Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Thanks Tracy!!! :redface: She was a bit shy about showin' her bloomers though!  LOL!!!

I found a picture of one of my early bears last night too Jodi!  I was going through my files thinking how I've almost gone full circle with my bears.  I started out with the larger bears with long, big noses and bears that looked more like realistic bears.  And that's kind of where I ended up.  So here are pics of two of my favorite early ones, Riley (the red one dyed with Red Kook-Aid) and Sleeper Catcher, from almost 10 years ago (I think they were both made in 1998).  And then a photo of my latest.  That would be fun if we all did something like this and posted a pic of some early ones and then one of our latest!  Thanks for the idea Jodi!

When I took my stained glass classes, they told me to run my cutter through a little sewing machine oil (or even spray some PAM in a dish) prior to cutting.  Perhaps that will make a difference for you...

Well Caledonia is quite prim and proper so it took a bit for me to get her to lift her skirt!!!  But here are her "striped stockings" and a peak at her bloomers!!!

Here are two bears that I just finished this past weekend.  Both are made from discontinued fabric.  The larger bear, Caledonia, measures 15 inches.  She's made from a 5/8" sparse feathered mohair that is brown with a yellow back.  I used this mohair on her arms, upper torso, head and ears.  Her lower torso and legs are made from a pastel stripe home decor fabric giving them a "Raggedy Ann" type appearance.  Her dress is made from a salmon colored wool felt and is embellished with lollipop flowers made from embroidery floss and vintage buttons.  She has a vintage button brooch on her Peter Pan collar which has also been embellished with embroidery floss.  Her undergarments are made from white wool felt and have been detailed with embroidery floss as well as her shoes which were also handmade by me out of the same salmon colored wool felt with leather soles.

Her friend, Delilah, is a petite 8 inches and is made from a 3/8" sparse cream mohair.  She has been coffee dyed and distressed.  She wears a vintage piece of lace as her collar.

I am so pleased that everyone enjoyed Jodi's recipe for success.  It touched me too and made me completely re-evaluate where I was going with my bears.  If anyone else would like to share their "recipe", please just answer the question and send me some photos of your bears.  You will have a write-up just like Jodi's along with a small photo gallery of your work.  We can all grow as artists if we share what we've learned along the way.

Thanks Jodi!