Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Happy to help, Kate. And if you don't use one of my name suggestions, they may just inspire the right one to pop into your head.

He's a real looker, that one! 

Debora

They came out really cute, Kimberly! 
Debora

I'm glad they're popular, Diane. I'm sure they'll multiply quickly...  So do you have a waiting list as well as your eBay sales? I am always curious how other bear makers go about the business of adopting out their creations. I always felt so bad    making collectors wait for me to make them a bear...I work full time and am the slo-o-owest bear maker out there. So I don't think I will do a waiting list this go-around. It also stifled any creativity and made me not want to make bears. Yeah, I know. But I'm getting back into the swing of things and taking it very slowly, one bear at a time. 

Hugs,
Debora

He's beautiful, Kate!  He looks like a Rufus or Rollin or Roland...I think I'm stuck on R names. What a cutie-pie.

Debora

I love your bunny. Is more of the herd to come?
Debora

Wendy, your sample mouse makes me giggle.     Thanks for sharing her!! I'm excited to see what your non-sample mouse looks like. 

Debora

That looks really neat, Tami!  Maybe some day I'll have to give it a whirl. When I have time. Yeah, that's it.

Hugs,
Debora

My avatar picture and this thread remind me of when we lived in the Seattle area in an apartment (the one my avatar picture was taken in). Our cat, Strider (pictured), kept sniffing and pawing at a cupboard under the sink, insisting that there was something under there. To make a long story short, it was a mouse, and it got into the living room somehow. Strider cornered it under a piece of furniture, and Garth (hubby) somehow got it out of there and directed it toward the front door. Strider gave chase and followed it all the way out the front door, through the hallway, and the little critter squeezed itself under the door of the apartment opposite ours! EEK!  Fortunately, the apartment was empty, so we just told the landlords about it so they could take care of it. Good ol' mouser Strider! 

Debora

Oh, your mouse is very cute, Heather! Thank you for posting him. Or her. You all are making such great mice! 

Debora

Thanks for sharing about Scottish gardens, Skippy.  I love how there are different English words for things in different countries. I am fascinated by language, and I'm a proofreader and editor. How's that for being immersed in words?  I know you won't want to leave your garden (it is quite lovely), but I also understand when the the urge to move hits. That's a toughie.

Bear hugs,
Debora

Gosh, I wish I had time to get out into my yard...and a little bit of money to plant things with. We live in high (over a mile high) and dry Colorado, and our growing season is fairly short. We've only been in this house a year (new construction), so it's up to us to put in everything in the back yard. I suppose if we had a wetter climate and some more money (and I could find the time!), our yard would be looking pretty good by now, but alas, it's not to be. Maybe next year?

And you say you're moving, Diane? Where are you going?

Debora

Oh, Diane, Sam is a lovely old bear!  You have chosen such a dear-faced little one, and I love the photo of her with her "new" friend. This is making me miss my antique bears--most of them are still at my parents' house in California because I didn't have room for them to move with me! I think on my next trip there I'll need to rent a moving trailer and haul my things back here to Colorado. No, they're not all bears... My mom collects antiques...maybe she would be willing to bestow some on me to use with my bears.    Ah, the mind's a-working now! 

Thanks for sharing her with us!
Debora

Hey, hey! Good for you! I think they both turned out really cute. 
Debora

Oh, and the seam allowance...I have never thought about it. I think it may lay open when I stuff the head, but I guess I don't pay much attention to it! Anyone else?

Hej, Birgitte,

This is the way I was taught to work on sewing the gusset in. I haven't done this in a few years (because I haven't sewn a head in a few years--I just started making bears again!).

First, sew the two side head pieces together from the tip of the nose down to above the chin. This way you have more room to fiddle with the side head pieces when you're setting in the gusset.

Next, pin the center nose point of the gusset to the nose point on the side head pieces.

Then, only pin the U-shaped part of the gusset to the side head pieces.

Then sew the U-shaped part you've pinned to the side head pieces. You could sew across the nose and then go back and do the sides of the U shape, or you could sew from eye to eye around the U shape.

Now you'll go back and sew the chin and neck part of your side head pieces. And you'll also pin the rest of the gusset to the side head pieces and sew them up.

That's it! I hope this helps. Let me know if anything is not clear.

  Debora

Oh, Jane! Sending big hugs your way.  :hug: I'll be praying for you and your family. What a weighty load.

Debora

Hi, Yvette,

I use Guetermann 100% polyester thread--the regular sewing weight, not the upholstery thread--in my machine for my bears. It flows very well through the machine. I think I use a fairly small stitch length. Do a test on the edge of some mohair to get your tension right. You don't want to be able to see the thread in the seams very well when you turn it for stuffing.

Good luck and happy machining! 
Debora

Wow, Deborah. They are beautiful!    I would love to see more of your work. Keep it coming! 

From one to another,
Debora 

Thank you for your welcoming posts, Dilu, Eileen, Lanie, and Danni! I'm so glad to meet you. Yep, allergies are the pits. And just when you think you have them licked, something else comes along.  It's my hubby who has the allergies; I'm mostly allergy free...except for dairy products. I seem to react to them with sinus issues and susceptibility to brochitis. So, I stay away from dairy. Maybe I should make a bear named Dairy so I will be able to love dairy with no consequences. 

Thanks for your kind words about my bears. I do have such fun making them...now if I could only find more time!! And I'm glad that we now have a digital camera so I can follow the  :photo: rule!

Dilu, it's so neat that you have found a way to have your fur babies living with you. Sounds like a lot of work!  But I know, when you love them, you do what you must.

Eileen, I love your story. Too bad your son-in-law has alleriges, but it's great that you can make the most of it!  I have ancestors with the last name Baird, from Scotland. My mom did geneology for a while. The name I remember the most is Hugh Baird...oh, and Emma Sue Baird.

Looking forward to getting to know you all. 

Hugs,
Debora

Thank you, Christine.  I have enjoyed visiting your little sweethearts; they have sweet faces, quite endearing.

Oh, wow, Carolyn! I can't believe your kids are so old now! I'll have to write you more soon...Garth and I are running out the door for a dinner date with some friends from church.

Talk soon!
Debora

Why, hello, Terrie, Paula, and Tami!

Thank you for your warm welcome. I'm looking forward to getting to know you!    I posted an introduction in the New Members section, if you'd like to visit that thread and see a couple of my bears. Everyone has been so welcoming, and I think TT is a new addiction of mine!

How neat that we're both in Colorado, Tami. Maybe we'll meet one day! 

And a special hello to you, Carolyn!  :hug: I have been meaning to write you an e-mail now that I've come out of hibernation, but I've been busy working and spending time on Teddy Talk   (oh, for shame!). How are you doing? I see you've been busily making your sweet bears. Your kids must be so big by now! Looking forward to talking to you some more and catching up. And bears, well, I really am wishing for more time to work on them! I'm still a proofreader by profession. Did I tell you we moved to Colorado a year ago? Oh, so much to catch up on. 

Big hugs to all you Teddy Talkers,
Debora

Thank you, Aleta!  :hug: I'm so happy to hear from you here on the board. Here are some more hugs:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:

Thanks--we are very much enjoying married life. We've been married a little over 6 years now.  Garth's allergies are getting better, and yet, the dryness here and getting used to the plants in this area are giving him a time this year. But we do find that if we avoid dairy we both do better with allergies. Who knew?!

I haven't heard of Annie yet...I'll have to go back and search for your stories about her. I do love cats, and yet there's a freedom of not having pets because we don't have to get people to watch them when we're gone. So we visit my cousin's cats! 

Gotta go grab breakfast and get to work...at my day job of proofreading. Can't wait for breaks to visit my addiction: Teddy Talk! 

Big bear hugs to you!!!
Debora

Very exciting!  :)

The main picture is of Herr Gruenhosen, which means Mr. Green Pants in German. The photo was taken before I gave him embroidered suspenders (called Traeger in German, which is what goes with Lederhosen). There's another photo of him on the main page of my bare-bones Web site. The cat is Strider. He was our cat for a couple of years before we decided that allergies and cats don't mix very well. We loved him, but we wanted him to have a better life in a bigger place (bengals are very active, smart cats, and we lived in a small apartment) and a buddy, which we couldn't give him. He now lives with a really neat couple and their Boston terrier.

And the second picture is of me and my husband, Garth.    It's not the best pic, but it's fairly recent.

And there you have it! Much more than you wanted to know about our cat, I'm sure. 

Debora

This is Phineas, the blue circus bear I mentioned in my previous post. He's an oldie from about '97-'98. In this picture you can just make out his tail. 
Debora

Fabulous, Bev. Thanks for sharing for those of us who couldn't be there in person. 

Debora