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teddyretirementhome Apr 2, 2010

This might seem like a silly question but I thought I'd throw it out there to see what everyone does:

When it comes to doing your bear's face/head, Do you do the eyes, ears, or nose first?

I've been waiting for 3 weeks (!) for delivery of a larger pair of eyes for a 16" bear, and I feel like I really can't sew his ears on, or do his nose and mouth til I get his eyes and put them in!

I know that putting the eyes in can affect the tension of the material for the nose, so its best to do the nose after the eyes, but O feel like I can't do the ears either cos his face might change so much once he gets the right sized eyes!

(Um, I think I'm also a litttle OCD) 

Cheers

Brenda
teddyretirementhome
aka woo bears

rowarrior Apr 2, 2010

Well I use position eyes to mark out where the eyes will go and leave them in, then I sew the nose, then replace the position eyes with the real eyes, and finally attach the ears.  Then I attach the head to the body, followed by the legs and then the arms 

BearBottoms Apr 2, 2010

I religiously do eyes first, then nose, and the ears are always the very last to be affixed! To me, ear placement in relation to the eyes and face makes all the difference, so they go on last after I've found the perfect spot! I'm with you, the poor bear would sit there with nothing until I got my eyes in the mail! 

SueAnn Help Advisor, Banner SponsorApr 2, 2010

I'm a little different . . . eyes, ears, nose.  But eyes first for sure.

desertmountainbear Apr 2, 2010

I am with Sue Ann, eyes, ears, nose
Joanne

Woodbury Park Bears Apr 2, 2010

Me too eyes ears and nose is last. I finish the head before I start to assemble the bear.

Raewyn

Rich1988 Apr 2, 2010

So far I've done a mix of eyes, nose, ears and nose, eyes, ears.
I always do the ears last as I change these dependent upon the look the eyes and nose create. I started doing the nose first when I read somewhere that it could help you in lining up the eyes.

Richard
x

tuppies teddies Apr 3, 2010

I place the eyes first, then embroider the nose and then the placement of the ears....

lovenshire Apr 3, 2010

I do the eyes first because everything else goes on in realtion to the eyes...the ears are always last because that is the job I hate worse of all!!!

eteddys Apr 3, 2010

I'm the odd ball!  No big surprise there.    I used to always place the eyes first.  However, the past several years, I have taken to embroidering the nose first.   The reason I do this is that use some of the floss used to create the mouth to do a little needle sculpting.  I leave 2 really long ends of floss when I start my nose.  These become the mouth.  When putting the mouth in, I use that extra floss to go back an forth to the eye area to create a socket and it also pulls the mouth in.  Then, I place the eyes and ears are always last.  I don't feel like you can get the ears in the right place without having the eyes to judge off of. 

Hugs,
Alison

Plum Cottage Bears Cute Animal AmbassadorApr 3, 2010

I put the ears on first.  Then the eyes, then the nose, then the mouth.

rkr4cds Apr 3, 2010

This might make a difference, whether it's for a mini or a standard ted - I'm a miniaturist: stuff head to almost completely finished, sculpt eye sockets & any other needle sculpting for muzzle.
Do the shading now as you cannot get in under nose and eye areas evenly later.

Insert Eyes.
Place the last bit of stuffing in, adjusting for any offset from pulling up with the eye tying-off threads in the open neck.
Insert disk assembly & close Neck.
Attach to Body.
After finishing body & limbs, go back to stitch Nose/Mouth, then attach Ears.

The Nose and Ears are usually so small that I need the Body in place to give me something to hold onto while stitching!

Clarebear Apr 4, 2010

Ears, eyes ,nose.  But I never do them until the rest of the bear is assembled and stuffed.  After the last stitch of the nose / mouth goes in I give it a kiss and thats when it comes to life!

tuppies teddies Apr 4, 2010

When I am doing the eyes, ears nose etc...I have not attached the head to the body yet....I like to finish the head completely before I start jointing the bear...

baildon bears Apr 4, 2010

I to finish the head completly first to hide any threads, I sew the nose first, then needle sculpt the head then attach the eyes, ears I leave till very last. Good question by the was its facinating to see how other people do it.Hannah

teddyretirementhome Apr 4, 2010

Thank you to everyone for answering!

I've now got some good solutions to some challenges I've faced:

I can get rid of unsightly knots by threading for eyes & nose before I attach the head, voila!

The problems I've had with wreslting with the head just to get the needle fed into the right position to start the nose after I've already attached the head to the body can be avoided by doing it BEFORE I attach the head, if I want!

I've only made a few bears but my order has been: attach head to body (the angle of the head/neck can make a bear seem happy or sad), eyes, then nose and mouth, lastly ears.

I can now do the nose before the eyes, and yes, I can see that it will help greatly for eye placement!

Cheers and thanks everyone!

Ps if this message looks funny its cuz I've typed it with one finger on an iPhone while eating brunch on a patio :)

I just did 2 bears' noses w/o the eyes in place and they turned out great!