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Fess up. Which do you do first -- NOSE or EYES?
And... WHY?
I started out doing eyes first... but then moved to doing the nose first. That way I can "see" more clearly how the features will sit, and if I torque the muzzle while stitching the nose, I can place the eyes to "compensate" for that in my eye placement.
Apple Dumpling DesignsNose first...I leave the neck open so I can reshift the stuffing if I need to and I always do...pack it a little harder if I want, etc. Eyes...then ears last.
Back Road BearsEyes..... they are what usually steals your heart frist when you look at a bear. So, I do them first, place nose and ears symetrical to the eyes after. Besides, It's fun to see a bear go cross-eyed watching you sew his nose on!! 
I have 'test eyes' and 'nose templates' and t-pins for the ears so most times I play around with placement of all before I start permanantly attaching which ever part I go for first.
PS... Someone make me get back to work.......... please!!!
Wild Thyme OriginalsBesides, It's fun to see a bear go cross-eyed watching you sew his nose on!!
PS... Someone make me get back to work.......... please!!!
Daphne... that is the funniest visual ever!!!!!! I love it! Oh... and GET BACK TO WORK WOMAN!!!!
I'd say generally.... eyes first... I have a pretty standard place where my eyes go in my patterns, so the eyes are a "given"... for me there is place where they just look right to me.... then I do the mouth, then the nose. Why do I do the mouth before the nose? Because my mouths are usually sculpted pretty deep, they sometimes pull down the area where my nose will sit, right in the middle. So, I have to sort of "pad" that middle nose area by taking extra stitches there... otherwise, my noses can go a bit concave in the center.
Kim Basta
Wild thyme Originals
Country BearsI am definitely with Shantell :dance: Nose, then eyes, and ears are the very last touch!! 
Flying Fur StudiosI also do the nose 1st. I find that helps me keep everything even and centered.
Kim, I wish i knew where my eyes were always going to go. Takes me forever to decide where they are going to go on that bear.
So after the nose, I do the eyes, than the mouth. Don't ask me why, I just do.
Interesting to hear how everyone else does it though...
I let them see me first, then hear me swear when I give them smell. Make sense?
Interesting to hear what everyone else does.
Jane
Upstate New YorkNose. BUT ... not without having positioned eyes with test eyes.
PS... Someone make me get back to work.......... please!!!
Yeah right! Like we could make you do anything ... especially in the punchy mood you've been in lately.
Kim-Bee BearsNose first.. I think the nose determines eye placement
Posts: 3,540Nose for me, as I can't do the embroidery anymore :redface: So for me its a safety nose with ultrasuede covering firmly in place before the head is even completely sewn up. Then onto the ears, although I usually have the holes punched for my eyes all ready (I'm another one who has a pretty fixed place for my eyes to be) I can place the eyes in the 'sockets' and play around with the position I want for the ears. I place the eyes last because I hide my knots for my eyes under the ears.
Kiprie Bearseyes...then nose and ears. 
Oh my, Daphne I was thinking same
thing !! I like to see my bear
watching me doing his/her nose and ears.
Hugs/Marie
Past Time BearsEyes first, then ears, then nose/mouth. Eyes first because - for me - the eyes will determine where the ears and nose go.
Sunnie BearsNose first.. then I sculpt the mouth.. then sculpt the eyes, then set the eyes. Then I go on to the body, legs and arms and the ears go on last.
Sonya
Love Bud Bears by SandyI always make the nose first- then the eyes- ears- & mouth last. No real reason, just the way it seems to go. I'll play around with the eyes & ears adjusting them for hours & hours before deciding where they go. Then after I can't take it any more I'll make the final placement. I usually end up changing the mouth at least 5 times, I have a hard time getting the bears to look happy. No wonder it takes me forever to get one finished.
For me.....ears, set eyes with testers, stitch nose, airbrush, and then set the eyes in permanently. Why? Hmmmmm. Never thought about why. I don't know why! This is a "things that make you go hmmmmm" thread. 
Warmest bear hugs, :hug:
Aleta
No I could not let the poor thing watch me, first the nose, with test eyes in place as a guide, (they can't see you see ) head is un attached to body at this stage, so that I can still place filling in if needed , once nose is completed, eyes are then inserted, necked is closed off , eyes are pulled in and thread tucked away under the head closure, and then I attached the head to the body. Then the legs arms and body are filled and once the bear is sitting I will sew on the ears.
If it is a new design , then I will complete the head before attaching to the body.
Lynette
Maybe I should try doing the nose first...I just like to see the expression the effect of the eye position creates...then do the nose accordingly. Even though all my bears end up with a similar expression there are definite differences in how they look in the end ...which must mean each position is a little different every time I make a bear. I tried marking the eye position on the pattern...but even though it should work it clearly doesn't for me...which is why I spend forever with the Tru-eyes positioning them till I am happy.
But as I often move the eyes totally after I do the nose...perhaps I should change my modus operandi!!!! Hmmmmmmm!!!!
see...it all just goes to prove that there is never ever just one right wa to make a bear!
99% of the time I do the eyes and then the nose...the exception being when I do a bear on a particularly fluffy fabric - then I tend to do the septum and a first start at the nose so that I have a good centre line, and then place the eyes, go back and finish the nose and then finally the ears. That was how I did my avatar bear and I'm currently making a tiny one from vintage long pile and have just done the same thing
I always do the ears last so that the poor wee bear doesn't hear the swear words and lose his innocence too early.
Matilda Huggington-beareEYES,. I neelde felt faces Matilda
I always do the eyes before the nose. I like to use pins to find where the eyes are going to sit, fiddle around sculpting the bridge of the nose etc, then trim the muzzle. Then I sink the eyes and re-site the ears (they always needs re-siting once the eyes have been drawn back!) Finally I stitch the nose.
You can bet your bottom dollar that once the nose is stitched, if the eyes are even slightly adrift it will show so on the rare (!!!) occasion that happens, I then take the eyes out and re-position them.
What a palaver!!
Noses last for me - always. Whether I'm stitiching or sculpting a nose I have to get everything else in place first. I do eyes first, then ears, then the nose
Hugs,
Chris
I start at the bottom and work my way up.
Nose first and then mouth. The eyes are aligned according to the nose and the ears are aligned by the eyes.
With the nose and mouth first, the bear can tell me when I have gotten the eyes and ears right.
Hugs,
Wanda
Estelles canal bears and Tod TeddiesI'm an "ene" eyes nose earsthat way the bear can look right at me and show his disgust if I make a mistake, I leave the ears to last, it is best he can hear if I stab my finger doing the nose :redface:
Kim-Bee BearsHere is my order...
Finish sewing head
Pin ears on with just a pin so I can move them if need be
Do the nose
Do the mouth
Add the eyes....
The ears are the last thing I do after the body is done
midnight-bearsAs I am still quite new to bear making and originally had trouble getting my noses even, so I start by making a template of the nose I desire, I pin this in the place I want it. I then pin the ears and use tester eyes. That way i can get an idea of how he may look when he is finished and I can tweak his face if needed b4 doing any permanent damage. (which is always handy lol).
