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South AustraliaHi All,
I am on my second bear and was having sooooo much trouble embroidering the nose. 
The first bear I made I tried a template but the thread just kept slipping off so I ended up doing it without one then I tried the same thing on the next bear but couldn't get it right and ended up taking it out three times ( my first bear must have been a fluke ).
The felt I was trying to use was very thick but I had some white felt I got to do eye whites but it is to thin for the whites so I figured I would try it for the nose and it turn out really good, using the white felt as a template with the black thread made it so much easier to see where I had and hadn't been.
I covered the nose in vertical stitches not pulling to tight so they didn't slip then did three horizontal stitches to secure them then went over the whole thing with more vertical stitches and it worked out, AMAZING, :dance: I still can't believe it and it only took me half a hour to do ( I have previously been working on this nose for 3 days )
Now I am paranoid it is going to come undone or fall out so I am thinking about putting glue over the top. Is that what I am suppose to do to keep it perfect??????
I am so pleased with myself, I am home alone and I just had to let someone know. :clap: :clap: :clap:
Plum Cottage BearsGood for you! Sounds like you have found your personal secret to the perfect nose!
Hugs,
Gail S. Thomas
Well-done, Sheree! A good base of stitches is the key - as you found out.
A lot of people don't use a template at all, so you could try that to prevent the "roll-off." I like to use a felt template, and my very first stitch is right NEXT TO the template. (That helps me when I do the second "coat" of stitches. The sides still want to roll out a bit, but they don't have as far to go.)
Personally, I don't like glue on top of stitches, but you might try using some tacky fabric glue on top of the template itself (under your first coat of stitches). I learned about that trick from Nancy Tillberg. Depending on your technique. you could spread a drop of tacky glue to completely cover one side of the template. Stitch that side, then repeat on the other side. Or if you start in the middle and work outwards or stitch in some other way, spread a thin layer of glue over the whole template before you stitch. The idea is to lay down a very stable layer of stitches EXACTLY where you want them. Then let that layer dry completely (it won't take long) before you do a second layer of stitches (no more glue is needed).
Becky
