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near CologneHey there,
wanted to share this tip with you if you haven't heard of it already.
I have the luck that the mother of my brother's girlfriend is running her own alteration shop (who btw knows that I am making bears as I have given one as a Christmas gift to my brother's girlfriend).
Last week, I went there to get my prom dress made and she took me aside, opening a big drawer - which was full of longer and shorts bits of real fur ! She told me that the customers didn't want the left over fur from the cloaks they had let shorten from her and let them at the alteration shop where they were not at all of use as they were too little to be used for anything. Thus she packed me two bags full of real fur collars and other bits big enough to make some bears out of, one of them is rabbit, the other one maybe fox - and the others I don't know, but they are very great, so good looking and very soft to touch! Also some bits of leather for the paw pads with a lovely texture. And even the tail of an animal is in those bags that I may be ably to use for something.She also wants to supply me with some leather needles because I don't have them...
This was such a lucky day for me as I had indeed the intention to buy some real fur to try if I could create a bear out of such a challenging material, too, but didn't know wherew to get some without having to pay a fortune - and now I got them for free! :dance:
So, my tip would be, if you have an alteration shop nearby you, go there and kindly ask if they have some leftover fur pieces from previous projects they don't need anymore - you might make some great deals!
Hugs, Ariane
Chaska, MinnesotaDear Ariane: You are a lucky duck to have a good source for real fur. My father goes to garage sales and buys fur coats, collars or stoles for me. Many people move from the north to Florida and of course they don't need their furs so they sell them real cheap. I don't sew fast enough to make a dent into what he buys but I do enjoy the different furs for future use.
Well you must make a real fur bear and post a picture for us to see.
Posts: 112Thanks for the tip Ariane.
near CologneI'll surely post pictures but atm I'm working on a commission so I don't have the time to do so - and I fear I'll ruin the fur.... it's so precious for me!
NSW AustraliaHi Ariane,
that's a great idea.
I've just recently gotten back into sewing after quite a lengthy break. Gone from sewing 2 inch miniatures to much larger vintage real fur.
I luv the result I get with vintage fur. I've still got a lot to learn, it's not the easiest stuff to sew, the leather needles start to hurt my fingers after a while , but I'm persevering.
Basically i do the head first, if it doesn't look good, i start again. I can't afford to waste the fur for the rest of the body if the head doesn't look ok.
I've been lucky , I've managed to pick up some vintage rabbit, mink & fox. I also got a lovely sheepskin stole, don't know if my fingers will hold out, it's a fairly thick hide.
The first thing I sewed was a rabbit made from a rabbit fur stole. Made the mistake of not lining it, & I split the body during stuffing (I think), unfortunately I didn't notice till after i finished, vintage rabbit can be very delicate.
One of the hardest things I'm finding is picking the correct size of the critter for the fur length. I'm going thru a bunny phase at the moment, & if the furs too long, it can look a bit strange. Not quite as critical for bears.
Anyway enjoy sewing the real fur when you get around to it.
best wishes
Rikki
near CologneRikki,
thank you for your advice, it is surely a good tip to start by cutting out the head only and see how it turns out, I had a case like this recently: I cut out all the pieces for a new bear with a kind of not-beary fabric, sewed the head - and it didn't look like a bear but like a lamb. Well, happily, I was able to make some changes to the other pieces to make them look more lamb-like, but if I had done this with real fur it would have been very bad.....
Nevertheless, I'm waiting for my leather needles to arrive so I can't start yet - and have lots of projects going already :crackup:
Hugs, Ariane
Teddy's Treasure ChestI have been working in real fur for a number of years now and no matter how strong the fur seems it needs to be lined. I use 100% cotton muslim which needs to have frey check on it but it is the best thing I have found for lining real fur. No matter how strong the leather back of the fur seems if you don't line it then it will split.
I've tried to upload a picture of a fox fur bear that I made so that you can see how nice a lined bear can look. Fox is delicate like rabbit fur and can split easily. Hopefully the picture has uploaded
Teddy's Treasure ChestI notice you are having problems with size for the different furs. My rule of thumb is shorter haired furs like mink and shorter to go with the smaller bears up to about 10 or 12 inches. Longer haired furs go for the bigger bears 14 inches and up. You can use the shorter furs for larger bears but it will make a skinnier bear so adjust the chubbiness of your bear accordingly if you like plump bears. For long haired furs fox is the easiest to work with. Wolf, coyote and heavier sheep skins are really thick and difficult to work with although wolf and coyote make beautiful bears. If you want to get books on working with real fur for bears try Nancy Tillburg's books. When I first started working in real fur this was my bible for what to do and sizes to make.
Fort Worth, TexasA resounding "Ditto" for using Nancy Tillburg's books! She is working to make them available on CD but they're not out yet.
Here's an image of a 24" fellow made from raccoon - another tough hide to work with, but the result is worth the sore fingers.
Sue
