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Strange BearsI've just been told I'm weird. Although I design a whole bear and draw it out,right down to joint placement. I never ever design my ears until I have completed the nose and eyes and all but have the head finished. I then place it in a mug and have it sitting looking at me while I sew the rest of the bear. I then stuff arms and legs and joint them to the body. I then hold the head to the body and deisgn and sew on the ears. Joint the head to the body and stuff and close the body. In short the ears are the last thing I design and the second last thing I do before finishing the bear. Am I wierd or do others leave certain tasks to last.
Past Time BearsOh, Sandra . . . you're not weird - you just 'do' ears a little differently. And if it works for you, by george, I wouldn't change a thing. 
Just Us BearsSandra...I kinda do that too but for different reasons...sheer laziness~!
When I design a bear I just can't be bothered with the ears so I don't...and I ALWAYS regret it afterwards when I have to drag out my mohair and most often my machine just to do the ears when everything else is finished. 
I always do the ears last anyway because I set them to look square with the face.
So if you are weird..I am weird. 
But then again, you are the one with the 'Strange Bears' so people would expect some of your methods to be 'odd'.
Back Road BearsI design my ears when I design the rest of the bear but I tend to go on the big side for the ears. By the time they are actually attached to the head I've usually gone back to my machine to change the shape or cut off the bottom to make them shorter or SOMETHING! But, like Hayley, I design and cut them out with the rest of the body because the idea of having to get mohair and all out again is too much work.
I agree with Sue Ann too! If it works don't change it!!!
Strange BearsIt may be the fact that sew all by hand then that makes medoit this way. Sewing on ears is my most hated task and I used to make thiem all rather large for that reason Now Ilike really little ears and I can't seem toget the position right unless I have the bear allbut finished a see the overall effect. AnywayI look at it my "strange" habit seems to be to do it last. 
Tami Eveslage Original Teddy BearsSandra, I love your Avitar bear! There is no right way to do ears...whatever works for you is right for you! The only rule I can think of is that there should be two of them!! 
But I'm sure there are occasions when an artist thought it appropriate to break even that one! (Perhaps someone making a vintage look bear wanted it to look like her bear had lost one..)
Frankly I like weird people. I think I'm pretty weird myself.
Answering your question, though... I design my ears when I design my pattern. Usually I make a whole head and finish it, then attach the ears... then attach THAT to the completed body. I like to place the ears to complement the features... not place the features to complement the ears. Or something like that. I start with the nose, too, rather than the eyes. Yet when I draw a portrait, the very first thing I do is the eye area! Go figure. Told you I'm weird!
On the odd occasion that I stuff and finish everything and THEN do the work on the head, I tend to stuff and close every seam, then do the nose/mouth/eyes/shading on the face. And the ears go on absolutely last, in that case.
Pumpkin & Pickle BearsThe ears are the very last thing I do too..it's also my least favourite part of bear making....I LOVE the rest though!!
Jare Hares & BearsWell I know that placing the ears is the least favorite part for me. When designing the rabbits I try to keep it so that the ears are sewn into the seams. That way I can place the wire in the ears and have it anchored in the head. Much easier than trying to sew it to the top of the head. I tried doing it that way and it never worked real well for me. I know one artist who starches the ears of her bunnies. I don't think I could wait for it to dry.
When I do the bears it depends on my mood. I might put the ears on last or I might put them on first. Just depends. Mostly I put them on after I have the eyes placed and the is nose done.
When I design a pattern I design the ears at the same time.
I think we are all weird... Why be normal, when you can be you?
We should be proud of ourselves and the art that we create. We make the world a better place. 
:hug: :hug: :hug:
Bears by JodiI always do my head first and ears last . I want to see who I am working on !! For me doing the ears last you can better balance the face. I do nose then eyes then ears. Then do body . But I think the ears can really change the personality....I look at different options before I sew them to the head.
Baird'sBears
Sounds perfectly reasonable to me, Sandra--if it works, it's a keeper, and this works! 
I'm an ears-laster too, though not because I hate it (now that's weird :crackup: ).
I think the size and curve and placement of the ears really 'set' the bear's expression. I like to play with them.
Like Daphne, I cut them on the large size, then adjust. I guess this counts as designing.
The only time I've cut them out last was when I lost a pair. 
Bears by JodiLOST A PAIR !!!!!! :crackup: :crackup:
Don't you hate that when that happens !!! ERRRRRRRRR then you have to remember what pattern you used ......... :dance:
Posts: 8,574I'm going to give your idea a go!
gollyhugs.....
dilu
Matilda Huggington-beareSandra, your idea is a great one!
I am constantly redesigning my ears. I usually waste fabric and time when I do a secondf or third set of ears.
I think I'll do it your way infuture .As long as I remember to NOT do the ears with the rest of the pattern.
I'm lucky at the moment,because Platy's dont have ears.
Wendy
Jare Hares & BearsYeah but have you ever placed the ears in the body for safe keeping, then forgot to take them out and stuff the body and sew it shut...
Then you go to put the ears on, know that you have cut and sewn them and put them in a safe spot, but you just can't remember where...
then it dawns on you that they are in the body...
I'll tell you it ain't worth the effort of unstuffing the body to get the ears out...
Just cut a new pair...
Not that I have ever done this, but I know someone kwho has a couple of times.
Patsy Lake BearsEars are the last things I do on the bear ...I do design them with the rest of the bear. Like others I often change the design when I come to sew them on.
Strange BearsWell I;ve never lost ears by stuffing them into abody but.....once.....after designing them i decided to sewthem on the way to work on the Manly Ferry. Fotthose in the USA this crosses Sydney Harbour from Manly to Sydney about a 45 min trip, Anyway I finished the ears in this time andI know I put temin my bag, but they must have fakken out on disembarking when I got my ticket out. The problem with this......I had had tomake these ears small and from the very last piece I had of this fur........you try explaining to a lost and found office....to two men.....that you are looking for 2 teddy bear ears!!!!
Well they just stared and stared at me as though I had donkey ears growing out of my head.
So I gave up...buti wasn't going to throw away a totally finished bear for all but ears so I made him a hat and sewed into onto his head......it wouldn't have sat right over ears anyway......well it's true it wouldn't have!! :crackup:
Bears by JodiDONKEY EARS :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup:
Wild Thyme OriginalsI do the ears last too! And I frequently make up a couple pairs as well.... a biggger pair and a smaller pair, then I pin them on and see what he/she looks like. Ears can change things SOOOOO much! I think that I generally save things that I have a whole lot of control over to the end.... You know?
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
PaWow! I do the ears last too! Partly because it is my least favourite part and partly because I kinda use the rest of the finished bear as a gauge for where exactly I want to put the ears. I never really know what a bear is going to look like till it is finished.
Kathleen
Jare Hares & BearsSo I gave up...buti wasn't going to throw away a totally finished bear for all but ears so I made him a hat and sewed into onto his head......it wouldn't have sat right over ears anyway......well it's true it wouldn't have!! :crackup:
Sometimes that higher power interceeds...
I know what those strange looks are I get them all the time....
Donkey ears!!!! LOL :crackup: :crackup: :crackup:
