Skip to main content

Banner Sponsors

Intercal Trading Group - Your mohair supplier
Tedsby - Handmade teddy bears and other cute stuffed animals. Hundreds of teddy artists from all over the world and thousands of OOAK creations.

mulberrybendbears Posts: 16

I stumbled upon Ted Menten's awesome blog today and he does the sewing for his bears in a very particular way: http://tedsteddytalk.blogspot.com/2009/ … parts.html

I have a question for you - do you sew your bear pieces WITHOUT cutting them out first? I've always cut and then sewn, but perhaps this is a cleaner way of doing things and prevents accidents with your seam allowance? Has anyone tried this method?

Do you think it would work for big bears? This is a very cool idea I think and it might work for me as me and my sewing machine are still making friends....and sometimes I have issues with speed and direction with it. This might give me a cleaner finish.

Thoughts?

DENBY30 DENBY BEARS
EDISON, NEW JERSEY
Posts: 1,586

Hi, I have never sewn the parts that way, but he is doing it mainly because it is such a small bear. I always cut out, pin and then sew and turn.  I have never thought of it any other way.  Maybe I will try it and see.
He is a fabulous bear maker, I have several of his books.
Enjoy Pat bear_flower

desertmountainbear desertmountainbear
Bloomsburg, PA
Posts: 5,399

I do think that this is a very good way to sew a small bear on a machine.  I have never seen this before.  I know for myself I make larger bears, I trim the fur out of all the seam allowances before sewing, this way would make that impossible.

Joanne

rowarrior The Littlest Thistle
Glasgow
Posts: 6,212

Like Joanne, I trim the seam allowances, so i always cut then sew, but then I mainly make bigger bears.  I may try on a wee one out of sassy though, just to see what happens.

lovenshire Love and Cuddle Nursery
Missouri
Posts: 945
Website

I think it works great for tiny bears but never for big ones.  I like to make sure that everything fits right before I sew on the big ones.

Gabriele~GJOYfulBears GJOYful Bears
Posts: 511

Regardless of the size I cut them out and pin them, whipstitch (only on bigger bears), back-stitch and then undo the whipstitch and turn them in the right way. I have never thought of another way. Would be good for smaller bears though.

Ursa Major Creations Posts: 28

I cut the pieces out fray check the seams, over stitch and back stitch seams by hand sewing.I can machine sew if I wanted but I seem to always make them by hand sewing.

Michelle Helen Chaska, Minnesota
Posts: 2,897

I did sew a mini like that on a machine and it was cute. I had to buy a special needle that was very thin for the machine. There is something about hand sewing that I love and I think you have more control of the detail. so for minis, that is my preference.

Francesca KALEideaSCOPE
Rheinfelden
Posts: 1,306
Website

I always cut out my pieces before sewing. I also prefer hand sewing my bears, I feel I have better control, expecially when I sew the gusset piece and the bottom of the feet. Perhaps it's that I'm not that good with the sewing machine, and I have my grandma's old Singer which is veeery basic bear_original
Another thing is: if I sew with the machine, I feel I'm always tense and sweaty, I'm so afraid to get it wrong. If I hand sew, I'm relaxed and can even do it 'listening' to the TV  bear_grin
I see that not everybody is the same, many of you are good with the machine and it certainly is faster!

Francy

kallie214 Friends "Fur" Life Bears
Gig Harbor, WA.
Posts: 1,534
Website

The only pieces I sew without cutting them out first is ears for tiny bears. I feel like I use so much more fabric just for a set of ears. .(Its probably really not that much more fabric, it just seems that way....) I would never do a big bear that way for the reasons stated above in this post. I like the control of pinning them, making sure they fit correctly, trimming fur, fray check, etc.

Bear Hugs,

Kim

WaizeBear Fuerstenfeldbruck
Posts: 64

I do only hand sewing my bears and so this method is not useful for me.

This method is practicable for bear makers who have to produce a greater number of bears I think. But I don't like these machine sewn bears. It reminds me to a kind of mass production. But this is only my private opinion.

wubbiebear Braille Teddies
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Posts: 671

If you didn't cut out your bear, how would you be able to feel what you were doing?

Gabriele~GJOYfulBears GJOYful Bears
Posts: 511

I definitely agree there's something special about hand-sewing. I only ever hand-sew.

wubbiebear Braille Teddies
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Posts: 671

I hand sew, but it's mainly because I like to sew while I'm doing other things.  I don't have a problem with machine sewing, I just don't want to buy a sewing machine when I already have one built in, lol.

Board footer

Powered by FluxBB

Banner Sponsors


Johnna's Mohair Store - Specializing in hand dyed mohair and alpaca
Past Time Bears - Artist bears designed and handcrafted by Sue Ann Holcomb