Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Thank you - I'm so glad you like little Angel  :hug: 

If your customer doesn't want him, just send him my way!  :crackup:
He is the cutest little panda and I'm sure your customer will love him...I know I would   

What a wonderful bear - and bear maker  :clap:  :clap: I'm sure we will see a lot more to Brandon and his bears, he is a very talented young man. You must be a very proud mom, Tami 

This is an angel bear that I made for my sister for Christmas. She received it last night and was VERY happy with it  :dance:

Its made from creme mohair with gold tips. The "hat" is just something I made from some Christmas-ribbon I had. Its not sewn on to the bear, so my sister can remove it if she decides it should be an all-year-round-bear instead 

I hope you like her 

Merry Christmas 

Tweezers!  You use tweezers and pluck the muzzle before you stitch the head parts together so that no fur gets caught in the seams. I made one with a plucked muzzle - I plucked it after I stitched the head parts and its almost impossible to remove all the fur from the seams once it is stitched together so its so much easier to do it before you sew it together...and it looks so much nicer.

Thanks Bea and Ali  :hug: I'm glad you like HER  You are right, Ali - its a girl.

I made the shading using Copic Markers and a blenderpen...I have never tried air brushing with an aerosol can and spray - I would love to try but I'm afraid I will ruin the bear and Copic Markers are easy to use. Its my 2nd attempt to do shading and I decided that this time I wouldn't be afraid to add too much shading...so the bunny ended up with "eyelashes"  :crackup:

This little bunny is for my daughter for Christmas. He hasn't got a name yet. He is made from the softest and most wonderful synthetic. It was lovely to work with. After my first synthetic (disaster) bear, I promised myself never again to make a bear from synthetic fur...but I changed my mind when I worked on this little bunny! 

I hope you like him  :)

P.S. I'm not a very good photographer but I hope you can still get an idea of what he looks like ...   

Hi Jenny,

I found a UK-company that has mohair for mini's: http://www.bearcountryuk.com/index.php/ … r%20Fabric - I haven't ordered from them so I don't know about quality, customer service etc.

I just ordered some of the most beautiful synthetics I have seen from The Faux Throw Company (http://www.fauxthrow.com/) - they send out swatches for free and their customer service is great! Their website can only handle 1 meter cuts but if you call them (ask for Pat), you can buy smaller pieces. They have moleskin fabric for mini's and it is so soft and wonderful (no stretch either) - and they also have faux suede that feels and looks exactly like the real thing....but its not so hard to sew as real suede.

Can't wait to see your minis 

It makes perfect sense!!  :dance: Thanks, Jenny and Daphne - yes, that was exactly what I meant.  I just didn't know what was going on under the bunnies septum  I do plan to scissor sculpt the indented mouth - I just wasn't sure where to begin.

Jenny, I spent all day scissor sculpting and inserting and shading the eyes. I haven't even started scissor sculpting the cheeks yet ... its very time consuming but lots of fun  I'm glad I don't have to make a living making bears, we would all starve to death if depending on an income from bear making!  :crackup:

Thanks again to both of you  :hug:  :hug:

Thanks, Patsy - thats a cute bunny 

I understand if you have trouble knowing what I mean - its hard to explain 

I know what a real bunny mouth looks like (I have a live bunny  ). What I meant was how do you finish the indented mouth on a bunny - does it have the traditional V-shape on the sides of the septum? Or do you just make the Y-nose and finish it by making a straight center stitch (septum) down towards the mouth?

I'm working on my first bunny - just finished the scissor sculpting and shading around the eyes....it took forever but it was loads of fun!   

So now the next thing is the bunny nose....I want the nose to be a realistic bunny nose and not a traditional embroidered triangle shape bear nose. With realistic I mean the open "Y" that the nose forms down to the mouth. I looked up a few tips on bunnies in the library but couldn't find anything about how to make the nose. Do you just make the Y-shape going from left over the middle (where the gusset and the 2 head parts meet) and then from the middle over to the right?

I have another question re. the mouth. I would love my bunny to have an indented mouth but is that what you would normally do - and how do you finish the indented mouth?

I have seen a couple of fabulous bunnies here with great noses and mouths...and I have no idea what the mouth looks like, if you look at the bunny from under its chin or from the side....Am i making any sense? Its hard to explain but I hope you know what i mean...  :pray:

ANY help on this would be appreciated, pleeeease....  :pray: 

We have 4 dogs, 1 cat and 1 rabbit and I don't react (much!  ) to them - but when I sew mohair bears, I sneeze all the time, my eyes water and get all red and I cough all the time...so yes, I'm very allergic to mohair! 

The bear I'm working on right now is made from very dense faux fur and I don't seem to have a problem with that.

My allergy to mohair has been a bit of a problem when I have been in bear making classes with mohair lying all around. I have to go outside from time to time - and leave my contacts at home and wear glasses instead. If I wear contacts around mohair, I look as if I have been out drinking all night!   

Its annoying but I can live with it - I just have to keep all the mohair bear parts I'm not working on in small boxes with a lid on and just work on a few parts at a time.

I usually work on my bears with a towel in my lap - the towel "catches" most of the flying mohair. I also use a towel this time of year when I can't go outside to scissor sculpt. Its not 100% effective but it does help a lot.

Congratulations, Julia  :clap:  :clap:  :clap: Your panda is wonderful and I can understand why you won, its well deserved   

Me too 

My sewing machine is also an embroidery machine so I have lots of embroidery thread and use that for my bears too. Its good quality polyester thread (Brildor). Sometimes I use Gutermanns thread too - as long as it is good quality and it doesn't break easily, its usable. I do my seams twice too. The first with a narrow zigzag, I then turn the fabric around and stitch the seams again with a small straight stitch. Never ever use waxed quilting thread in your machine and remember to clean your machine often as the fur makes a mess.

Its always a good idea to sew a few scraps first and adjust the tension etc. accordingly.

Thanks, I'm glad you like her - she really is a sweet little thing 

Marlys, she is not all white - on her left side she has 3 black spots, they just don't show on the pics. I just found out that she is not a terrier but a pinscher  :redface: I think the reason why we (and the Swedes) call them Danish/Swedish farm dogs is because they used to breed them at farms and used them to catch rats and mice - they still do actually....

They have also been used as circus dogs as they are very intelligent and learn very fast.

They are usually basically white with black and/or brown colours and spots. Jack Russells have a different type of coat - and a very different temperament, I think! A Danish/Swedish is very gentle, fun and happy and a perfect family dog.

Ok, I'll stop rambling about my puppy now...  

This is our new 9 week old puppy dog, called Mille    I don't know if you know the breed but she is a terrier - a "Dansk/Svensk Gaardhund" which means Danish/Swedish Farm Dog. We have 3 other dogs (2 Rottweiler/German Shephard mix and 1 Bichon Frisé) and they all get along just fine. The only one who is NOT happy right now is the cat ("oh noooo.....not another one!"  )

Its VERY hard to sew bears with a puppy in the house!  :crackup: I only get to do some sewing when she sleeps 

She is so much fun and we all love her - especially our daughter who will very soon be bald if Mille continues to eat her hair!  :crackup:

Thanks for looking 

Hi Charlotte 

Welcome to TT from another Dane 

When I handstitch bears I use embroidery needles same as Carol. They are very pointy and goes smoothly through both mohair and synthetics. You find them in quilting- and patchwork shops. When I use my sewing machine, I use ordinary needles.

Good luck with your bear, we would love to see pics when you are finished   

I have never heard of a crown joint before (glad I didn't suggest "something you smoke"  :crackup: ) but I remember seeing the method described on another forum.

My "must have" bear making book is "101 bears to make" by Nancy Tillberg  Its the book that got me started making bears. I bought it a couple of years ago by accident and not that I had any intention to start making bears - I just loved the pictures in the book. It sat on my book shelf for more than a year and one day I started to read it and thought it would be fun to try making a bear...and so I did!  I still use it all the time to look up things; different techniques, sculpting, dying fabrics etc. and I couldn't do without it, I just love that book! 

True and false!  I loooove steak (and Guiness....yummy ) but kidney pie....no thanks    I have never tasted kidney pie and I wouldn't like to either  :crackup:

The person below me spends 3 hours+ on TT every day!!  :crackup:

Its amazing that you can create such a beautiful and sweet bear by crocheting - and without a pattern too  :clap: (coming from one that can't do crocheting  ) She is really sweet and I love her "fur"   

Lewis is SO cute!    He looks so sad poor little thing  but I love the way he looks with his little wooly hat....beautiful work, Kim  :clap: 

Jennie, I think your new website is terrific!  The bright colours suit your bears and it is easy to navigate. Good job!