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Woo BearsI've sewn 6" tall bears by hand, and 16" bears easily on my trusty Singer Featherweight, but what is the smallest bear you have ever sewn on a machine? 
The Littlest Thistle8" has been my smallest so far because my minis are only 2 1/2"-4" and my machine skills just aren't up to that sort of fine turning. I'm going to try a couple later that will be about 6-7" I think, I'll let you know how it turns out (or not 
)
3 1/2" --- but the gusset and footpads by hand! I use mohair.
desertmountainbearJust finished a 6" bear, but footpads by hand. I think I could go smaller, slow and steady seems to work for me.
Joanne
The Littlest ThistleI have to do footpads and gussets by hand regardless of the size of the bear. I tried machine sewing the footpads once, followed lots of tips on here, and it just didn't work - I'm sure that was me not the instructions mind you :crackup:
LOL Katy!!!! :crackup:
I did a 2 1/2 inch bear by machine once. The entire thing, foot pads and gusset included. I used pins to hold and turn the fabric while I sewed. It was beyond crazy 
and I'll never do it again!
Hugs,
Alison
www.teddybearmohair.com
Feather Heart CreationsI think 5" is the smallest for me but like everyone else I still had to do some hand sewing in there too.
2.5" Alison!!! I bet that was crazy! I would love to sew my little 3" dragons by machine to save some time but I don't think I could without going crazy...
Dolls N Dreams6" is the smallest I have done on the sewing machine!
Fulrfun BearsI am serious here - the smallest for me is 22 inches! lol
LOL Clare!!!!
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)Oh Oh - I know this one!! (hand waving madly in the air)
It's not me but a good friend - Susan McCay in Diagonal Iowa!
http://www.bluebonnetbears.com/bears-artist.html
She—and the amount of detail she gets into her micro-sized 1" - 3" tiny treasures—is unbelievable, and it's about 95% sewing machine - absolutely astonishing! Her prices are excellent too, considering the amount/number of animals in each little piece here, but she feels that it's commensurate with the amount of time spent, as she can work more quickly than a hand-sewer and lose none of the quality.
I believe the smallest was 4 inches. Sewing the footpads was no picnic. The bear turned out really, really cute but it was such a headache that I haven't made one that size on a machine since.
Warmest bear hugs, :hug:
Aleta
Bears by EdieI do virtually all my bears on the machine whatever the size- so 1" would be my smallest - but that one didn't have any foot pads and the ones that do, the footpads are sewn in by hand. Sometimes I handsew the heads - for sure if they have gussets and others depending on the fabric.
I bow to all you artists who can even create a small bear! I think the smallest I've ever sewn on a machine was about 5 inches. I do remember paw pads were set in by hand, though! I decided long, long ago to leave the littles to the ones who did them so beautifully and recognize my limitations as a big bear artist! :crackup:
The Littlest ThistleWell I just completed my little 6 incher on the machine (foot pads excepted) It worked great having tacked it all well first, so I think if I ever design a bear maybe an inch or two smaller I could manage that, definitely will have to keep doing the minis by hand though!
Sarian Miniature BearsI only make minis and all are done entirely by hand, which seems to take forever. I've never even tried to use my sewing machine because the seam allowance is so small I'm not sure how much control I'd have or whether the stitches would be small enough. Edie, I take my hat off to you doing a 1" bear on the machine :clap:
For those of you who do use the machine for your minis, what size needle do you use? The one I hand-sew with is about 2.5cm long and is so fine I have trouble sometimes telling which end is which. 
:redface: The thought of using my machine is very appealing and would save so much time - I must average about 6 hours just stitching all the pieces together! 
As I work full time too, I'm lucky if I can get one bear made in a week.
This thread has got me thinking.... :whistle:
Hugs,
Sarah,
I just used my regular sewing needle on my machine when I sewed my 2 inch bear. I never thought to change it. I manipulated the fabric using pins. I held onto the ends and used the points to move the fabric. It was not easy, nor was it fun. But, with practice, someone could get good at it. You should give it a go. If you mess up, it's not like you ruined $100 worth of fabric. They are so small you could afford to throw one or two away. I make big bears and this was just one of my insane moments where I thought I should try something really tiny. Here's a picture of the bear.
Hugs,
Alison
Posts: 751I've done about 5" on machine over sewed it first and did head and foot pads by hand.
Karon
PS I tend to hand sew all sizes now as I find very relaxing, if you are doing bears to sell I think you have to machine to find it at all viable
EJ's CraftsAlison, what a cute little guy. The smallest bear I even made was a 6". All my bears are done on the sewing machine.
Bubble Up Bears!I certainly haven't made any bears let alone tiny ones but but I am taking sewing classes using my 56 Featherweight and my teacher said you could sew the wings of a fly together (not that I would want too) on a Featherweight.
With being able to have such control over the tension even the tiniest bear might be possible on a Featherweight.:)
