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Bear-Handshi there everyone. i hope you are all well.
i have a question and would be grateful for help.
when i put the legs on my bears i like the feet to turn out slightly and have tried to get this to happen but not always successful, they just seem to hang wide of the body, so any tips on the stuffing or attaching of the legs.
thanks for reading my plea 
Hey Susiray :)
I think the usual thing is to set the legs a little further back along the curve of the body, moving the joints more towards the tail? You could also try changing the foot pattern- making the outside of the foot slightly shorter might hold th entire foot out more?
Past Time BearsChloe is correct. If you move the joint holes in BOTH the legs and body toward the back, the feet tend to point outward.
You may need to redesign your body pattern too Susi ... changing the angle of the slant from side body to bottom body will provide differing results and as Sue Ann says, if you joint the leg behind the side body seam, rather than on it, or in front of it, that may help - however, the success of your result will depend on your pattern design for both the leg top and the bottom section of the body.
It also helps to consider where you are placing your joint in the top of the leg ... if you have sufficient room in the leg design (ie the top thigh), placing the joint slighly towards the back leg seam, rather than dead central or to the front of the leg, may help too. It may also help to site the leg either slightly higher than usual, or slightly lower, depending on your original design ... small changes in placement can make all the difference.
Also, some bear makers like to weight their bears' feet to help turn them outwards, or perhaps you could consider putting a few pellets in the ankles and not stuffing the ankles too firmly?
Ted Menten offers a great tip ref stuffing in his book 'Teddy Bear Studio' which involves a little bondage! Tie your bear's ankles together (I like to stuff the legs partway first, leaving the thighs empty) before stuffing the body. I then close the body cavity and stuff the bear's thighs, then ladder stitch closed. I find this stuffing technique is great for avoiding over stuffing of either the body or the legs and it also helps the legs to sit comfortably into the body shaping.
As with most things related to bear creation ... it usually takes quite a bit of playing around with all elements of the overall design, including stuffing techniques, to achieve a great end result.
Bear-Handsthanks for all the tips, i have lots of things to try now and things i hadn't even thought of. so once again thankyou everyone for your help.
susi bear-hands xx
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)I had a different thought when I first read Susi's query just now: I pictured the bears 'Toes' being pointed a bit more outward (than the heels) which then brings up a whole different set of solutions.
That's sort of funny how the same question can strike 2 very different notes!
When Susi comments on "the legs hanging wide of the body", I interpreted that as when she attempted to turn the toes out, both legs spread away from each other, as which are what the techniques being described here will accomplish.
Was it decided, Susi? Which did you mean: both legs spread apart or the toes 'tipped' outward/over?
Bobbie
Wild Thyme OriginalsMy first thought was jointing the legs slightly further back as has already been suggested. Possibly you could consider an armature in the legs as well... I use an armature "bone" that allows me to slightly bend at the ankle, etc... to get into all the little interesting poses that my bears like to be in. 
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
Back Road BearsI love the differences in our languages, the words we use and the various meanings depending on the country you are in.
I interpreted the problem to be that the legs parted too wide from the sides of the body... which in my experience happens if they are set too far back on the body. Gives him that 'spread eagle' look.
To make the toes point outwards I'd attach the legs a bit lower, towards the very bottom of the body. This sets them almost but not quite under the body so the legs will naturally turn outward causing the toes to point outward.
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)You hit it exactly Daphne, that's what I was trying to say: in interpreting "I like the feet to turn out slightly" - we're all picturing a slightly different problem & different but similar solutions.
The old axiom about there being more than one way to...
oH never mind, that would be extremely offensive on an animal loving list!!!
B
Bear-Hands
hi guys i meant just turning the toes out abit, i have tried putting the legs back more and it worked, thanks again, sorry to confuse some of you with how i describe my problem. thanks again susan bear-hands xx 
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)Ahhhh.. that's the way I was interpreting your words. Turning the toes out instead of spreading the legs. All of you TT Sisters gave excellent directions for spreading the legs; I hope they go into the Library!
Especially in a mini, every eighth & sixteenth of an inch makes a HUGE difference, that doesn't even come into the equation when measuring things like this for larger bears, as simply twisting a stuffed leg between 2 hands is often enough to torque or resettle the stuffing a bit.
From what I can tell Susan, it looks like your ted's bottom is sitting on the table - that is to say, it's hitting the table equally with the back of his legs. So the leg jointing Position on the Body (up & down the side of the Body) is good.
We've forgotten to ask if you are cotter pin & disk jointing or thread jointing?
But whichever is the case, I would shift the joint entry & exit point on the INNER LEG/THIGH portion back a tiny bit.
The standing position will remain the same and in thread jointing, if you still use the exact middle of the Outer Leg piece as the exit/entry point with your needle, moving the point on the Inner Leg back a tiny bit will turn the toes out when the legs are swung up into a seated position.
If this bear is thread jointed, you could cut his thread jointing and try this with pins: set one leg as you have it now, straight through the leg and int the body.
On the other leg, push the pin into the exact center but the tip will exit a little to ward the back of the leg, beyond your first joint hole, which will probably still show. Push both pins through the body and then put him down seated.
Did this work?
I can see exactly why you want to turn the toes out: he's such a wee thing, with beautifully sewn chunky feet, but they cover up most of him and all you see at a quick glance are foot pads and that cute cap.
Turning his feet out will show off his face & chest.
I also have a method for torquing a limb in this exact fashion while sewing it together, but I'll have to go into my cabinet of sewn bears' pattern files for the kit that demo-ed it. It's hard to describe - better with a drawing or sketch.
Let us know how this experiment turns out!
Bear-Hands
Hi there, sorry for the delay in response i haven't been online busy making the last bears before my first xmas show, its a craft fair here in the portugal and i'm hoping to get my name and bears out to all.
i use cotter joints and have been moving the legs back more and i'm happy with the results. i have made some bigger bears 6 - 7 inch as they seem to sell at my last show here in september i have now got to take my pictures but when i do i will post a couple on here and put them on my website.
so once again thanks for your help and time.
susan bear-hands xx
