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VallierBearsHello,
I am new here and New to the Teddy making world. My name is Richy and I breed Russian blue cats.
I am just on my first bear using a synthetic fabric. Very cheap but nice and plush. While I'm waiting for my joints and eyes plus stuffing I am getting eggar to start another! I have been making him over 3 days and all in all about 8 hours of work and I just need stuffing a little over sewing and joints eyes etc.
I adore some of your more Modern bears And you all go on about how you make patterns and it seems so easy for you! Any help on how to develope some patterns while I wait for my order to arrive. I'm more into 13"+ size bears.
Thank you all for you time,
Richy~
Sunnie BearsHi Richy, Welcome to Teddy-talk and welcome to the bear making world. You are in for the time of your life. There are many wonderful books on designing patterns. I would suggest Nancy Tillberg's 101 bears to make as a great one to start with. Also Jennifer Lainge's The art of teddy bears. Both have very good lessons on how to design bears and other animals. it is not as easy as we all make it sound, but you can learn by using a basic pattern and then "tweaking" it to see what happens to the look if say you make the muzzle longer or the ears bigger, etc. Would love to see your bear when you are done.
Sonya
Posts: 1,836Hi Richy!
I wasn't ever really into sewing prior to bear making so it wasn't easy for me in the beginning. I don't think it was an easy 1-2-3 snap for any of us..so don't get discouraged at all!! 
When I started I was searching for as many books as I could find, books with the basics and that were instructional. Some books out there are more about making the patterns in that book and they're not about the instruction or "how" to of designing.
The books mentioned above are fantastic. My first book and one I always referred back to was The Complete Book of Teddy Bear Making Techniques. For me the step by step with full color photos was a must.
Keep us posted on your bear!
:hug:
~Chrissi
VallierBearsThank you both Very much. I will check out the books
Doing my first bear I came to some hard parts. Putting the foot pads on! ARGH! Also sewing the front and back arms together as... Someone who made the pattern but different Opening sizes! I was really confused!
I have finished all body peices. thank god!
Anyways, Thank you again,
Richy~
BruinwerksHi Richy
Fair warning...making bears is so addictive, I always have at least 3 or 4 creatures happening at once!
Take your time and you'll soon see a 'pattern' (pun completely intended 
) in the designs you're naturally drawn to. Then you can start trying your own and figuring out what gets you 'that look'.
If there was a magic pill....I would of taken it years ago :crackup: Unfortunately only experience and lots of trial and error will teach you!
Oh by the way, I still hate footpads! 
The books recommended previously are all really good.
Welcome to TT!
Cheryl
I agree with Cheryl; trial and error will be your worst enemy and your best friend as you work through your first ten or twenty bears. But then things will click and you will think, "Why did I find this so difficult?"
My own path was to buy a number of bearmaking books (that happened to be at my local used bookstore; Chico has an AWESOME one and there are lots of creative people in this city!) and then study them meticulously. I have both of the ones mentioned above and a few others as well. I only made maybe one or two bears from someone else's pattern and started right away trying to hand-draw my own, which at first had really yucky results and poor proportions.
Over time, you learn as you go, and you begin to see -- when looking at other artist's patterns -- why they shaped a piece as they did, or why they jointed on the body where they did, or why the muzzle turned up like it did, etc.
I tend to draw my patterns out on gigantic art paper in silhouette. I draw the head, ear, arm, leg in the shapes I want them to be when FINISHED... not with seam allowances! Then I draw over that initial silhouette with thick-ish permanent black marker, and TRACE the parts separately onto another sheet of paper, adding a 1/4 inch seam allowance at that time. Most of my bears are close to 14 inches so this method could work nicely for you, too, if it seems like a good "fit".
Regarding those persnickity parts like footpads... You'll find that every bearmaker does things differently and that there's no right or wrong way to make a bear. And you'll also find that many, if not most, bearmakers take special care when sewing two parts: the muzzle/face area, and the feet. There's just no quick and dirty way to finish those areas. I have a weird way of sewing up my muzzles which takes about five steps, but I can do it all on the machine. For footpads, I always whipstitch the edges first after pinning carefully using alligator clips, and only after that, take those footsies to my machine for final sewing.
You'll find lots of great help here from a huge handful of absolutely fantastic bearmakers, whenever you have trouble along the way, so don't be shy about asking questions.
Have fun!
Posts: 3,177Hi Richy,
I suggest sketching out what you want your bear to look like (fat, slim, long legs, short etc) and then just draw the pattern on grid paper...........you can adjust as you go along and make up the pattern in cheap plain cotton before using up any plush or mohair.........this is a great way to learn pattern design Richy, you would be suprised at how much you learn from doing it this way. By all means study other patterns to see how they work but you'll get a real kick out of making and designing your bears!
Give it a try and let us know how you get on :dance:
Penny 
Hearts Ease BearsCindy Anshcuntz (sp?) has a design kit with graph papare etc she sells ftom her website ( i think she still does) and also thru Edinburgh Imports,,trial and error and that moment where you make someone else's pattern and say i wish this were longer or those paws are not what i want..trying others helps you learn but desire to do it your way makes you design! good luck and have FUN! deb
Donna's Duin BruinsRotraud Ilisch has a CD that has all kind of good info on it. It is Teddies, Bears and all That. I got mine at Edinburgh. In it she has a pattern that has two bodies, two styles of legs, four sideheads, four different ears, two different foot pads, and three head gussets. It can be a real learning tool for how different parts look going together.
Donna
I think the split pin method is a good one to start with. You know the split pins that hold pieces of card together but will allow the card to swivel? Well, if you draw out pattern shapes and use a split pin to join them together in the form of a teddy bear, you can soon work out how the bear will look and what adjustments you might like to make to change the shape of your bear design ... this is great for doing things like making legs with bent knees etc.
VallierBearsThank you All so kindly for your help. Very much appreciated.
I am very much so getting into bear making and do also hope to became a bear artist like some of you in the near future.
Thank you all again
Richy~
