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Deb Nov 18, 2005

Two things:

1) Did I see somewhere (I searched but didn't find) a general recommendation on size discs to use?

2) I'm not liking where my arms ... well where my bear arms are ending up.  They're too high on the side of the bear, making him/her look not relaxed.  Any rules of thumb, like ... halfway between bear midpoint and top?  Just looking for a general guide.  I know I could sew up an awl hole and move them, but I'd really rather do it right the first time.

:hug:

shantell Nov 18, 2005

I asked a similiar question quite awhile ago...here's the link...it may or may not answer your question.

As far as disk size I was told to use the biggest disk you can fit into your joint space...I'm not sure where that question was answered...it may have been my very early days on the Edinburgh forum.

I'm still struggling a bit on new patterns with the correct placement too...

http://www.teddy-talk.com/viewtopic.php?id=935

Let me know if you come up with the secret formula.

vkallum Nov 19, 2005

Hi Deb and Shantell

I had the same problem when I first started making my own designs, as Hayley said in the other post you just have to get used to putting the arms a little lower.  Something I learned from Jennifer Laings book, Teddy Bear art was to draw the whole disc into the pattern design.  I always use a four piece body design and place my joint marks on the body front. 

To decide on which joint size to use take your arm and leg patterns, draw in your seam allowance of about 4mm around the top of the pattern and down the sides and then take the biggest joint disc that will fit within the space.  Choose a disc that will give a 5-6mm gap within your seam line, this will give enough room for stuffing over the disc but will stop the shoulders and hips being bulking. 

Now that you've chosen your disc size, take your body pattern and place a disc at the top where you would like the head to sit, draw around the disc, this will show you roughly where the bottom of the head will be on the shoulders.  Then take the disc and place it further down the side of the body to decide where the arms are going to go.  As a general rule have a gap of one or 2 fingers (depending on the bear size) between the head disc and the top of the shoulder disc.  Draw in the disc and mark the centre.

As for the legs I generally mark the joints just a little below the top of the dart as I like the legs to turn out.  You'll need enough room below the joint spot for half the width of the leg, plus his bottom.  If you draw in your disc it will show you where the back of his leg will be on his body in the sitting position and how much room you've allowed for his bottom.

Once your pattern has been made up into a bear for the first time, you may find these spots need a little adjust ment.  It's trial and error, but as long as you use your joint spots as reference and move each arm or leg equally using a tape measure, you should arrive at something you like.  Then simply mark the changes on your original pattern and next time it will be plain sailing! :)

Hope this helps .......................

Vicky

Terrie Nov 19, 2005

Deb, all I do is place the legs and arms on the body before I turn any of the pieces right side out. You can get a good idea how different placements will look and then just mark where you want the holes to go.

Deb Nov 19, 2005

Ohhh ... thank you so much Vicky and Terrie for the useful ideas.

Vicky, I normally use 4 piece body also.  Makes a fatter bear!  Sometimes though, if I have a smaller piece of fur, i use a two piece body.  They're okay too.

Thanks again guys.  :hug: