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Strange BearsAs the editor of the mag I just received a letter from a maker asking me why she constantly gets comments from judges in compettions saying......"love your bear and geat work and design, would love ot see it in mohair!" . She tells me she uses top quality woven back synthetics and feels her work equals or exceeds some artists who use mohair.
"Why are the modern synthetics so dismissed?" she asks.
I started to answer her that mohair is the traditionally acepted fur..etc etc ....usual answer and then stopped and thought. She is right after all that many of the modern woven back synthetics offer excellent quality..........so I too ask her question........why do so many artists dismiss it as a lower quality fur??
And I know some of you do use synthetics.........how do many collectors react to those critters you make.......do you get comments from them asking for mohair or do they not notice??
This has really started me thinking!
Pumpkin & Pickle BearsI use both. And my collectors buy both. I only use the super soft quality faux fur and sometimes, you just can't get the same look with mohair or alpaca that you do with faux fur. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE mohair and especially alpaca but I also love some of the quality faux furs available. It's also very difficult to find the length and density in mohair/alpaca that you get with faux fur, especially if you're making a bigger creation. It just scissor sculpts so beautifully!
I did come across a few people who commented about my rabbit being made from faux fur at Hugglets. One of these was a very famous Artist who said "why do you BOTHER using faux fur? It totally ruins it - it makes them the same quality as the soft toys you'd find on the shelves of a greeting card shop!"...Uh huh, she's lucky I was in a good mood (up until then) or I wouldn't have been held responsible for my actions! There was also a collector who said "that's very expensive for just faux fur"...that comment was made while I was away from my table but my mum told me what had been said - this collector obviously doesn't understand that regardless of what the bear is made from, just the same amount of time and effort went into making that creation (and anyway, it was priced about £20 lower than it would have been if it were made from mohair, so the fact that it was made from faux fur WAS taken into consideration when pricing it!). BUT, apart from them 2, I had hundereds of people commenting on how soft and adorable he was! And he's found a new home and is on his way to the USA to his new mummy.
So basically, I use mohair, alpaca AND faux fur. I LOVE working with alpaca and it's my favourite fur to use, but I also love using mohair and faux fur - they all give wonderful but different results!
Bramble, the rabbit in question!:
Hi Sandra, this is an interesting question. I have used top end synthetics many times in the past and have never once failed to find a buyer for a piece ... instead I have had them queueing for those bears. I have certainly never been asked to produce those designs in mohair to 'improve' them!
The faux furs used by bear artists are often similar in price to good quality German mohair and are of exceptional quality - fabulously dense and soft to the touch, so I am quite surprised to hear of 'fabric snobbery', after all, these fabrics are used in haute couture! I wonder if perhaps there is a question of pile longevity and whether collectors are concerned the faux furs will last as well as mohair over a period of many years? I certainly wouldn't choose to use them if I didn't think they would last as well as mohair and to be absolutely honest, there is mohair and there is mohair ... some mohair qualities are far less impressive than a top end synthetic!
As a bear artists, I think the key to using faux fur is to design specifically for that medium, considering its special properties and working them into the design ... for example,my faux fur bears are always very different from my mohair designs and I hope offer the collector a highly individual style of bear, something unique and deliberately different from a mohair bear.
By the way, I am pleased to be able to tell you one of my faux fur bears resides in the hug of a well respected teddy bear magazine editor and writer, which is quite an accolade for faux fur bears!
Wotalot
The Lynx Effect
Bisto
I do think that there are some bears made from a lesser quality of faux furs, also possibly being made without extra backing added too, maybe that impression is left with other people, I am just guessing here so I may be completely wrong on that! ....SO I would love to here what other people think.
Hi Melanie, the quality of the backing on the top quality faux fur is woven, just like mohair and doesn't require backing ... in fact in many cases it's far tougher than the backing on mohair.
Aha! I thought so! 
Thanks for your kind comments Melanie! You're absolutely right, the faux furs are tough to find and thanks to mean 'ol Customs and Excise they are expensive to import, which is usually the way I have to source them.
KezjoyKritterzit is possibly because people see it written in just about every bear book..they all go on about how mohair is the best fabric and better than the stretchy faux fur..however they do not usually take into account the woven back faux..sometimes you do see it mentioned..but its rare..so people associate faux fur with inferior quality..it is a shame..and you would think judges would be able to tell the difference between top quality woven back and stretchy cheaper stuff..some faux is just as expensive as mohair
Kerrilyn
Strange BearsYes Kerrilyn..........I really do think that is th issue and as many "old timers' like myslef who have been around for over 15 years are just so set in our ways. I must admit that when I go to buy fur (which isn't often often as I have such a stockpile after all these years) I tend to head straight for hte mohair and not even pause to look at other stuff. So I think some of us really have to stop and look at the new faux firs. Intelluctually I know they have changed and improved but I have this inbuilt resistance to even looking. Which is really bad in my position!!!
The comments Gemma received is the sort of thing I have encoutered before........I'm glad to say that I'm not that bad!!
Have any other faux fur users encountered fur snobbery.....???
Canna Bear PaintWe work in mohair, alpaca, quality synthetics and recycled real fur. The greatest problem that we've had with the synthetics is when people think it's real fur. We've got one bear now that people adore, but they're convinced she's chinchilla and don't want a 'fur bear'. If we see someone go near her, we make a point of going over and talking about what a wonderful imported FAUX FUR she is. We've not personally experienced synthetics snobbery, but have certainly heard of it.
Interestingly enough, a while back I purchased a lot of several hundred back issues of TB&F and TBR on eBay, back to the earliest days of both magazines. It was interesting to note the... uh... less than exemplary quality of some earlier artist bears. It was also interesting to note that the synthetics used at the time were obviously craft (read: cheap, bad) quality in many cases. From that knowledge, we formed a bit of a theory on the subject of synthetics. We think that, perhaps, some of the older collectors purchased those early synthetic artist bears. As those were NOT nice synthetics, the bear would not have lasted long or well, and would have left the buyers jaded from the experience. Purely a theory, of course. It is a shame though that some people feel that way regardless of the reason, the good synthetics are every bit as nice as other materials, and just as expensive.
Best wishes,
Kelly
desertmountainbearJust a quick comment on the backing and quality of fur. While the quality of woven back fur is usually exceptional, there are many very nicely made furs with the knitted back. Furs made in the USA have knitted backs, while the furs made in mills other countries often have woven backs. I have seen both, and although the woven backs are easier to work with because there is no give, the quality of the actual fur on the piece can be just as nice and soft on the knitted pieces.
I am seeing many more bears gorgeous bears sold on ebay made of faux fur, the prices they are getting are very good, they are achieving looks that can not be done except with faux fur. I have been thinking that peoples minds have been changing about what a bear is made of, compared to what it is worth, I have also been selling a lot more faux fur out of my store lately than I ever have, I don't know if it is the economy or people are buying it because they are seeing more of it used so well
Joanne
Laurie Lou BearsI have only ever used faux fur 3 times in 4 years of bear making and the comments are no different to what they would have been if it was a mohair bear.I just prefer to use mohair.
Although there may be collectors out there that would only ever buy mohair bears there are probably collectors out there that only like and collect faux fur bears.
Laurie :hug:
I guess it pays to be ignorant 
I was designing for North American Bear Company back in the 1990's. I used to go through their rows and rows of shelved fur as I was creating prototypes. I was able to experience designing with all kinds of furs: high quality faux, mohair, alpaca, special velours etc. There was one small shelve of very fine faux fur that I loved. It had a solid woven back (p.s. back then many mohairs had thin terrible backings and shed) and was perfect for fine sculpture work. But I was told that I couldn't use it because it was too expensive for use in manufacturing. When I started designing for myself I was able to buy some of this fur from them and gradually found sources for the fur. By 2000 I had "the cat" 
It never occurred to me that people would be snobby about faux fur?!
Karen
EJ's CraftsI didn't know if I was going to post on this thread or not because, I have had the snobbery of my bears. I work in faux fur mostly and buy the middle of the road furs. The cheap stuff is horrible to work with and I haven't found that I can afford the high end stuff. I design my own bears and have been for over 20 years. I feel I am an artist in my medium but have been told to my face no because I do not work in mohair. I have made bears from recycled mink and other fur fabrics but my first love is making bears that everyone can afford and buy. Most of my bears today are made child safe and at affordable prices for the average person. I have sold hundreds of bears and have a good collector base so I know I will continue this way no matter what some people may say.
Eva
Fascinating. I guess I never really gave this much thought. As a collector, I buy what I like, regardless of whether it's mohair or faux.
Perhaps it would help if the faux fur were called luxury synthetics or something with a swanky name. After all, mohair doesn't come from mo's. It's goat hair for pity sake!! It is goat hair...right? Ha! So, why don't we call mohair goat hair? Because it doesn't sound very swanky? Think about it. And laugh.
Just chatting on......
Warmest silly bear hugs, :hug:
Aleta
WoW I never really thought of it before, I use whatever fabric suits the animal I am creating, whether it be mohair, alpaca or imported synthetic (with the woven back). I have never had anyone question the fabric used. I can tell you though that I pay just as much if not more for my imported synthetic as I do for mohair and alpaca.
I think I know the synthetic which may be in question though, it is the knitted back, stretches to no end, with huge gaps in the knit, some of it has a much better pile than others, but I can see how it could possibly cause confusion....I wonder for any that are in question if a picture of the backing of the fabric could be taken and put in with the sale pictures so that collectors can see that it is a good quality synthetic and not the knitted back of craft store synthetic??
hugs,
Krista
Teenytinyteddybearsmy take on this, and please understand that I am very new. I have limited recoursed with purchasing things because of where I am living. And my bears are very tiny.I have tried mohair on a few bears and is good. But the density does not suit the teenies. If you are cutting a head the size of your thumb nail, you end up with very few "goat hairs" sticking out. I fully understand that I may be missing an entire range of mohair suitable for this but find it difficult to see on the internet. Had even thought of the possiblity of felting my own "mo fabric" The backing also has to be tightly woven to allow for small pieces like ears. I think there is a but of snobbery involved. I know I think of my mohair bears in a different class to ones that are made out of eg ultra suede. But it is silly, the same amount of work (or more) has gone into the ultra suede. Mohair is more forgiving with stiching I find.
Tami Eveslage Original Teddy BearsMy one and only TOBY winner (and I have entered many times) Sweet Elliot was one of the few synthetic bears I have made! I still prefer the natural fibers to man-made for my own creations, but that is just a preference, like liking cotton or wool clothing as opposed to polyester, and real leather shoes. I guess I am a traditionalist. That does not mean I don't value other artists' synthetic creations though. I think that any bias against synthetic comes from the older cheaper synthetics which Kelly mentioned, and I think (hope), that as artists continue to use high quality synthetics to make stunning creations like the ones in the above posts, that bias will change 
I like working with synthetics...because they are lovely to scissor sculpt and I like the guard hairs as they give the illusion of real fur which on a cat, rabbit and bear looks very nice. I have used the knitted variety too which I have lined very successfully giving no stretch but I much prefer the woven types because I do feel the quality is excellent.
I am not keen ,however, on the fact that there is no variation from piece of fabric to piece of fabric...that it all looks the same in a particular type..I am thinking of the many knitted ones around right now with the tips that lots of people use...and I have used in the past. I do think that the ability of mohair to be manipulated and customised allows more variety..and I know that faux fur can be airbrushed and shaded...and I do often do that ...but some varieties do look identical, even on different artists bears..and while with mohair ..and perhaps the plainer synthetics ...it's quite easy to personalise the fabric in some way..I am put off now by the uniformity of synthetics. So at the moment mohair gets my vote as I love the challenge of changing it. From piece to piece it always has a unique quality which synthetic often does not.
Bears by JodiWell I like mohair the best. Some times when I work with synthetics it gets to my nose, my face itches, so thats a problem , but when I made larger bears and animals I would suffer through sometimes because I like the effect you get when you are wanting something soft and furry.
You are so right Tami, I never really thought of it before, but my TOBY industries choice, Golden Teddy nominee, and my URSA Major winners were all imported synthetic!
hugs,
Krista
JeannieB BearsGreat question and answers! I use synthetics, alpaca, recycled fur, mohair and just about anything (including hubbys bath robe) that I imagine my creation to look and feel like! :crackup:
I love working with synthetics, but have to admit: I cringe everytime I see a beautiful creation made out of "craft" synthetic. Perhaps that's one of the reasons that "imported", "premium" and "top of the line" synthetics still get overlooked as being high quality fur????
My avatar bear Honey is made from "premium" synthetic.....she is pictured beside Louis on my web page. Louis was made from a re-cycled sheared beaver coat. It's hard to tell from pictures sometimes exactly what quality fur you are getting, unless the artist states what type it is....hmmm....
hugs,
JeannieB
Benson BearsI guess it really is a personal preferrence thing, like wanting to wear natural materials. In the bad ol' days before we had the wonderful mohairs and alpacas we're spoiled with now, I would buy fake fur coats and things from charity shops and use those. The quality was always really good, because it was garment quality, and I must admit when I encountered my first piece of mohair at my first doll show, I didn't like it at all because it didn't look fluffy enough!! These days the only synthetic I use is for minis and if I could get a mohair or alpaca with a backing as easy to work with as the Sassies I'd be using that. I must admit though, that what some of you are doing with synthetic fur is fabulous, Karen's cats just wouldn't be the same in anything else, but personally I don't like working with it.
BrisbaneI myself started with mohair only because I discovered Gerry's Teddies when it was located in Brisbane. When I walked in there was just sooo much mohair I could not help myself. I have only done a few synthetic bears, only because I managed to accrue a stash of mohair from ebay( ). I recently bought some synthetics to play with. I am inspired by the beautiful work here by all of you.
I love the fact that there is a variety of materials available. I have seen such a diverse amount of work here on teddy talk in all sorts of fabrics.
---Therese
Posts: 3,540Sorry if I've skipped other's points to reply (late night), but I've had a friend over this week and she was doing a Furry suit....a concept totally new to me where people dress up as animals. She had some new, very expensive faux fur. Now I work with real fur, so we were trying to help each other out with techniques. It came up as a blending of what I do with real fur, and what she naturally will do with mohair, or other textiles. To say the techniques were night n day :crackup: But they were her ears, so I completely left them alone!!
I admit it, I grabbed the one ear and was instantly stretching it gently this way and that to find the natural nap. I find with many synthetics, there's at least one direction if not two or three where it reeeeeaaaaaly stretches, and I was trying to see if we needed to line her piece prior to production. My poor friend was practically holding her breath...."that's very expensive" she started. I assured her I wasn't about to harm her fabric, was only curious as to the nap, and lay of the stretch.
I'm highly impressed with the quality and I know there is similar out there. I naturally work with real fur because my hands have an allergy to synthetics and even mohair, but this was most impressive!
I feel with the higher end synthentics, you'll be facing the same daunting task of educating, educating, educating the public and the buyers. This is not some cheapo crafting fur, nor is the same category as the manufactured furs. This is prime, and right up there with the mohairs in quality
As the editor of the mag I just received a letter from a maker asking me why she constantly gets comments from judges in compettions saying......"love your bear and geat work and design, would love ot see it in mohair!" . She tells me she uses top quality woven back synthetics and feels her work equals or exceeds some artists who use mohair
I think this has mostly been answered by others - but I think Aussie and NZ are in a similar situation. The imported faux fur synthetic isn't common - people don't see it from our mohair suppliers and so are completely unfamiliar with it. When I've been to shows on both sides of the ditch, I've found myself continually explaining that yes it is synthetic, but it's imported from Europe and more expensive than most of the mohair that I use. It's not just collectors that I explain this to but artists as well. I've had similar reactions from some artists to those that Catherine described above.
I think because my bears are miniature, it's not quite so much of an issue - as I use a lot of non-mohair fabrics (because mohair makers don't think about us mini artists much any more - there's a very limited range of quality and colour) and I did get a bear of show award with a woven-backed synthetic bear
From the judging side of things - I think many of the judges here were making their work in the era when synthetic essentially meant cheap and nasty. I also think judging sheets in local competitions can be limiting in and of themselves - they don't allow for artists who like to use unusual proportions, or non-traditional materials.
