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Mo Beary Feb 28, 2007

Any of the Real Fur bears that I have made I have cheated and put a glass nose on them.  I read, I think in Nancy's Bears with a Past book, that doing a perle cotton nose could cut the hide to much in that local area especially if you are doing multiple layers!

Do any of you who do perle cotton noses on Real Fur bears use a different technique  or do you re-enforce that area prior to sewing???

Thanks

Jane

Little Bear Guy Feb 28, 2007

hmmmmm  I think we have only done a real fur face a few times,  I know Steve was worried about that problem as well but they seemed to be alright and have not heard that the noses have fallen off  .  I still like a sculpted nose on real fur, I just like the look of it over a stitched nose but that's just my preference.  We tend to do more of an inset face with alpaca now with real fur or sometimes Ultrasuede.

hugs

Shane

sarahjane Feb 28, 2007

I have done a stitched nose on real fur Jane and it seems fine but it was really difficult to sew!!!     I think all the multiple stitches are held in the stuffing so you probably don't have to worry about it falling off!!

tuppies teddies Feb 28, 2007

I have embroided the last two real fur bears noses but one that is on the e-bay waiting queue has a glued on nose.....much easier to apply than the stitched one as what you mentioned sometimes the hide is a little soft...

kbonsall Feb 28, 2007

When I was doing real fur bears, I just did fimo clay noses... It is hard enough for me to do noses without doing them through so many layers LOL... my hands thanked me for it too!  :crackup:

DebbieD Feb 28, 2007

I've only been able to do the stitched noses on a handful of real fur bears, but that's moreso because my wrist and hand retired me out from dog grooming.  It simply could not stand up to the hours upon hours needed to properly stitch a nose for the real fur bears.  None of the hides had a problem holding up.  In fact, I still have two of my oldest bears with stitched noses, and they're going on 6 years old with no probs, and Bearnard's even travelled to the UK and the Isle of Man with no probs to his nose. 

I did switch to a plastic nose that's been covered with ultrasuede.  I know many people do a simple glue on process, but I'm utterly useless with glue, so I do a running stitch round a rough triangle nose shape, pull, insert the nose, and then go about with extra stitches to remove any wrinkles or bumps from the edges.  I'm sure it takes me loads more time than just a simple glue on process, but it works for me.  The hardest part then is getting the nose installed.  Mink, and muskrat are not a problem, but some of those raccoon hides are THICK!!!  Even hubby has wrestled and lost with a couple of the raccoon heads.   

Here's Bearnard on the left with my good friend Mary Jane.  You can see his stitched nose.  He's made from mink.

And here's Aspen, from muskrat showing one of the ultrasuede noses

Michelle Helen Feb 28, 2007

Jane: I make a lot of real fur bears. I use Perle cotton to stitch the nose. Here are some things that work for me that might be helpful:

1) I trim the fur on the nose area so I don't get fur tuffs sticking out from the stitches.
2) I might draw a black like on top of nose so that I keep the top of nose straight.
3) I use scotch tape to tape back the fur not cut around the nose and muzzle.
4) I use a leather needle and plyers, stitching my normal nose. I often have to use plyers to pull the needle out.
5) If fur does peak out, I trim it close to the nose (very carefully) and I may use a black prisma marker to color the nose if fur is stubborn and you nose color is not black as you like it.

I take great care with each stitch that if some fur gets clogged in the stitch, I pick it our before I continue with the next stitch.

I also may use a leather thimble when needing to nudge the needle through the leather. Plyers is my second choice if it is too hard to push through with finger.

matilda Mar 1, 2007

All I can say is to try on a scrap piece of fur. See then how much needle work it will put up with.
You could do a leather nose.
Wendy