Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Hello everyone, I'm hoping you can help me with a problem I seem to be having with my bear heads. On all of them I seem to end up with a very flat back-of-the-head. I'm not sure if I'm making the gusset too wide at the back or if I'm not making the side pieces wide enough. I'm using the three-piece head style for my pattern. Does anyone have any tips where I'm going wrong? I've made a little diagram to hopefully make my description clearer.

Very sweet! May I ask how you attached her antlers?

Thank you for the tips everyone! Although... what's the difference between pinning and tacking, sorry?

I love her! The roundness of her muzzle matches her round toes so sweetly!

Hello everyone! This might be a pretty simple question but I'm not too familiar with all the different sewing machine parts....
I usually use 3/8" pile fur and have a very hard time fitting it under the foot of my machine. Some people have suggested a walking foot or pogo foot but I don't really know how those work or which might be better?

So floooooofy!!

Heh heh, couldn't help myself. Great work! This girl has so much character!

So detailed and so adorable!

So precious!

I've spotted a few photos doing the rounds on places like Facebook and Buzzfeed of people's soft sculptured work (most recently a sewn owl and polar bear). But the person posting it up will say it's a real animal.

On the one hand it's wonderful to see work being made that's so life-like, it's something I want to strive for too. But on the other hand it's disappointing because all the people seeing and commenting on it either think it IS real and coo over how cute the baby animal is, or simply yell "fake!". Neither of which gives the artist any credit or consideration for their hard work and effort.

It kinda bugs me (of course I should just let it go) but I wondered what other people's reactions were?

Awwww.... cute little lambs!

Such a wonderful face!

Such a beautiful dragon! And so smooth. I always wonder if using ultrasuede/sensuede would cause wrinkles along the seams. Do you have any trouble with that?

So cute! I especially love the shape of the shading around her eyes.

Oh my, they are utterly adorable!

Thank you for the lovely comments! Yes, Nanna was very happy with her gift!

Sorry for the terrible lighting but I just finished this little girl and couldn't wait to share! She's a Christmas gift for my nan, but I think it's safe to post (she doesn't have a computer).

I don't know how big the stripe is on your cat (such a great gift idea) but one thing I did to make white areas around the eyes was to needle-felt them in but then keep some of the wool long on top, and just roughly trim it to the same length as the grey fur surrounding it. Here

Not sure how well that would work on larger areas though.

Hi all! I've just finished dying a batch of Sassy fabrics (and the colours came out beautifully) but either the wetness or process has made the fur quite stiff and kinda prickly. Any ideas or tips for how to soften it up again?

I used RIT powder dyes and simmered the fabric in hot water as Steph suggested. Drip-dried them though instead of putting them in the dryer.

Sassy Bears recommends this brand to remove stretch from fabric, but looks like they have none for sale.
I'm having trouble finding it elsewhere online too. Does anyone know an online store that supplies it?

Soft sculptures sounds very appropriate. Especially with the amount of work and time that goes in them. Just like a piece of art!

I've been pondering this question for a while and would love to get some discussion going on other people's opinions.
What makes a plushie (or plush toy/bear) different to a doll?

I have seen creations that have no joints, are stuffed loosely, and are very floppy and cuddly. They seem like obvious 'plushies'.
Then there are teddy bears (and other animals) which have joints to let them move and be posed. Still very cuddly but not floppy or squish-able.
But some bears also have armature which make them even more articulate and pose-able. Very adorable! But are they moving into 'artist doll' territory?
And there are even some creations that will have stuffed fabric bodies but sculptured clay faces and hands/paws (sometimes with armature and sometimes without) and the creators call them dolls.

What's your opinions? I don't think there's any right or wrong answer but I'm curious about what the popular opinion is. And also how it will help me describe my own creations more accurately.

Looks gorgeous! (great job on such a cutie btw)
Thanks for the feedback.

Has anyone has used Mongolian Faux Fur (sometimes called Yeti Fur) when making their bears?
The stuff usually has a very long pile with 'clumps' of hair so looks a bit stringy.

I wanted to know if it's possible to comb this fur out so as to get a very full fluffy effect?
If so it'd be perfect for a project I have in mind.

Gorgeous!
(have been thinking about tea staining, must check out any threads on it)

Not sure if anyone still checks this thread, it's quite old but still a wonderful resource.
Anyway, I came across this site that sells acrylic shapes and thought their circular discs had potential for making good washers (if you can drill a hole in the middle).
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.a … &catid=441