its wasn't a bear, but at a large craft show I once had a carpenter who made this wonderful dovetailed boxes offer me a couple for my Boston Terrier puppy, Leroy, and he was serious.  Of course I didn't do it, but I'll bet there's some good stories out there about it!

Brenda

Success!  Thank you all for helping, and thanks Jacqlyn!

I used to breed Netherland Dwarf rabbits, and you have perfectly captured their look! 

Cheers and bests

Brenda

What a great question!

I wasn't really a doll kind of kid but loved anything to do with animals, and had a little gal pal from Germany that I used to play with who had the most BEEOOOTIFUL animal toys and of course they were Steiff.

We couldn't afford them but in my late teens and with my first fulltime job, I started collecting Steiff.  It was a good time, because in some cases, stores I came across still had New Old Stock (NOS) going back as far back as a decade or more.

Anyway....!  After many years of collecting, 13 years ago I thought I'd give bear making a try. Made 4 bears and then promptly quit in frustration. Then, just before Christmas 2009, I dug out my old bear making paraphernalia and realized that the 4th bear, that I didn't even bother to finish, was 400% better than my first bear, and that was pretty darned good!  And, so, with time on my hands and no deadlines, I've dived (grammatical error?) in head-first and am really enjoying it!

As a teen, in the late 70's, (pls don't calculate age!) I was fortunate enough to be in touch with Peter Bull, Colonel Henderson, and some early bear artists in the US and Canada. But my taste in teddies didn't mature until much later. While I love almost all bears and styles, I have a soft spot for traditional or classic bears.

I have noticed that bear artistry, (IMHO), has evolved tremendously, even if the basics are still the same: fur, stuffing, eyes, joints...  and the funny thing is, what I like about the evolution is really the "de-evolution": the beautiful facial expressions and aging of bears that are essentially what was being made 100 years ago!

As a distant admirer, the list is long: I still love Steiff, Bing, early Farnell; but I long for: Forget Me Not Bears from the sisters, Laurie Brady's bears, Wee Scone, Hampton and Aerlinn bears, to name but a few.  They influence me now very much!

Looking forward to reading all the answers you get!

Cheers

Brenda
teddyretirementhome

I must be losing my mind - I am definitely on teddy bear overload, at home and on the web.

This photo is called Adam.jpg, and the 2 bears caught my eye.

Did I find them here? Were they posted as a pattern? I would love to have one - I'm bear hunting!

My oh my, I'm embarrassed that I haven't a clue!

Cheers and many thanks to anyone that might be able to help me identify the artist!

Brenda
teddyretirementhome

Thanks for this tip about the place in Wales - Look, they even have octopus glass eyes - eeek!

So - what are your favourite source and brand of glass eyes?

Best quality, ease of ordering, colours available?

What is best: coloured glass, painted back, colour burned in, or.......?

(I opt for the looped eyes - who has the strongest? Read about eyes breaking here...)

p.s. I know there is one here, but I haven't been able to find it - a chart of basic size suggestions based on the size of the bear?

Cheers and thanks!

Brenda
teddyretirementhome

Hi again!

Yes, its me, the bear bug!

I've noticed alot of old and old style bears sit with their feet facing out and flat to the floor.  How can I get this effect through positioning my joints?

My first bear also turned out looking like a toddler or the end of a coffee table, his legs/feet were so far apart! But if I put the joint down lower, he looked really tall and it sort of made the arms appear shorter cos they barely grazed the top of his hips.

Any tips for getting it just right? :)

Cheers and many thanks

Brenda
teddyretirementhome

Yes, $85 is out of my range for one of his patterns!  I've never even paid that much for a dress or designer knitting pattern...