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Posts: 2Hello everyone or should I say teddy masters 
. Before I start, let me introduce myself. My name is Jonathan and I live in Los Angeles. I am new to teddy bears but not new to sewing, patterns, and things related to clothing. My parents have worked in the clothing industry for almost 2 decades. Due to this, I've come to learn some very specific skills that just seem very odd on a 6 feet male. Anyways, my sister just had a baby and she is turning 1 year old next month. After thinking for months on what to buy her for her first birthday, I decided to make a 7 feet teddy bear out of scratch. Yes, I said 7 feet. I gifted her a small 19 inch bear during my sisters baby shower. So I decided to step it up a notch in the COOL uncle list.
I spent the first three weeks of this project taking a teddy bear apart and turning the patterns into digital copies. I really liked the bearemy design at my nearest build a bear workshop, so I turned that into a digital pattern copy. After I enlarged the small patterns into a 600% zoomed version. The patterns were printed and sized to make sure they fit. Manila paper was pasted to make a sturdier pattern. The patterns are all ready to go. My 10 boxes of poly fill have arrived yesterday and I am ready to go without any fabric or eyes.
This is where I was left with a problem. I spent 2 weeks looking for a fabric type that I really like but can't happen to find what I like. Since I live in Los Angeles, I believed that I can find some nice synthetic fabric in downtown Los Angeles, little did I know, that fabric there is really seasonal and synthetic long pile plush is virtually non existent. Even if I found something close to it, the fabric would be really rough and not soft enough for a child to hug for extended periods of time. I tried looking online but i found it really hard to grasp the concept of how soft or super soft the fabrics are and most vendors seems to sell by the square. Not by the yard. I am estimating i need around 7-8 yards of fabric. Due to the amount i need, i decided to go towards synthetic instead of mohair or alcapa. I cant imagine the cost of 8 yards of mohair. that seems to be WAY out of my league. Also I realized that I can't find a craft store that makes eyes around an inch big.
After looking online, I leaned that it's is impossible to find fabric. That is why I come to you all teddy bear masters. I would like it and appreciate it alot if you can recommend a fabric and a website where I can buy the fabric and eyes. To get a feel of what kind of fabric I want, I am looking for something like the bearemy. Super soft to the touch and really easy for long hugs. The length is somewhere around 1/2 to 1 inch in length. Color is something similar to a caramel to light brown. And I am looking for eyes in size. Worst comes to worst, I can just make size large sized buttons as eyes. I would really appreciate it if the fabric is SUPER SOFT and synthetic. Soft enough for a baby to hug.
I thank you all for looking and I really really thank you in advance for the great tips to come. I am sure I will never forget this help and my niece also.
PS: I am looking to spend around 15-20 dollars per yard.
PennsylvaniaI think you might end up contacting a textile mill and buying direct. They might refer you to one of their wholesalers but anything less than that probably isn't going to be equipped to handle such a large order.
Donna's Duin BruinsThere are glass eyes in 20-24mm size that should work for you. I might consider safety eyes. Check CR Crafts for those. Maybe a nice minky fabric. I have seen it in the color and about a half inch length. Maybe a viscose. I live in Burbank and sell bear making supplies if I can be of any help to you give me a yell.
Donna
In the past I have worked on 6 ft. characters and large animatronic moving figures. I used to use Monterey Mills for the fur. It's the only place I know of that has lower priced fur of quality. The Fox and Cubby styles are very nice. You will have to buy 15 yds. but you could resell or use the extra. http://www.montereymills.com/Products/C … kLine.aspx
I have found that when you enlarge a pattern that much you will have to add more pattern pieces and darts to keep the body and head rounded. I would experiment with the head, first, to get a feel for the size of the bear. I used clear half round acrylic pieces and painted the backs for the eyes and cemented them to posts for strength, but nowadays I think you could buy large enough eyes. For a seven foot bear you may need 30mm eyes. You can create the nose with leather over a childsafe large bear nose.
Karen Lyons
KJ Lyons Design
Mendel's in San Francisco will send you samples: http://www.mendels.com/fur1.shtml
Good luck with your bruin!
Becky
Past Time BearsDonna suggested minky fabric and I second that. It's super soft and is used for lots of baby items - plus comes in many colors/prints. Also, most any fabric store will carry it.
Posts: 2Thank you everyone for your awesome responses. i have ordered the eyes from cr crafts and im still looking for the fabric. and yes minky was exactly what i was thinking of. specifically, i think it was called eyelash minky faux fur.
Great! Please post some photos when your bear is created. 
I found this site for minky fur, they seem to have a large collection http://www.fabric.com/apparel-fashion-f … abric.aspx
Try to get woven not stretchy knit fabric. If you can only get knit be sure to line it. Stretchy could be a nightmare with such a large piece!
Karen
GlasgowHi ChefJonnie,
Just saw your post, I live in Scotland and have no advice to offer you on where to buy your materials I'm afraid but once you have achieved your vision of the 7foot bear I would love to see the finished product, please post a picture :thumbsup:
Rosie
