Banner Sponsors
For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
Posts: 2I've embarked on a bear making adventure with my mom! ~
My 88 year old mom just learned to weave about a year ago (I'm so proud of her!) and she is weaving fabric, using her stash of crochet yarn (she can no longer crochet due to arthritis), and I'm making bears with that fabric. The bears will be keepsake gifts for her great-grandchildren!
As of right now, she has 8 "greats", so we need to make 8 bears ~ but, I expect that by the time the 8 are made there will be more babies, so will need more fabric and more bears! :)
I have made one bear with her first piece of fabric ~ I call it our guinea pig bear because it was her first, learning experience weaving, and my first, learning experience sewing a bear!
Her official name is JoJo ~ named after my mom's mom, Josephine Johanna... the name also seemed appropriate because the colorful fabric is somewhat like Joseph's technicolor dream coat!
she has made 3 more strips of fabric, so I have 3 bears waiting to be made! ~ I've stalled out tho, because I'm not completely satisfied with some elements of JoJo's creation and condition.
so ~ sorry for the tangent ~ onto my questions:
I used the plastic safety joints for JoJo, but had major difficulties with the neck joint, as the post was not long enough to fit the disks and the bulk of fabric. I eventually did get it together by using a slightly thinner disk from a smaller joint set. I am not satisfied with this for the rest of the bears I plan to make.
?? ~ are there plastic safety joints with longer posts?
I am also not happy with the tightness of the joints - for the head, it is too tight to turn (obviously because of how difficult is was to even connect the pieces), and I'm afraid any attempt to turn it will break the plastic joint or pop it apart. The arms and legs were just the right snugness, but after a few posing movements, I could feel that the joint had slipped over the ridge, into the looser space. Now the arms and legs both dangle quite loosely ~ just posing it to sit depends on balance more than the hip joints. I am not completely confident that the joint will not loosen more with additional movement.
?? ~ what brand plastic safety joint do you feel is the best/strongest/safest?
I've looked into using the locknuts and bolts and set screws (grub screws) ~ I've got the bear joint technique down, but I'm quite confused with what actual hardware pieces I would need (and tools)... I also need a better understanding of how a set screw can be utilized as a joint - anything I find googling only shows it's use mechanically.
And, seeing as these are for children, I'm concerned about the safety issue, even tho, it is possible these bears will not be played with all that much...
I have searched in the forums here, and found what could potentially be great links to instructions, but unfortunately, they are from many years ago and the links are dead-ends.
any advice and thoughts on safety, supplies, links, etc. will be very helpful!!
Thanks!
Judy
JoJo
Mom and JoJo 
Mom and a 100 inch strip of fabric
JoJo watching
three bears' fabric
Past Time BearsWhat beautiful work your mom does, JoJo! You said you looked through all the forums for info on joints, but does that include the threads in our library? If you didn't check it out, just click on the button toward the top of the page . . . . . LIBRARY and scroll down to the 'Joints' subject. There is a lot of information on jointing problems. I used plastic joints a time or two, but I never could get them tight enough and there is the problem of breakage.
Posts: 2Thank you, Sue Ann...
I have now thoroughly searched the library and index here, as well as googling everywhere....
i just cannot find answers to my problems.
and now I've even found another interesting option, but I am also having a problem finding complete guidance for it, too
~~ so many links are no longer functional! because so much of this discussion is from 7-10 years ago.
any advice on using Loc-line? is this a technique/product still used, or has it out lived it's hayday?
I understand how the armature is being created, but what actually happens at the joint? ~ and how is it secured?
I'm getting more confused the more I search, and more frustrated with the dead-end links.
any help will be appreciated...
it is so hard to decide to use "safety" joints that have greater potential to break and come apart vs using hardware that seems much less likely to break or come apart, but consists of small pieces which obviously would be unsafe IF it did come apart...
seems that there is no ideal option.
I was hoping to get at least one bear done for Mother's Day, but at this point, JoJo is going to be an only child for a while!!
(JoJo is my mom's bear and will eventually be passed to me, so I'm not as concerned with it's joint durability because it will be treated as delicately as I know it is!)
That fabric is delightful!
If you're thinking of branching out to set screws (which are great, except for the head, where cotter pins work for me), how about buying joint sets from a supplier like our site sponsor, Intercal? That way you won't need to figure out anything except what size joint you need. To see how to install the various joint hardware, any good, basic bear-making book would be well worth it's used-book price from Amazon.
Again, your mom's woven fabric is stunning!
Becky
P.S. I don't see joint sets at Intercal anymore, so I'd recommend getting in touch and explaining your project. They'll let you know what they recommend, and at 10 disks per bear, it's not hard to use up a bag of 100.
