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Nova Scotia,CanadaHey girls,I need to make a mini that is no bigger than 2". I usually use guterman thread but I wonder if it is too heavy for a mini of this size or should I use regular thread.I worry about the regular sew all thread not being strong enough.I am brutal on thread and even pull hard enough to break the so called "unbreakable thread"Yes I have even broken the invisable and strong fishing line :redface:
Any and all advice on making a bear under 2" would be appreciated.
Thanks,love ya!! Shari.
Bears-a-Bruin!Well, my only advice is depending on what fabric you use you might want to cut the pattern smaller than you think is necessary! I recently reduced my 3" pattern to make a 2" bear, and used rayon fabric. When I'd stuffed him (hard as I could) he turned out...you guessed it!....3" tall :P. The fabric must have had some stretch despite my extensive testing in all directions (pulling, tugging...I'm brutal :lol:).
I also used invisible thread on that little bear and found it to be tougher than Gutermann's. But obviously it doesn't pass the Shari test.... 
Upstate New YorkShari ~
Try Medeira or Robison-Anton embroidery thread. Both make polyester and rayon thread. Look for a shop that sells machine embroidery machines. Very strong and comes in a hundred colors at least.
P.S. I don't make minis ... just familiar with the strong thread.
I have used Nymo thread which is very thin and very strong - kind of like dental floss only in color!!! It is used mainly for bead work. It comes in lots of different colors. I actually sell it on my website www.paws2sew.com. You can find it under Supplies and then click on 'This and That'.
Jane
Wild Thyme OriginalsI use regular old sewing thread for my minis... even the tiniest ones. I've never been able to use the invisible thread successfully....
Beary truly yours,
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
Posts: 8,574For minimini's i sew by hand and use silk thread. It has a way of disappearing into the fabric and is quite strong.
Now normally the French silk thread 'TIRE' , which is wonderful is $4.50 a spool.
This link takes you to an e-bay importer from India. The cost of the thread, including shipping, for me came to 80 cents a spool and the spools are 4xlonger.
The colors are vibrant- but the thread is a little weaker than the French, but still very thin, (which to me is important for the really small minis, so I double the thread. This helps me because I am forever loosing my really really small needles too. So, for 80 cents a spool and not loosing my teeny tiny needles I am happy.
I have a ton, about 100, of Robison-Anton machine embroidery threads....( for a while I digitized my own machine embroidery designs etc,) but I wasn't happy with the effect on the 1'2-2" minis.
I find the thinner the thread, the smaller the needle and the more patience I have all works for having a successful minimini.
I find the monofilament thread too bulky and awkward to use. I'd have to agree with Kim, have never seen Nymo, but I probably wont be trying it any time soon as I now have 80 spools of silk, hmmm, but I will try to remember them just to try even one spool to see how it works.
Also, in cleaning up in the workroom, ( I promised most solemnly to keep the room respectable when the hubs remodeled it....) and I found a bag of kapok. So I tried it on the miniminis. It gets up your nose, which is annoying, but boy does it stuff gently and very compactly- so I guess I'll stick with it. Also it takes so very little.
Need to find a good source of it though, bought this stuff a million years ago from a Buddhist monastery that made Zafus.
Hmmmm
Any way, that's my $6.50 in thoughts. (So much for 2 cents, those were the good old days.....inflation :twisted:)
http://stores.ebay.com/Viabrant-Threads
:hug: Dilu
Posts: 8,574
Here is an arm I was working on- so that you can see the stitches fading into the fabric...... Good old silk thread.
Oh its a 2" elf for a Christmas tree.....
Nova Scotia,CanadaThanks girls 
I can't use invisible succesfully either and the thicker thread just does not work.I'll start looking for the ones you girls have mentioned.
:hug: ,Shari.
Canna Bear PaintI went thread-shopping a few months ago and got some 'extra fine' sewing thread. Coats & Clark brand, I think. My trick for using it is to double the thread. When I had previously tried a single fine thread in another brand, it drove me crazy. I couldn't see where the stitches were, and the thread kept snapping on me. Double fine thread works like a charm. I have used this very successfully on small bears bordering on true minis and also some very tempermentally backed fabrics, those with loose backings and/or that fray easily. I use a smaller needle than I normally would, but not a really small one.
Cheers,
Kelly
Posts: 8,574Hiya Miss Kelly- is that a new ted sitting there as your avatar? What a really cutie- love that face.
Dilu
Canna Bear PaintNot too new, Dilu, I am behind on photographing the newest critters! I have at least half a dozen sitting here and staring at me, and several who would volunteer to be a more recent avatar. I'm starting to feel bad for them, I may just have to photograph everybody this afternoon :)
Cheers,
Kelly
MerBear OriginalsI use the regular Guterman sewing thread for my minis along with a small quilting needle. If I'm thread jointing them I use sinew - I find it has some 'give' to it and you certainly can't break it.
Marion
fribbles, ltd.
I use regular old sewing thread for my minis... even the tiniest ones. I've never been able to use the invisible thread successfully....
Kim, I use just plain ole sewing thread too, but I've noticed I am either stuffing my minis very energetically, or am not sewing my double-stitch tightly enough, as their belly seam always shows stress. I kind of like the look, sort of an old-fashioned look with the seams showing [to my teensy mind, anyways], but at the same time I'd like know how to NOT get that seam bursting look.
If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Have thought about trimming the fur in just the areas that are going to be sewn together to get a tighter stitch in there...or should I be using stronger thread? I don't pull super tightly, so that might be a big problem too.
Thank you! = )
Amelia
Posts: 8,574If you are sewing by machine you might want to crank the tension down a bit. When I do minis by hand I give the thread a wee bit of a tug at the end of each stitch, to tighten the tension.
I know what you mean about the tummy stitches showing- this usually helps, also using a rayon or silk thread in the exact color can help alot as well. I like to have the exact color silk and the thread disappears into the fabric. I have alot of Robison-anton rayon machine embroidery thread, for when I don't have the right color silk....
I am glad my honey doesn't actually look at how much I have in that little room.....all the incarnations in the fabric world always seems to call for lots of supplies....i better not change again..... 
dilu
Pandy Potter BearsI use the beading thread too. I might try the invisable thread again but found it very hard before.
Posts: 8,574I think if I were to try invisible thread I would use rather short pieces and warm it up ever so slightly, by pulling it through a towel with the steam iron resting very lightly on it, that way it could straighten out....It drove me nuts always trying to curl up.
I love the strength though,
however am not sure a mini needs quite the strength...over kill?
but invisibility is certainly something to strive for...
dilu
Kim-Bee BearsInvisible thread drives me NUTS! That is what I do my bears with that are sparse or a bear I cant find a color close enough tooo... I also sew my stuffing holes up with invisible thread... does anyone know of a stronger invisible thread???? another brand maybe? I HATE when it curls too!!! It drives me nuts when I get knots or my line snaps!
I love my upholstry thread because I can pull and pull and I have never had a break (knock on wood!).... I wonder if I use fishing line if I could sew with that... hmmm.....
I always double my thread though 
One thread is just not strong enough for me... maybe I am a little rough with it LOL
Terries BearsI have the best luck with quilting thread. It is easy to use, comes in a rainbow of colors and I figure that if they use it for quilts that are going to last a hundred or so years it should be good for my little guys.
Wild Thyme OriginalsAmelia... I generally do trim the pile from the seam allowences (when it's possible!) before sewing, and I do find that it helps those pieces "meet" better. I've found too, that there are some mini fabrics that no matter what you do... they stitches are a bit visable... like shorter piled vintage rayon, for example. Now I LOVE vintage rayon, and use it all the time, so when I do those bears, I make sure that my backstitch is EXTRA tiny.... that way, if you can see the stitches, they are more in proportion with the bear.... unless you ARE going for that kinda homespun, distressed teddy look, as you mentioned... then I might even use a contrasting thread that really looks like some loving Mommy has done her best to keep a young one's favorite bear in one piece.
My younger brother had this stuffed lamb that he loved as more than life itself, and he went through so many repairs!
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
'Bear' Bottoms OriginalsI have always used polyester upholstery thread on all of my minis, no matter how small. I also always backstitch all pieces.
Kimberly W.
Kim-Bee BearsDo you gals know of a source tha sells more than just the regular old upholstry thread colors? I have white, off white, dark brown, light brown and black...
'Bear' Bottoms OriginalsHey Kim,
At Wal Mart I also found blue....
kimberly W.
Kim-Bee BearsOOOH 
Posts: 1,277Kim, the few spools of upholstery thread I have came from Hancock Fabrics. They had a pretty nice color selection there. I don't know if you have that store in your area though.
Kim-Bee BearsI'll have to check that one out, Sandi... :hug:
