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BrozZ BearZI wish to design my own traditional bear. Most of my bears I design are more moden. Can anyone help me with the designing?
PottersHouse BearsMost of my bears are the "old" style. I'm not sure if I can help, but I am willing to try. I know this style has longer arms and smaller ears. I also use short mohair. Intercal has some really nice stuff that comes in colors like antique gold and antique brown. Nancy Tillberg has some good info in her books also. If you have questions, I can try to get the answers for you.
Millie
Estelles canal bears and Tod TeddiesI don't know if this will help. I only design traditional style bears, I always make a large hump back and place the head slightly forward on the body. I make the arms long and curved (long enough to rest on his toes when sitting), to balance the hump I make a large tummy this helps balance when the bear is standing, and he will need long feet if you want him to stand alone. I have posted some pics on showcase
Acid Attic Bears
I think that the design of Sing-Lee your wonderful panda is not far from a traditional one. You just need smaller legs and feet to get a more traditional look. I'm really in love with this little one and her actual body shape is very unique : I think that with a vintage looking fur, it could be great too :).
Lots of hugs,
Marion
fribbles, ltd.I agree, Sing-Lee is MARVELOUS! So awesome!
I can't really give you any tips, Sam, but I like reading other people's suggestions!
Amelia
I think your best bet is to sit and look through a book of old bears.Find what style you like and incorporate some of the features in your design.Change them a bit at a time till you get a traditional bear with your look.German American and British bears are all so different.If you are going for the german look you need the long muzzle long arms and hump,British bears have shorter limbs and broader foreheads.If you take your ime you will get your own version of a traditional design instead of a reproduction.My bears are supposed to resemble old german bears from about 1910 (I wish!!!!) but I like them to still be wee scones.
If you sit and sketch some bears from pictures you will find the shapes you need.
Hope this helps
Diane xxx
Why not just GOOGLE some keywords like "Steiff" or "antique teddy bear" or "traditional bear"??? You could also search eBay using similar keywords. There might be a world of examples for you to study right at your fingertips!
I've found that when I want a particular proportion -- for a traditional looking bear (not my usual style) or otherwise, it sometimes helps to create a "silhouette" of the picture I'm looking at. By that I mean, get your mind and eye off the details and focus on the outline. You can do this with an image editing program, or just by imagining the outline, or by creating a print out and just coloring in the insides! Doing so might get your head wrapped around the proportions, rather than the details, which are so distracting!
I agree that "vintage" or "antique" / traditional bears have longer bodies, shorter legs, long and curvy arms, back humps, long snouts, smallish ears, and tend to be made from shorter, straighter, sparser mohairs (not the long, wavy, curly, kid type stuff.) Also, the eyes are (almost) always black, sometimes even matte black, and the nose black as well. And the mouth area is rarely needle sculpted and undercut; it's just stitches that lay across the muzzle area. So cute!
Have fun!
Hi Samantha,
I like making the older style bears too! and as all the other girls have said..you need a humped back, with longer arms, and you need to set the eyes into the head so that the nose doesn't look raised up between them, so they look wider apart, the older bears usually had a longer muzzle too....then depending on how old you want them to look...use traditional colours like old gold and matted/felted mohair gives a very old appearance.
Here's my Samuel...made from a felted fur
BrozZ BearZThanks, guys!
I'm going to start today! 
Hi Samantha
I agree with Diane and Shelli, the best thing to do is really study some pictures of old bears. For some inspirational pics of some really beautiful old bears, have a look at the Christies auction site - http://www.christies.com/departments/ex … asp?DID=55.
Also something else worth remembering when your designing your new pattern is that the old german bears have wider head gussets, not much height on their foreheads and the front of their muzzles don't have quite as much depth as some modern bears.
Hope this helps (says she who is really struggling to make a new 12" pattern that actually resembles a bear!)
BrozZ BearZThanks, Vicky! Your avater bear is the look I want but a bit smaller. 
Your welcome Sam. My avatar bear is made from a swirly distressed mohair - that helps too - right choice of mohair! I wouldn't go for anything too long - I only say that because I personally haven't had too much success with the longer pile fabrics - I generally work on a mm length of pile to bear height ratio - ie he's a 20 inch bear so he gets 20mm mohair - or there abouts. I'm not sure why I do this, it's one of those strange habits you get into!
Anyway, I hope you'll be pleased with your new bear.
BrozZ BearZI have finshed designing my traditional bear but I don't know what shape to do the ears or how big they should be for the head. Can anyone help me?
Hi Sam
Nearly ready then? I think the best thing you can do is make up maybe 3 or 4 different size ear patterns - just semi circles (or slightly under) with a straight bottom edge. I think ears are down to personal taste, you'll need to see which look you like best. If you don't have enough mohair to make them all up, try them in calico or cotton or whatever you have to hand and then try pinning them on the bear head - just remember to allow for the length of your pile. You'll soon see which look you prefer and then you can make them up in the mohair and finish your bear.
Hope this helps.
