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Hi Gully,
I don't have Ferdinand but I had one in my arms a couple of weeks ago at a Steiff introduction party. He is one big huggable bear!
Ferdinand is available at Berelijn; you can find pricedetails on http://www.berelijn.com/steiff%20pagina … rivals.htm
You are aware that Ferdinand is limited to 1000 pieces worldwide? So you have to be fast to 'catch' one 
Marianne that is the look I want and tried it
another way without the seam and didn't
like the way it looked. Your bear that you did
With the curved arm is great. I don't see the
seam in the arms. Great job!! :clap:
Hi Bonnie,
Any luck yet?
I don't know about UK suppliers but you could try Baerenstübchen Blümmel (in Germany); I know they sell Nose Gloss in their webshop.
This is the link to the respective page in their online shop: http://s7988187.shoplite.de/2001/7988187/index.html
You will find their homepage on http://www.baerenstuebchen.de/
Hi Conni,
Your little Rose is soooo sweet! Your felties are getting cuter with every one you create.
I think you and possibly others will like this site with loads of info on needlefelting:
Bonnie, I scanned my pattern pieces for this design so you can see what I did - no way I could explain without a visual. The arm piece is for both outside and inside, then sew the paw pad piece in like a foot pad.
Well, this was the model I was talking about. And where is the seam??? The way I see it, it is in the middle. I thought you didn't want that Bonnie?
In this link you can see Humphrey; he also has turned-down paws. Made him a couple of years ago.
http://www.beautbears.nl/Historie/Photo … to_23E.htm
Hi Bonnie,
I was wondering what you mean with not liking the seam to show in the middle??? I suppose you are referring to bears arms in the so-called 'begging position' with drop-shaped paw pads? If so, there is absolutely no need that the seam shows, provided that you work out the fur properly. I don't like the seams on my bears to show either, not only on the arms but preferably nowhere on my bears! Sometimes it cannot be avoided e.g. when you are working with real short or sparse mohairs, but even then working meticulously helps a lot. Takes more time though 
. I am only satisfied with my seams if, once the bear is completed, I really have to look hard to find them 
(the seams that is, not the bears of course :crackup: ).
O, and there probably is another way of making this type of arms / paw pads, but I'm afraid I cannot help you on that one. Sorry 
Hope someone else can help you!
Well, you could for instance start posting them on TT in http://www.teddy-talk.com/viewforum.php?id=3
i.e. under TT Market Place, where you can present your teds available for adoption
Gully,
Did you send Berelijn an e-mail about this? The owners are called Nelleke and David; they are friendly people and usually very helpful in finding bears for their customers.
Just noticed that there is a separate available Charlie Bears page on the Berelijn website plus an 'expected' Charlie Bears page where you can place your pre-order.
This is the pre-ordering page for the bears of the Isabella collection of Charlie Bear:
All right. Good luck with your (faux) fur 'hunt' 
I'm not sure if they got Diesel but you could try and contact Berelijn (in Holland); they've got quite a Charlie bears collection! You can find Berelijn on:
and they ship worldwide. Oh, and even if they haven't got this model in stock they often know where to find the bear you are looking for 
I've always sewn my bears' noses by hand too, from bear #1. And yes, it's a matter of practice, practice and practice 
oh, and patience ofcourse because noses just need a lot of attention and time. Embroidering (don't like to use the word stitching in this case) a bear's nose is in most cases the finishing touch which in my view should be as close to perfect as can be.
Hi, meet Emil, a 24" bear I made in 2008.
Hi Paula,
You could try this link:
http://members.peak.org/~Spark/dyeingfelt.html
or: http://www.thepiper.com/fiberart/koolai … howto.html
and like Sue Ann said, there's loads of posts about KoolAid dyeing in the TT Library.
It just takes some time and patience to find what your want for your use
Good luck!
Hi Daphne,
I think I know what mohair you mean, a kind of silverey grey blackhairs mohair with lighter backing. I thought I still had some but unfortunately for you I don't 
Although not Norton I know that a UK supplier has some mohairs in stock that might be close to what you want / need.
On this page http://www.norbearyfabrics.co.uk/mohair … fers.shtml I think that the 'Mushroom' (15mm distressed straggly, grey-khaki coloured pile German mohair with a dull soft brown backing), 'Malt Loaf' (9mm distressed, fairly sparse, quite short German mohair, caramel pile with a dull tan backing) and 'Mum's Old Gravy' (18mm distressed, silver/grey pile mohair with a chocolate coloured backing) are maybe close to what you want? Otherwise you could check the other pages on Barbara's site.
Good luck in your search!
Hugs from Holland,
Marianne
Hi there,
Many of you may already know, but to those who don't I just want to tell: the complete Hugglets Teddy Bear Guide is also available to be viewn online or you can download the Guide as PDF.
To do so, just go to http://www.hugglets.co.uk/guideindex.php and click "View online" or "Download pdf edition".
Like Peter I always have a hardcopy of the Guide at hand, but when you don't have one and you need info from the Guide (e.g. about UK bear shows ), the online or PDF edition is a very good alternative!
Hugs from Holland,
Marianne
Hallo Conni,
I would like to improve mine in English
How does one properly say?threat joint or string joint?
Das Englische Wort 'threat' ist 'Bedrohung', also etwas komplett anderes ! Aber du hast recht dies zu fragen.
Wie sagt mann das eigentlich auf Deutsch?
Bärige Grüsse,
Marianne
Stabbing back stitch is the same as back stitch only you stab from front to back. You can get much smaller stitches this way, I generally use it on tight curves in mini bears and where I really need to have an accurate meeting of seams in all bears (say at the nose end of the head gusset). Otherwise I use running backstitch, which has a much more fluid action. On really small minis I use stabbing backstitch and invisible thread in a size 12 needle, tie a single knot behind the eye of the needle to stop the thread slipping out of the eye.
Thanks Linda So I'm not using a lockstitch but a stabbing back stitch because I'm sewing all my seams with this stitch. I agree with Linda that using this stitch improves the accuracy of the seams It is more timeconsuming than a running backstitch though 
Hi Tami,
All my bears are handsewn except the really big ones on which I machinestitch body, arms and legs, but even then I sew the head parts, ears and feet by hand. I use a lockstitch for hand-sewing (hope I'm using the correct word). Absolutely no need to go over it twice provided you need strong good-quality thread (if less strong: use double thread). Hope this helps
Hugs,
Marianne
I love Bettina's mousies, but the link does not work. (Looks like a combination of website URL and email address.)
Becky
Hi Becky,
The link should read: http://www.bearsandbuds.com
Hugs,
Marianne
I know you are looking for a used machine but I can tell you that the modern Bernina's are a feast to work with as well. I have a recent Quilting Edition type Bernina. Ever since I had the pleasure to be allowed to sew with my aunt's Bernina at the age of 13 or 14 (so that must have been in '65 
) I dreamt about having a Bernina of my own. It took some time but I finally got it some 2 years ago.
I think a vintage Bernina would be great to have as a spare machine. Maybe you would even start using it as your main machine
Hugs,
Marianne
Hi everyone! I talked to Fenna today and we went through all your lovely comments 
She was impressed to have received so many reactions on her work and she specifically asked me to thank you all very very much! 
and to tell you that she absolutely intends to make more bears in future. Seems we've got another one hooked to bearmaking We'll keep you posted on the progress
@Karen: you are so right about spending time on this to be such a rewarding activity I really enjoy it :dance:
:hug: :hug:
Marianne
PS: Fenna is fond of the beary smilies so I put some extra ones for her in this post.
Thank you so much for your enthousiastic and positive reactions! Fenna will be thrilled when she is told about the warm welcome by the TT folk. She has just started learning English at school but for the time being her mum and me will have to do some translating 
. Fenna's really been the perfect pupil; no need to explain details twice, she just understood the first time I told her. Sometimes it wasn't even necessary to explain things because she understood them just by carefully looking :dance: .
Hugs,
Marianne
Hi all,
Do you need to be experienced to make a lovely bear? And does age matter? Well, I can tell you the answer to both questions is : NO!!! :dance:
These pictures illustrate what I mean. They show Rozemarijn, the 45cm bear my 10-year young nextdoor (or actually next-boat) neighbour Fenna recently made, with some guidance of me 
Also showing pictures of Fenna embroidering Rozemarijn's nose, and what a fine nose it turned out for a first-ever bear nose! I can tell you my first bear-nose was a real disaster!
When Fenna showed her bear at school, one of her classmates told her that she also would like to have a bear like Rozemarijn, which made Fenna answer: 'Well, bad luck, cause this is a one-off and there is not going to be a second Rozemarijn in the whole wide world." so she is very aware of her bear being unique.
What do you think of Fenna's work?
Hugs,
Marianne
