Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

I love heavy polyester fibre. It's available in the UK from here: https://www.noblecraft.co.uk/html/polyester_fibre.html . I like the way it packs (lump free!) and it slides easily which I find useful for little ones. I use it for all my bears up to the 7" size, but the larger bears tend to get too heavy if I use it for them. I once stuffed the rather large head of one of my bigger bears with it and was left wondering how on earth the body would hold the head up!!!

I usually find small packs of it on ebay, to save buying it in bulk from the above link. A little goes a long way in the world of minis 

I've just sold a bear  :lol:

Trouble is, I'm going to miss him  :(. For the first time ever, I'm feeling quite sad about a bear going to a new home....

Don't get me wrong, I always feel a twinge when I pack a bear up....but this one is different. I'm definitely sadder about this one  :cry:

Have you ever sold a bear you've found difficult to let go?

Looks great Terrie!!! I don't have a photo of mine but they look pretty similar. My bears went untagged for a long time but I like the fact they are now permanently labelled, and they are pretty discrete aren't they?

Haha Penny, I like your term 'crash test dummy'!!! I'm with Kirsten, I like the wiggle room that extra bit of length in the gusset allows. If you do ease it in, it can provide a nice shaped head. Or more often I trim it off/turn it under and use it to provide a neat finish around the cotter pin. It depends on the fabric. With the mini's, a little 'give' can turn out to be a lot in the final bear...so a good fit and careful stitching are even more important in my short experience.

But I still 'wing it' sometimes, and it can somtimes result in a better shape! (*winks at Penny*  :P)

I've started using teeny sewn-in tags for my mini's and like the way they're working out. I've been sewing them into the back of the right leg, at the top. The tag simply says 'Bears-a-Bruin!' and is printed onto printer fabric, then fray checked and cut out. I also like the idea of the shrinky dink tags...I just haven't got round to it yet!

Kim, your new bear is as gorgeous as ever! A total sweetheart, and I love the way you've trimmed the face... 

I forgot to say I use a lot of 'stay' stitches. The little 'uns are too little to pin! 

I've heard similar things too. Very odd. Something strange did happen with one of my bears ages ago. There was some kind of bidding war that pushed the price up far higher than usual. I checked the bidding history of the two bidders involved and they seemed to have 'fought' over a number of bears...hmm. It made me wonder 

Hi Kim! I'm making a Koala at the moment - he'll be about 3" tall when he's finished. I'm using the long-pile sassy bears fur again, which I just love. I got quite a bit of him finished while my daughter played with her friend today so hopefully I'll have photos soon! (Or would you like to see the unjointed body parts?!).

Are you making a mini at the moment?

I actually like to make the gussets a little bit long, as a kind of insurance  I trim the excess off when I make the head up. The foot pads are pieces I find the most tricky to get exactly right and I do have one or two patterns where I know I need to cut an extra few millimetres off one end....one of these days I'll just redraw the pattern to the correct size!!! 

I've been doing commissions the same way that you have in the past, Shelli. But I've also been thinking about changing what I do. A small non-refundable deposit would be very reasonable to my mind, because even if the buyer refuses the bear (very unlikely in your case!) and you were confident of selling it in other ways you have still worked to the constraints of the commission, probably making the process less enjoyable for yourself. It might also make the person who commissions the bear consider their requirements much more carefully.

Having said all this, it's been a little while since I had a request for a commission  :(. I've been lucky enough to have had a steady trickle of them since I started selling, but the last few months have been quite lean....

I don't mind at all Amanda, just glad to have helped!  My auctions do seem to benefit from listing on boths sites, and I've had bids on both sides of the Atlantic, although I must say that lately most of my winners are in the UK. It would be interesting to know if US collectors are put off by the postage fees?

Yay! A section dedicated to minis! Can't wait to see your little one Amanda - new patterns are exciting aren't they? You never quite know how they'll turn out.....

Anne, I kind of knew what you looked like (from the photo on your website) but I love the pics you've sent here - you look great! No one would ever know you were coming up to a significant birthday if you hadn't said anything   :lol:.

It's great to put faces to names!!! *waves to Debbie, Julia & Clare, and everyone else in this thread!*

Wishing your sister a successful op and speedy recover, Pipa! Sounds like she has a great family to lean on 

I agree with Pipa - don't put bears on eBay for less than you'd be happy to accept (unless you are confident of bids). Some people list at a low price and put a reserve on their bears. I like to list at the minimum price I'd sell for.

But it is crazy, and there are no guarantees. One thing I've learned about eBay is that the number of watchers on an auction does not seem to correspond to the number of bids you can expect....at least, it's true for me! Also, I read somewhere that collectors sometimes follow each other to certain auctions - does anyone have experience of this? I imagine it could only apply to the more well-known/popular artists.

Nice to see you, Pipa!  :hug:

Another perfect panda! He's just so cute and will make someone very happy. I love all the food-y names that have been suggested too - his fur reminds me of cookies and cream ice-cream. Yum!

Hi Clare  :)

If it were me I'd probably list them in batches, say 2 or 3 twice a week. But there's probably no good reason for that....I've never had that many bears to list at once, so I'm not talking from experience!!!

As for the featured listings, I've only tried it once and I did get more hits to the auction. But I'm not sure it affected the price (my listing was on the US site, but all my bidders were in the UK).

Hmm, eBay's a funny old place!

I imagine the density of the fur is important when it comes to trimming joints - the more dense the fur, the more necessary it is. When I've used sparse mohair I haven't bothered to trim. And no matter what fur I used I always turn that cotter key until I'm blue in the face! 

Lol Ellen! I know what you mean, it does look so soft. It would make a great bear. I'm keen to buy some of the double tipped mohair, used by Sue Ann recently - it looks great....I'm going to treat myself! I also love it when the e-mail from intercal arrives. Think I'm hooked! 

What kind of backing does it have Kim? I'm going to have to investigate this, thanks for the tip! Sometimes I search eBay for fabric that isn't aimed at bear-makers, and have found some great mohairs that way (one lady didn't realise it was mohair she was selling, so it wasn't advertised as such - but she was still happy to sell it to me at a low price when I explained it to her....).

Is it long pile, or medium? Questions, questions! 

It's maddening isn't it Jane? I've had virus problems in the past, and can't understand why such destructive little programs exist in the first place....how can anyone get a kick out of hurting others?

Well, I hope you've managed to pick up the pieces quickly - take care! 

Any kind of exchange seems to be expensive here Kim! I had a buyer who insisted on paying with a dollar money order (despite my auction saying 'sterling only') and it cost me £10 to pay it into my account....  Because of the hassle I'd had just getting the money at all, I took the loss, but such high charges do annoy me.

I'm looking forward to the day when we in the UK can handle international bank transfers more easily (at least within Europe). Does anyone here use them?

He's just gorgeous, Judi! I LOVE tigers!