Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

reflections on my Saturday..... I was meant to clean the house, check my email, sort out some scrapbooking stuff, do the washing, and finish two little bears who've been sitting woefully by my side awaiting stuffing and ears.

What I did on my Saturday...woke up late having stayed up till 2am the night before trying to fix the computer (which is only a week old!), half heartedly sorted the recycling and tidied the bedroom.  Sat and looked at my bear's face for half an hour trying to decide if I liked him or not.  Jointed him together and stuffed his tummy.  Procrastinated about putting his ears on.  (I hate ears).  Finally after several hours of procrastination tried putting ears on and it all went pear shaped due to my bad mood.  Went to bed in frustration!

Daylight savings started here last night which meant I lost an hour of sleep.  Am currently eating breakfast and checking emails and I WILL finish that bear today!!!

Hope the rest of your days improve and you get through the blah bits.

Hi Shelli

just to confuse you even more and add my two cents worth

I agree with whover said to start with a mini upholstery fabric with the woven grid back - sassys fabric gives beautiful results and you can use her long pile on anything from a titchy one inch bear up to 4 inches or so.   the holes give you a really good guide for the length of your stitches - I do backstitc and do about  2 holes forward and one hole back.  Oh, and you don't need to fraystop this one unlike everything else and it's way way easier to turn than mohair, rayon or faux fur.

Now, I use a susper fine invisible nylon thread to stitch my minis - I think it is overlocking stuff.   you can use single thread but I used it doubled as I sew better that way    Use a small needle - either a thin 'sharp' or a qulting needle.  Don't pull your stitches too tight - this is a hard one - they need to be nice and firm but if you pull too tight you'll actually see the holes and stitches when you turn it through.

I have a nice mini cotter pin turner which I also use for turning as I've never got the hang of haemostats. 

Eyes - I use onyx eyes and glass eyes.  I tend to use onyx beads on anything under three inches - you can sink them in nicely if you use black monlycke grizzly thread or metrosene topstitching thread  to put them in. 

Cotter pins and discs - I get my discs and pins from Intercal - and I ALWAYS use the mini T pins as there is never any risk of pulling the pin through the disk.  If you make big bears you'll be used to nice firm joints - if you use the cotter pins with the bulbs you'll run the risk of pulling the bulb through the disk when you try to get it tight.  I just did this when I was forced to use very light little cotter pins on my 1.5 inch bunny.

You can also make your own discs - by using a regular hole punch and the lid of an icecream container - don't know what the equivalent is in the States.  Debbie Kesling uses this method in her mini bears book and she reccommends tupperware  containers(I can't afford that!!!!) but it'll give you an indication of what kind of plastic she means.  Our icecream container lids are a bit thinner than that but a softish slightly flexible plastic.  All you need to use for joints on  these are jewellry head pins - which are a long bendable pin with a flattish head.  When you've got it jointed into the bear, cut off the excess pin length and then turn the pin down (much like a cotter pin) until it snugly fits the disc.

oh.if you are using mohair I am in love with Aleene's stop fray - I put it on before I cut out - blot it into the fabric with some paper towel.  It smells way less toxic than some of the other brands which has to be good for the longevity of the bear.  It also stays much more flexible and so it is easier to sew through - very important for me as I stitch every thing by hand - even the clothing for my bears.

phew - hope I haven't confused you even more.  This is a photo of the first mini I had done in a couple of years (until recently I was only making bears between 3.5 and 6 inches)  Heffie was made for the mini bears circus parade and is about 2.5 inches tall.  her head has two gussets in it (how crazy was I!!) one normal one and another titchy fiddly one under her her trunk.  Her head took me about 4 hours to sew and that didn't include stuffing it!  i've got some lovely mini bear fabric so am hoping to make another mini bunny this weekend.

re: the bare artist/ bear artist ...I have been confused for a BEER maker.  When I first started selling bears I was featured in my local newspaper.  That night I got a phone call and when I picked up the phone all i could here was someone chortling down the phone, gasping for breath and going "bear Melissa bear" - I eventually established that it was a friend of my aunty - they had been out together and my aunty had told her that I was making bears.  She had misinterpreted and thought I was making beer.  She thought it was an unusual occupation for me but didn't ask my aunty any more questions.  When she saw my photo in the paper she finally understood!  Because of our funny kiwi pronunciation this has happened more than once. I momentarily impressed my male colleagues until they realised the truth.  Also my surname is the name of a famous brand of Australian beer (and with a different spelling is also a brand of beer here in NZ).

Thanks guys..I have used Sassy bears before and she is great.  One day when I get a camera I'll get to post a photo of my 1.5 inch bunny I made with her long pile.  I might ask her if she'll cut a quarter for me and I'll try German ebay too.

I'd be keen to hear what the Dear bears velour is like Jenny - I did think about ordering some once but at the time the exchange rate was really high and so I didn't order.

Does anyone know where I can get a short pile (like 1/4 inch) woven backed faux fur in a piece bigger than a 9 inch square.  I've tried ordering through edinburgh but when my package arrived the synthetic wasn't in it and was marked as "deleted" though it's still on their website.  I've seen it occasionally on ebay but inevitibly the seller doesn't post outside of the states or will not post without charging ludicrous amounts for postage.  I have been looking forever!!

Hi Fran

Why don't you lay out your 1 metre fabric and see if your 18 inch pattern will fit twice into the first 90cm of the fabric (as that is how much a yard is)

now - sorry about the long link below but here are the listings for guipure lace on ebay australia also try typing in guipuire as spelling varies

http://crafts.search.ebay.com.au/guipur … usZunknown

you may also find something here - but check if they ship to oz
http://www.laceandtrim.com/

think I've added everyone...let me know if I've missed anyone out, brain is in half gear tonight

Because I'm usually travelling by air to any show I attend -  I have a fairly simple table set up.  I use lots of cardboard boxes .  I put one big piece of panne velvet on the table - set up the boxes and then drape another piece of velvet over the top

One clever idea I have seen is to use that corrugated plastic stuff that they make real eastate agents boards from.  Cut it in a variety of rectangles and attach sticky backed velcro bits to each corner (2 fuzzy and 2 grabby bits)  Roll up the rectangle into a cylander, fastening the velcro and pop a heavyish cardboard or mdf square on top - cover with your fabric and you have lovely columns for dispay and super easy to transport too.

Hi Paula

Thanks!  I'll add yours and everyone else's links on to mine.  I don't have any buttons yet but my site is

www.honeythorpebears.com

Melissa

Like everyone else, I have to say VERY VERY cute and what a scrummy colour...looking forward to seeing what your next bear will be:):)

I think you have hit the nail on the head Helena and given Sarah the right information!  I had thought that this was the case (having stumbled into the "other" category and discovered some UK bears one day) but wasn't entirely sure.  I have to admit that I don't always look at it - tending to jump straight to the artist, one of a kind section and I'm sure a lot of collectors do the same.

Hi Sarah

I'm from New Zealand and I would certainly reccommend listing on US Ebay.  I have sold bears to the US, the UK and Aussie through Ebay.  Ebay.com does pick up international auctions.  Probably the only disadvantage is the shipping cost bit - it's not easy to enter overseas costs into the specified boxes, but I have worked out my costs and include them in the main body of the auction rather than the shipping bit.  I've never had a problem with anything - except trying to work out the time difference which I never manage to get quite right...even though I use time calculators etc!

I have to agree with Karen.  There are also companies like Robin Rive Country Life who make artist style bears with some targeted specifically to babies.  I have made a few but not for a few years now.  I did create a niche market a few years ago teaching expectant mums to create their own heirloom bears for their babies.  The best one was a hairdresser who did the most amazing face trimming/sclupturing on her bear.

Hey Jenny - there's no "wrong" way - if it works for you then it's the right way!!

Hi Hayley.   I thought ezy wzx was the stuff in the pottles .  I don't heat my triangular stuff - whoever I bought it off told me that you didn't need to.  It seems to work fine for me (and probably better cos I don't get mess everywhere) but maybe I'll have to try heating it a bit.  Thanks!!

what a bear!  very cool indeed

He's so cute and his footpads are soooo even - you must have tiny tiny stitching to get them like that!  Well done you!:D

WOW!  I am in awe -  That is incredible and I am envious of the people doing your class.  I am unable to needlefelt as I'm allergic to the wool roving.  I made one little bear but had to give all my supplies away.

From my experience both sell well.  I have a friend who make teeny tiny bears - between 1and 3 inches and her bears sell like hotcakes at shows and get very good prices online.    However, there is also a woman I know who makes very big bears and her bears sell incredibly well both here and overses.  Sometimes I think the extremes do okay it's everything in the middle ground that is fighting most to compete

I tend to collect miniatures, though I have some big wonderful huggly big  bears in my collection too.  The miniatures I collect tend towards the "works of art" bears more than the miniature cute teddy types.

I make small bears - I originally started out with big bears - between 10 and 20 inches, then went the other extrememe to minis, which I sold more of.  I have finally settled on bears between 3-6 inches with most being around 4 inches.  I sew mine entirely by hand.  I enjoy making this size the most and while I think the market for this size is a bit saturated, it's the size I'm happiest with so I won't change. 

As I have to import ALL my bear making materials  and we have a relatively low exchange rate so mohair becomes even more expensive, it is also most economical to me to make small bears.

I did make my first true mini for a couple of years, recently.  I designed a new pattern and didn't quite realise it was as small as it was.  He's a 1 and 3/4 inch bunny and is fully cotter pin jointed - I surprised myself!!  However, now that I know how small the pattern is I've pscyhed myself out of starting another one!

I hear you!  lots of exceedingly cute photos of my two older siblings, not so many of me!

Thanks! -  He was my favourite and hard to let go...hence his starring role on my home page. His big brother is currently under construction

Maybe I'm just jealous that it wasn't my bear that they were fighting over!!  I did have visions of the poor bear's head coming off in the tussle - they could have had a piece each then 

Well, some of them/us behave like animals!!   Seeing two supposedly mature women fighting over who saw a bear first is not a pretty sight.

So gorgeous!  I love him and he looks like he can give a really decent hug!

Hi Matilda

I think others have summed it up well. 
I have a small collection of artist bears (mainly from Australian and New Zealand artists).  In some ways I think we as artists may approach buying a bear slightly differently to some collectors, in that we may have a more critical eye and look not only at the cute face but the workmanship as well.  I look back at some of the bears that I bought when I first got into bears and I would never buy them now but they are still special to my collection and I won't part with them!

I find it interesting to observe collectors behaviour at bear shows. At the MTE in May I was exhibiting along with 3 other friends from NZ.  It was really interesting to watch collectors walk along the row and see what caught their eye.  Different factors appeal to different people.  Even within my own bears, people will bypass my favourite and pick out the bear I've tried to hide at the back!  Don't be discouraged if you have an "off" day at a show or on ebay - some days you win, some days you lose.  I remember talking to a well-known seller who said that she sold 50 bears in 2 hours at one show then the next show she went to, in a different place, she sold only one bear all day.

I usually buy a bear at each show I attend, especially if it's an overseas show - I guess it's my form of souvenir though it's a bit more expensive than a fridge magnet.    I buy bears that are quite different to my own creations.  Usually there is some factor that draws me to a particular bear - it's hard to say what, sometimes it's the face, other times it's the way that it's been accessorised and yes I have been known to pick out th e bear that the artist has hidden at the back! 

Keep true to yourself and let your bears speak for themselves.  I know I have moments when I look at my bears at can't find a thing about them to love - but that soon passes.  Listen to what bearmakers you respect say to you - accept their praise - it is deserved!