Banner Sponsors
For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
Posts: 65I've only been making bears since October and on probably on the 20-somethingth by now. Not sure as I lost count after 10.
I oversew all the edges by hand, then double machine sew as I'm interested in old bears and want to make them on the machine to be as close to the original as possible. But because of the oversewing, I'm not finding things quick!
Most of my bears are around 10", although I made one tiny mini bear (urgh!) and a couple 6-7" which were fun. And regardless of size, I spose I'm spending 12 hours or more. It seems with every new bear I make a new and interesting mistake - one bear has just been pretty well pulled apart and remade. I hadn't made any dressed bears but the two I'm working on now will be the first and have found that so far I've worked longer on the dress (as that was also re-made from scratch!) than on the bear! Also spend a lot of time browsing the charity shops (thrift stores) for vintage fabrics, interesting bits and pieces so am not even counting that time in! The latest bear will have a handmade patchwork dress with tiny patches, which will take me more hours than I dare add up but I do it whilst watching TV.
I've also recently gone over to just making the head first, and trying out prototypes etc. But am still a rank amateur and beginner. Getting a different thing *wrong* each time can add a lot of time to things.
Newcastle, OntarioMy bears are all under 6 inches and I sew them by hand - a basic bear from cutting to finishing "without clothes", takes me approximately 14 hours. Making clothes will add 4-6 hours depending if I'm smocking a dress etc. So since I don't make many without clothes, then it's 18-20 hours. I usually get one a week done for ebay - less in the nice summer weather lol!
hugs,
Brenda
