Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Started? No chance. I leave mine to the last week and get most things in the sale! I'm lucky I don't have to get loads as my daughter has plenty off her grandparents. There will be some good sales before Christmas this year as the stores are struggling. Every Christmas eve we go up town after lunch and most stores start their proper sales. We go for a meal and enjoy the atmosphere. Its never too busy, just the men starting their Christmas shopping!

Hmmm.... maybe the sellers friend bid in the end and at least it gets everyone interested. Who knows someone could be a very happy bunny if it was genuine. If you need a good new machine Lidl have got them in tomorrow ( Monday ) for £39.99, I might get one.

Well done!!!!!  :dance: See you were down about it and now look. I bet you're over the moon. Good onya!

A big well done Steph. My husband (who has no interest in bears) commented on the feet, perfection. I'm so thankful to you, as your fabric has helped me do my miniature bears. I have just ordered some to do a panda. I can see the passion you have for fabric, the frosty is lovely. Now what can we make out of that?

Nice one. I only sell on ebay and I am loads more chilled out about it. The first one is always nerve wracking.  :dance:

Thanks Deb for the link. Very interesting. I had to laugh at the desicion when to have it , so the Christmas shopping was started early. Lets face it its lovely that everyone gets together and thinks of each other. So don't eat too much everyone and enjoy yourselves!

Can ayone explain Thanksgiving to me. I was thinking its like our Harvest festival, on a way bigger scale, but not quite? Is it like an early Christmas as you all seem to have it as a national holiday? I know turkeys are involved, we stole that for Christmas day instead of a traditional goose.

I have a list of 'to do' and an Anime style mini was one of them on it. I only has enough material to just do it and hopefully get it right first time. Although its not a true Anime one, I wanted more of a cute cartoon type bear. Its 2 1/2" tall and it gave me a right job. I had'nt done string jointing in years and with the body being so small it was'nt easy. I used needlefelting to add character and found that OK. Hope you like it, as usual I will be taking my chances on ebay soon.

I love it. You have got so much detail in there.

I love your paw pads. They really are character adding. Love the outfit too.

The laundry hampers here are square and have the mesh so thats why I changed the material. PVC piping is'nt cheap here either although I keep looking for an old style plastic Wendy house in the charity shops. They have the pvc piping.

Thats what I did Marion. I cut out the material and replaced it with some white translucent stuff. If I was doing it again I would do one panel at a time. I cut the material out and ended up with four round hoops of wire as the material had been holding the shape together. There was some cursing I can tell you. It does the job though.

It just shows how those genes keep going. I once saw a photo of my great great grandmother and my grandad was the spiting image of her. Crikey I wonder what my family will inherit off me when I am long since gone.

Thanks for the advice everyone. It all helps with the minis as you can't get away with things. Everything shows up if you get it wrong.

I had them from v and n bear supplies. What about you? Not that I mind too much as sometimes it then gives you a choice of sizes if you know what I mean. Its only recently I have had to order joints and stuff as I used to buy in bulk (ten years ago) from Oakley fabrics. Things have changed since then as you can now go international because of the internet.

Here is a picture of my latest bear. I used 3mm glass eyes that we were talking about in another post. I ordered 10 pairs as I remembered you have to match them up as the sizes are all over the place. I even had to match the domed part as they were different. I also used the wobble neck joint idea using the cotterpins. I have'nt named him yet and I will put him on ebay Sunday. He is just over 3" tall. I could do with altering my pattern so I can get them to 3".

I love the proportions too. I think what Kim said is right the wide head gives a baby look. I have'nt done a mini panda in years, its good fun. You've got the bug back, I can tell. More please!!!!!!!

Thats a good question Catherine. If its a small bear I suppose you could put a cotter pin in the feet and bake them then use that to fix through the leg, with glue as well. I don't know if the foot could take the strain when you turn the cotterpin. Anyone else know?

I used V and N bear supplies. They are on ebay but it was easier to order online. You can use paypal.

http://www.vandnbearsupplies.co.uk/

I forgot to say they were very quick and the postage was slightly less than they charged, I hate paying over the odds for postage.

Synthetic is hit and miss, it depends on the backing. I have just managed to felt eye accents onto a mini bear that used Sassys smokey fabric. I tried it on a different fabric and the backing was too close. Try it you can always pull it off or do a mock head.
As to the toes again, you can always add to if they are'nt puffy enough.

I have used 3mm onyx beads and have just had some 3mm glass eyes from a company in the UK. The beads I had with my fabric from Sassys.

All the best to you and your family. My great grandmother was Rosemary, my nana, Rose and my mother Rosalie. Rosie is a lovely name. My daughter was Amy by the way, if she had have had a middle name it would have been Rose!

You jammy thing Jane. Crickey you have some good shops near you.

You have done a wonderful job Cath. I hope it does well for you. It makes a wonderful avatar. Maybe we all should do Christmas ones.

Melissa thats a great idea. Dilu I'm the same as you. Each one I make I might change slightly. I would shorten the arms on the gold one. I had the same problem on one of mine. I also noticed they were too chubby (on mine that is). I do the same with bodies too, just keep changing as you go along. I do think as there is less to work with its hard to get what you want in the pattern.
I have also ordered some 3mm glass eyes instead of the beads. Even though I pull in the eyes sockets with thread the eyes can still stick out and look a bit googly. I'll let you know if they look better, should do as they will sit flatter. Keep posting as I like the mini talk.