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Cleathero CreationsWhen you guys are designing a brand new bear totally different from anything else you have made, after you have done your muslin copy do you jump right into the mohair or do you try on something less expensive and then move onto the mohair.
Kassie Bears TM/Creations of MysticismHi Bronwen,
I usually move right to the mohair I am going to use or real fur, what ever I planned on using. But, I may make a dummy copy sometimes. That's what I call it. Not very often thro. I have found that "you just gotta have faith". 
I think all materials are different and will look different when working with it. So I try not to work with dummies too much. I like the surprise! 
But if you what to use. Try using a fabric that is close to the texture. What I mean by that is; weight - thickness etc. So you dummy comes out as close to the look you want.
I hope that helps.
Big Hugs
Kassity
I don't make a muslin copy even, I just make the bear...I figure that even if it's not that good I can probably do something with it to make it ok...and I can't tell from other fabrics what the pattern will be like so I see it as waste of time, I learn more from making an actual bear from real fabric.
Cleathero CreationsNo I tend to make a muslin copy when approaching something new so I can make sure it will go together all right I can not see a 3D picture in my minds eye.
But I was just curious that's all. Thanks for tha, may have to do the leap of faith!!
DoodlebearsI just jump right on in and use mohair. I have rarely made up a pattern in any other fabric and lucky for me I usually get what I am trying to achieve.
Hugs Jane 
I wish I was patient enough to make a mock up...like I probably wouldn't have had to make 3 squirrel heads!!!! I just get too excited with what i am making and when I did make a mock up I got frustrated doing it so chucked it in the bin and made one out of mohair instead. I think it's really great if you can do it...I am just always in too much of a rush to take my time!!!!! I am no good athe planning stages!!!!
Kim-Bee BearsI dont do muslin first either 
I work like Jenny and Jane; no practice run, just a head-first plunge into the mohair. It's usually rescuable, even if something's not quite "right." Hence, the label PROTOTYPE.
Posts: 1,153Bronwen...When I design a 'normal' head pattern, I just go to the mohair. If it isn't exactly what you want...alot of 'extreme make-overs' can be done with hand shaping and needlesculpting to bring it to the point that you are happy.
However...lately I have been experimenting with some strange ideas. Long muzzles, deeper than normal side heads, wide foreheads...you name it, I have been drawing it, just to see what effect a short pointed gusset with a huge sidehead will look like. You get the idea. :dance: By the way, this is a lot of fun!! I am keeping the heads and making a little notebook with my experiments.
Rather than muslin, I have these very thick paper hand towels that are almost like a fabric. I use those and will cut out the head and give it a quick sew-up. Turn it right side out and lightly stuff it, just to see how it looks. These heads are the only things I will make a mock-up for...the body, arms and legs can change easily.
Nanc......
Upstate New YorkNo muslin here. Just take the plunge. Nancy, I'm working on a bear with a very wide forehead now. I'm a little nervous. Looks so funny. We'll see! Not stuffed yet, so I'm still optimistic!
Posts: 1,153Deb...I love those big foreheads on bears, I am anxious to see how yours turns out. Will you post a picture? Please?
Nanc.......
Back Road BearsI sort of take a leap of faith...... if I"m a bit unsure about the pattern.
I use some mohair that is either less expensive (I don't go right for the kid mohair in this case) or I use some I don't like very much. I figure if I like the bear after using the so-so stuff than I'll love it in some nice fur. If it looks hideous I know hubby will love it any way and I don't feel like it's a big waste. Then I tweak the pattern and take the big leap using the mohair I intended.
Past Time BearsI don't try out the design before charging in to make it up in mohair. If there is something I don't quite like about the finished product, then I make the appropriate changes to the pattern then. But I can usually sell the original anyway (whew!) 'cause there's usually a way to make it look okay to the customer.
I love hearing how everyone else works!! Like most everyone else has posted, I too, just jump right into the mohair. Each of my bears is one-of-a-kind. I'm always changing my patterns.....and drawing right over the last one to create a new one! Is that crazy?
Warmest bear hugs, :hug:
Aleta
Newcastle, OntarioI don't do prototypes, either. I work straight to mohair. I'm too impatient and want to see what my final design looks like "in the fur" so to speak.
Hugs,
Brenda
Cleathero CreationsThis is great guys. I love ti hear how you jump in but I have to at least do a muslin one first if there are major changes. so many of you sculpt and can draw I can't do either.
But maybe as I improve and get more practice I will be more game. 
Mountain Dreamer BearsIt is always interesting to hear all the different ways everyone does things. 
I'm usually a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-of-pants kind of person but I made a largish mouse for a door stop a few months ago and just pretty much cut it out and sewed it together. It didn't turn out too bad but the material had more give that I expected so it wound up looking like a cross between a kangaroo and a really fat rat. Not very mouse-ish.
Sooo.. I've been a little more cautious with my bears. With the bodies, I've just put the pattern straight to fur... no mock-up. With the heads however, I have been doing, and redoing, muslin mock-ups (and a lot of them!) trying to get them to look like the picture in my head. It still turns out a little different in fur, but at least I have a pretty good idea what it will look like.
I also save and label the heads in case I forget what a certain pattern looks like. Anal I know, but it works for me. 
Maybe as I get more experienced I feel more confident about leaping right in to fur.
Baird'sBears Bonnie, that's a great idea!
It's the final look of the variations in head-piece combinations that I have trouble visualizing. The limbs and bodies can be tweaked, if they're long and wide enough to begin with, so I tend to cut fat and work from there. But the heads . . .I'm going to steal your method!
Eileen
Mountain Dreamer BearsHey Eileen!
I'm glad your back. I missed you while you were gone!
What's mine is yours but....
But the heads . . .I'm going to steal your method!
....I can't claim credit for this, I got it from someone else, somewhere along the way, so steal away!!
hugs,
Baird'sBears:dance: Stealin' away, here! Thanks, Bonnie :hug:
I'm just finishing a cub head with a large forehead, darted cheeks and short muzzle. I think he'll be alright, but the head turned out a wee bit flat front-to-back-wise. I couldn't get the eyes to sink properly, whatever I tried, so I added brow ridges. I probably should have widened the head-sides and the back of the gusset.
Now, if I'd whipped up his head in muslin first, I would have seen this. I really think it's a good idea for a novice like myself, a dimensionally challenged novice, to do this kind of experimenting.
Eileen
