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MelbourneHi,
I've just finished my very first teddy bunny using a tutorial I purchased off Etsy, after discovering the awesome world of artist teddy bears about 6 months ago. What a steep learning curve, I just did it slowly over a few weeks and had a few little stumbles due to language issues (pattern had been translated to English) but she had lots of photos which helped, so overall it was a pretty good DIY teach yourself project. Anyhow I finally got brave enough to shade the eyes last night, but I used a Faber Castell Pitt Pastel pencil which I think was raw umber. It didn't work so well on the pink fur and my bunny looks like she has bruised eyes (looks a yellowy/green colour), so I suspect I either did it wrong or the color was wrong for the fur. Any tips??? 
Anyhow here's a photo of my almost finished project prior to bruising the eyes.
My first teddy making project
Hi Leikela, and welcome to bear (and bunny) making. 
What kind of fur did you use for your rabbit? You could browse the Libary section here for many suggestions. Look for the category "shading". Whatever you decide to try, test it out first on some scrap pieces, and build it up slowly - a little color at a time.
Becky
MelbourneHi Becky,
Thank you! I used alpacca fur. I'll have a look in that section, much appreciated.
I look forward to being a part of the forums, and hope to one day make bears as cute as all you people with gorgeous ones as your profile pictures.
You're very kind, and I'd say you're well on your way if this is just your first project! I look forward to chatting with you here and seeing more of your projects to come.
Becky
Hi Leikela welcome to TT What a great first fluffy you have made. Don't worry about the shading it will come with practice. Always test on a bit of scrap first but I expect that you thought of this after you got over excited and dived straight in. It is amazing how colours can change (frustratingly) when applied to fur. Acrylic fur takes colour better than natural ones like mohair and alpaca as they are basically plastic which is why a lot of artists use it but the natural fibres are not impossible to colour if not a little more resistant.. Here is a link from the library from last year https://www.teddy-talk.com/viewtopic.php?id=54032
or https://www.teddy-talk.com/viewtopic.php?id=53803 that might help. Good luck
MelbourneThank you SO much for those links, I'll check them out and thank you for the tips on acrylic vs real fur too with color. I'll make a point of practising heaps with scrap fabric before I go and "bruise" my teddy's eyes. Much appreciated!
Northern IrelandSuch a beautiful bunny Leikela,really good first results 
.
I learnt to use oil chalks for shading from the great bear artist,Linda Benson.I find them easier to control than other mediums.If you over do it you can easily remove excess colour with a baby wipe.
Linda taught me to cut bristles short on a flat, hard bristle brush,one small and one a little bigger and pick up a very small amount of colour on small brush and rub the colour well in to the fabric with the clean bigger brush. If you use paler shades first and build the depth of colour gradually it works better.I avoid any shades that have a reddish content as this can make it look like conjunctivitis 
.
My most used shades are Burnt Umber,Sepia and Brown light- here's a link to a colour chart - http://www.sennelier-colors.com/article … astels.pdf
Here's an example of my efforts on a mohair teddy
I'm not experienced but hope this helps and keep posting photos, we all enjoy seeing cuddly creations.
Shaded Eyes
Past Time BearsHello, Leikela, and welcome to Teddy Talk! Your bunny is excellent for your first creation . . . keep up the good work. You've had many great responses to your question about shading the eyes and the links will help even further. Again - welcome to our forum.
MelbourneThank you everyone so much for your kind words and all your help. It's all been very helpful and I'll take it all on board. I managed to rescue my bunny's eyes but trying to wash most of the "brusing" off so will start again, AFTER doing lots and lots of testing on scrap fabric first.
Thank you Renee for your tips... your bear is fantastic, I love your shading!!!
I'm off to my local bear store this weekend for more supplies and can't wait to get into more.
Northern IrelandThanks Leikela for your kind compliments.
Now you've caught the bug there "ain't no stopping you now" -you're in the groove 
MelbourneDefinitely no stopping me now.... now that I've assembled one and know how it all works, I feel a lot more confident and looking forward to making many many more, although I have heaps and heaps more to learn. I was NEVER a creative person at all, until about 6 months ago when I just woke up and thought I wanted a sewing machine (although my bunny is handstitched, looked way too hard to get that slippery alpacca fur in the machine ). I've started sewing bags etc. and my teddy bear journey all started with this little girl, when I saw her on Etsy.
http://www.bearpile.com/item/114131
I fell in love with her, bought her... then bought another bear I found on Bear Pile and decided I wanted to make my own.
