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Posts: 21You all make the most amazing minibears :clap: I'm trying to learn, but am finding the most challenging part is the turning--especially the arms. I've been reading all your great posts, but haven't seen any suggestions. Is there already a discussion that I'm missing-- 
Or, any great ideas you're willing to share?
Thanks
Jan
Hi Jan,
I don't make very many small bears but I have made a few. The only suggestion that I have is hemostats. But yourself a small pair (3") and the just lots of what I can 'sweat and swear'. 
It does take patience!
Oh and welcome to TT! :hug:
Jane
MerBear OriginalsI use hemostats (forceps) and bamboo skewers and also my small cotter-pin turner.
Welcome,
Marion
Kim-Bee BearsI use (when I make my teeny bears) a hemostats, I have two kinds, the straight ones and the curved ones and I also use tweezers 
I also have used a small paintbrush (the back end) to turn pieces.
By the way, welcome to Teddy Talk!!!
Posts: 21Thanks for the advice and the warm words of welcome. I am fast becoming addicted to the site :redface: The bears are amazing, and the advice and support, well, wow 
I'm also relieved to find that there others as obsessed by bearmaking 
Also, very impressive technical work, kudos to the techies too.
Jan
Starlite BearsHi JAn,
I agree with the others - definitely hemostats - tho I only ever use the straight ones - sometimes it is easier I find if you start from the other end - eg start to turn from the end that does not have a paw pad if it is arms or legs - I hope that makes sense - I find that doing it that way around my turning does not bottleneck either at ankle or wrist
Good luck with the turning and a warm welcome to teddy talk - Everyone is just wonderful here :hug:
:hug: Anne
Newcastle, OntarioHi Jan,
Yep - you need hemostats! I couldn't live without mine. I have a longer curved pair, which are my favourite, but I also have a small straight pair which I have used occasionally. I also have tweezers with a very shart point, which I used for putting tiny holes in the fabric for my cotter pins. I can make sure the holes are even, before I actually start jointing them. The other end of the tweezers is rounded and I use that to push the fabric to it's full extension, once it's turned with the hemostats.
Good luck - it's addictive LOL!
Hugs,
Brenda
'Bear' Bottoms OriginalsHi Jan, welcome to TT! Ihaven't been here too awful long, either (about a month or so, I think!) and have already met SO many REALLY nice people and have learned SO much about bear making. This is the best forum ever!!
Again, like you haven't heard it 10 times already lol, I use hemostats. And I noticed no one's mentioned it yet, but I always lock mine when I turn just to make sure the fabric doesn't slip (I used to not lock them and my fabric would slip sometimes, darn near giving me a heart attack thinking it tore my fabric!). Also, I grab the furthest point I can. I leave my hole open on the back of (example) the arm, and I will grab the very tip of the paw and get a good hold. Once I've pulled that through, I use my hemostats to turn the 'shoulder' because that's usually left inside out. I also use the hemostats to push out any spots that are dimpled or whatever, from the inside out.
Good luck and don't forget to show us your bear!!
Kimberly W.
Posts: 8,574Hi Jan
Glad to meet you
I prepare for turning the day I get my fabric. I dump it in a sink of warm water and squirt hair conditioner on it. Then I smoosh it all around. And drain, rinse and hang up to dry.
The hair conditioner has a little bit of oil in it- thats what all hair conditioners have and that little bit makes the tiny pieces turn much more easily, using of course, hemostats, addison forcepts tweezers etc etc.....
Try it, it makes the mohair smell good too.
dilu
Wild Thyme OriginalsHi Jan!!! Welcome to Teddy Talk! I think that just almost everyone who makes minis agrees that turning is one of the hardest parts! Each and every time this subject comes up I say the same thing. "I turn with small hemostats and a big prayer!!!! :pray: " I am still anxiously waiting for the day that I turn little pieces without a second thought! I'll probably be waiting a long time....
Beary truly yours,
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
Baird'sBears I haven't made anything smaller than 5 inches, and that one was mink & nearly cost me what's left of my sanity.
Remember Laure? Dilu, you posted a pic of a teeny weenie little bear she'd made for you. When asked, as I remember, Laure said she'd avoided turning by ladder-stitching--I think she meant the whole bear, but I'm not sure.
Eileen
Posts: 8,574
Oh Eileen, I do miss Laure.
Her little bear is in my mini cabinet and he is exquisite. And if she did ladder stitching I think I will just have to give up. I can not see any stitches at all that's how good it is.
+actually you can see stitches but they are so tiny AND So even and so fine! I'll post him again so the newer folks can see him. She told me she didn't think she would be making any more....that he really tried her patience. She is so busy at the shows now, but what a really sweet lady she is.
dilu
Posts: 21
Thanks for all the advice. Here is my first try at a mini. Tell me I'll get better with practice :redface: At least my daughter thinks she's cute.
Posts: 8,574We promise you'll get better.....and that little guy isn't shabby at all!
dilu
Posts: 21Dilu,
Thanks for the encourging words. I'm still amazed at the minis on this site. I'm going to try some more and see if mine get better
Sunnie BearsI used to make a few minis and I learned a neat trick. When sewing the seams, add a piece of strong thread between the right sides of the arm. Sew into the seam allowance near the paw end. have the string long enough so the other end hangs outside of the opening. to turn the arm inside out, pull on the string and it will pull the paw towards the opening. Then just cut off the excess string close to the seam at the paw pad end
Sonya
Wild Thyme OriginalsOh Sonya!!!! I've done that a couple of times on tiny ones where the hemostats don't really reach into the paw area... don't you have to knot the one end of the string... the end that protrudes from the paw area? That's the way I did it at least.... I made afairly large triple knot there, so that the thread sort of caught there as I pulled the other side of the string through the opening.... I had forgotten about that technique!!!! Thanks for adding that here!
Beary truly yours,
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
Posts: 21Oh, great. I'm going to try this. :clap: Those arms are really giving me grief. Keep tearing holes when I try to turn them.
Cleathero CreationsI was told of another way too.
i was told to use 2 threads and needles and start in the centre of the paw.
You sew a little way each side then start to turn it sew a little more and turn again.
You finish the arm at the top of the shoulder but it does work, you just need to work out how far to sew on each arm to turn as it can very a little.
Baird'sBears Thanks for posting Laure's little bear again, Dilu. I can see stitches, but they look almost too tiny and even for anything but machine stitches, and I can't even imagine how you'd machine-sew something you could barely see!
Jan, your mini is wonderful! My first try was shredded by the time I got it turned.
Those are great turning tips. Somebody--Janet I think--posted a long time ago about turning with two sticks. One stick would be on the outside of the piece, and braced against something hard. The second stick would be on the inside of the piece, braced against the first stick. The opening of the piece would be at the top. Starting from the bottom of the piece, you just push the fabric down the bottom stick until the whole piece is turned.
I'm not sure I could follow this garbled account myself, but the method works!
Eileen
Posts: 21Thanks. I'm going to give all these methods a try. I really want to figure out how to make these minis. Another question, I've been backstitching the seams, which is how I do bigger bears. Is that what ya'll do, or are some of the seams whip stitched? Hope these very novice questions are appropriate to the forum. You all have such an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience.
J
Cleathero CreationsPeople sometimes baste the seams before sewing but I always use backstitch to sew the seams.
Some people whip stitch the ears on I ladder stitch them although i am looking at other methods too.
Wild Thyme OriginalsI use a VERY tiny back stitch on all my seams... close everything with a ladder stitch.... attach ears with a ladder stitch....
I think you'll find there there are NO "bad" questions here..... everyone is all too eager to help in any way we can... and I always find that there often many good ways to accomplish the same thing. It's always great to know how other people do things, bear making is certainly one of those things where you just never stop learning! Ask away!
Beary truly yours,
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
http://www.picturetrail.com/bastadolls
Posts: 21Thanks for all the advice. I ordered hemostats from Intercal, and one of the handles snapped right off, i.e. the metal actually broke, as I was trying to turn a piece. 
Anyone else have this experience? Are the ones from Intercal lower quality? I notice they are less expensive then ones on other sites. Should I try to get higher quality? Recommended vendor? I don't want to just pay more for the same item, but don't mind paying for better quality that won't crumble. 
Jan
fribbles, ltd...am just in awe here. These are such great questions and answers! I have one concerning the hair conditioner for Dilu---what kind do you use?
Sonya & Kim, that's a really neat way of turning out seams for the teensy tiny lil' teds, am definitely going to have to try that one. And Bronwen, [love your name!] that one sounds like a super duper idea also!
w00t!! =)
Amelia *lots of smiles*
