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VallierBearsHello Everyone ! 
One of my least fave parts of bear making, Other then attaching ears (What I think I'll add a None shaping darts in head and guesset peices for) is the fur cutting! It is so boring and usually takes me hours to cut out a bear! I usually cut a a few peices out, Then sew them up then cary on cutting!
Am I cheating if I Cut out say.... a 2peice body, But just cut 1 peice out of fur. Then cut a square bigger then the body peice and just sew that to the shape of the body on the machine? 
I know it's a bit more wastfull of the fabric but, Would save me time and the boring part, Think It would work if I pin it and also make sure the square of fabric isn't scrunched and such?
Me just trying to save me time and the awfully boring parts!
Richy~
AlmostBearsyou lazy bugger 
i think it would work allright but why do you find cutting out boring???it shouldnt be taking you hours
maybe try doing it another way 
Cutting out only takes me maybe 1/2 hour for a larger bear and less for a small bear. Do you have a litte pair of really sharp scissors?? My pair are about 4" in total length and I can cut little snips quite quickly.
Jane
VallierBearsI think the reason it takes me hours is because it just bores me! I do have a small pair of sharp scissors and I can cut out pretty fast, But after cutting out to arm peices or legs, I'm bored of cutting out and go sew them instead, Then go back to cutting out when I need the peices....
Could also be due to I have to do it on the floor, My dinning room has been taken over by my 2 cats. They sleep all day, Untill I go in there, As soon as I sit down, They are walking all over my fabric or stealing things! So I am resorted to my bedroom floor... I think I cut more pile of my carpet then the bear! Opps
I was just wondering If my idea would work?
Richy~
hmmm have you ever tried just holding the fabric in your lap as opposed to laying it down to cut out? As long as you make sure just to cut the backing you should be fine. I just hold mine as I recline in front of the tv and cut away, I can cut out the pieces for my puppies in about 20 minutes and they have three times the amount of pieces that my bears do.
hugs,
Krista
Posts: 1,836:crackup: Just sounds like you're trying to avoid doing the boring parts my friend!! If we're talking mini's, hold the fabric and cut off of the floor. The way you'd have to bend down to cut a mini from the floor... that way would drive me nuts too! If it's a bigger bear.....gently move those lovely gray kitties, protect the table and just cut out the whole pattern. Get it over with in one sitting, so you can move onto to totally focusing on the "good parts"! :crackup: Just like you're practicing the whole art and craft of bearmaking, you're training yourself too. You can't run the marathon successfully if you don't do the boring stretching first. 
How are your sis and the baby doing??
:hug:
~Chrissi
I did a cloth dollmaking course about a year ago, and in that we were taught to fold your whole pice of fabric in half, draw the pattern on one half, and then machine sew along those lines with the fabric still folded in half. Once they are sewn (leaving a gap for turning and stuffing), then you cut out around the stitching. I have seen bear makers do the same thing, so I think your plan would work!!!
VallierBearsChrissi : You know me too well!!! LOL! You are so right, I do cut down on the floor, BUGS me so bad! I will have to sit down and do it on my lap. I am basicly like you say.... Trying to avoid the boring parts. That's why I thought I could cheat!! :lol:
Samantha: Yes, That's what I mean!! With my mini's I don't think It would work as I don't machine sew them (I'll also have to think bout sewing them on the machine too!). It is a big waste though and I so wouldn't do it with Mohair! But with my cheap synthetic streches, That I have to sew lining then fur to each peice, I think It would cut my time in half...
Thanks guys!!!
Richy~
Little Bear GuyI usually sit on the couch with my fabric on my lap and cut out that way, this way I can still watch TV and I'm comfortable. It would kill me to sit on the floor and try and cut out a bear, I would not want to do it that way and I would get very tired of it very quickly.
Try sitting in a chair or on the couch and cut out that way, I actually enjoy cutting out I find it quite relaxing.
big hugs
Shane
I think it might work if you don't mind getting the pile caught up in the seams!!! I do this sandwich method for clothes sometimes but I am going to be an old stick in the mud and say that the fur is best cut out properly...or do what I do and get your mother to do it...my mum watches the telly while she snips...she's a whizz at it now!!
I do find it satisfying though...cutting out..is that odd?
Matilda Huggington-beareyou lazy bugger
i think it would work allright but why do you find cutting out boring???it shouldnt be taking you hours
maybe try doing it another way
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
You crack me up Natty!!!.HAHAHAHAHAHAHH
First you have the wrong scissors. Get a pair of Fiskas . They sit in the palm of your hand . No finger loops to kill the hand. I can't use regular scissors any more. As the others have said.... find a comfy chair and make yourself comfortable. Watch a DVD or put on some music.
When cutting the fabric as you already know you only cut the backing. Well to do this.... guide the lower half of the scissors against the cotton backing and cut the backing only with the top part of the scissor. All you will be doing is moving the scissors in a gentle glide along the pattern lines. It takes practise but is well worth it to practice getting this right. Once you are able to do this correctly the speed at which you do it increases and WALLA no more boring cutting out.
I personally get excited at the cutting out. It is the big step from imagination to3D. My critter is now in its first stages of being born. :dance: :dance: Plus I have an excuse to put on a movie or my favourite show ...'RED DWARF'.
I hope this helps?..
Wendy
Hi Richy
Whose in charge in your house??? The cats maybe??? Just joking!!! Do you have a kitchen or bathroom counter you could cut out on instead of the floor? Cutting out for you is probably like exercising for someone else- just don't like doing it!!!!
Hugs
Gail
Bearly Kidz BearsI sit at a table to cut out my bears with my headphones on and the Beatles playing. :crackup: As for sitting on the floor well lets just say they would need a crane to get me up. :crackup: :crackup: :crackup:
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)Fiskars scissors are the trick to non-tired hands and finger joints: they spring open and you need only to close them. They do half of the whole cutting process! I used to sell the long pile vintage Malden Mills' fabrics; cutting days about killed my hands. Only Fiskars got me through.
I think it might work if you don't mind getting the pile caught up in the seams!!!
This is the main problem that I envision: how are you going to manipulate the nap at the seam lines if you can't get at it?
I'm sure you've seen the creations that're trimmed or plucked but have a line of stubble running through the seams? That's because the pile/nap was pushed to the inside as the seam was sewn, trapping it in the seams. It's possible to alleviate this later by carefully pulling all of the nap that has its roots in the seam allowances, back to what will become the inside of the bear, before turning but it's fiddly work.
One can always trim the nap off the seam allowances, eliminating before it can become a problem, but again, impossible if you're just folding and sewing the template lines on one side of the whole-cloth 'block'.
It's a whole lot easier to pull the nap into the seamline as you sew, and after turning the body parts right side out, brush what belongs on the bear's outside, to the outside. Very clean seams with no trapped stubble.
All in all, I'd say everyone's come up with great reasons why NOT to fold 'n sew...
