Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Is a pincushion brush different then the finger brush?  Or one and the same?  And stop forgetting to tell me these little things...jeez...

Yes, I do have one of those...this poor little bear is simply sad...he looks like he needs a tubby and a good beautician!!!

But...I did start the Extreme Sculpting class this afternoon...I only got through reading two chapters but I learned a bunch in just that little time...have yet to attack anything with scissors yet...but I can hardly wait. 

Please tell me that this little head I have partly stuffed will stop looking like an matted mangy dog when I'm done...and that the fur does this when you are womanhandling it....cuz right now it looks like a giant dustbunny...or a rotten furry apple...not sure which yet.

oh...and I pretty much rinsed the mohair just like I would my own...turned out nice...until I started mauling it!!!

:/

Shantell

Thanks...it's really no big deal.  It was of course the first time around I called a couple days before surgery and told my doctor I had changed my mind...I said...I really like dogs so I don't mind having a seeing eye dog...he explained it all to me AGAIN and was more than reassuring...and then said...I'd think you'd look better with a patch and a parrot...I've been in love ever since. :)

The trips back and forth to Portland ever other day or more bothersome then the surgery itself.  I get tired of being in the car...and I get car sick.

I've resigned myself to a life time of eye problems.  I use to get so annoyed when I'd see people...guys especially...in stores, restaurants, etc. with their sunglasses on.  I'd think...oh come on you're not that cool...well...those thoughts came back to bite me in the butt...I'm now one of THOSE people.  I wear them everywhere.

Shantell

You will be happy to know that my mohair is dry and beary fresh (my conditioner was a berry scent :P) and I now have one bear cut out...and ready to make foo foo!!!

Yeah for me!!!

Shantell

Nothing to fret over, Daphne.  I'm having eye surgery on Tuesday.  I'm a pro at it now.  This will be my fourth surgery in four years...I should get my name on one the operating room doors or at least my own parking space but they are resisting...how rude!!! 

It's to hopefully slow the progression of my glaucoma...but my other eye has not been very cooperative...thus the repeat surgeries.  I told my eye doc that he'd had enough time to practice so could he get it right this time...   Thank goodness he never takes my smart mouth serious.

So...unfortunately I won't be able to see very well for several weeks...that part will stink...I hate the damn eye patch it makes me a cranky crazy woman. 

Shantell

P.S.  I "conditioned" one of my pieces of mohair...it's hanging to dry and tomorrow I will chop, chop, chop...with much more care then I exhibited previously

Daphne, I was teasing anyway....it's so hard to come up with the perfect name...I'm terrible at it.  I'm sure his name will just come when it's right...that's usually the way it happens...they practically name themselves.

Can hardly wait to hear what you decide :D

Shantell

So...stuff until just prior to busting the seams...gotcha!!!

Nope...still fondling it...

So...how long does it take to dry and do I just gently wring it out?  I was thinking that I wanted to try a bear this weekend because after Monday I'm out of commission for awhile.

Thanks Dilu...you're a peach!!!

He's adorable....I want one!!!!

You can name him Shantell....it could work

Guilty as charged...that would be me...the head chopper...and I do harbor a bit a guilt...

So...you really rinse your mohair with conditioner first?  Hmmmm...

Anyone else do that?

I just got the mohair I bought from Intercal...and now that I have it I'm terrified to cut into it and ruin it.  AUGH!!!!!:|

So Scott...let me get this...you want us to make bears that smell like fish, have a potbelly (Shelli you can do that right?) and have beer stains...perhaps a little bbq sauce behind their ears...maybe some axel grease between their toes...sportin dirty sweaty baseball cap...and then you'd buy it?

Hmmmmm......

I think it could be done...really!!!

Kim, Heather...

I love little poms.  My very first puppy was a pom.  My mom got her for me when I was three.  She had one eye (the other was injured in an accident...I was not involved!!!) and my dad could carry her on one hand all over the place while she was sitting up like a prairie dog.   She had the best balance even without the eye.  In fact, that was her preferred method of being packed around.  I wish I had a photo to show.  Anyway, I had her for 17 years...still think about her whenever I see another dog sit up like that.   Oh...her name was Gidget...I called her Gigi!!!  She thought she was a doberman!!!

Shantell

How hard or soft do you stuff your bears?  I've noticed that my little bears are stuffed pretty firm...but for some reason my bigger bears aren't as firm...they are squishier...I "think" I'm stuffing them so much that the seams will burst before I get them closed up but once they are all stitched together they STILL feel squishy...not that squishy is bad.

Just curious...what's your stuff level?  And how do you achieve it?

Shantell

Hugs and prayers to you both...

Shantell

Jane, I'll be thinking about you on the 13th...best of wishes...lots of  prayers...and most of all enormous bear hugs coming your way.

Shantell

Shana, I was asking about the leather cording Shelli uses on her awesome eyes...I think in an earlier post which I still can't find...that she uses 1mm or 2mm leather cording.

If and when I finally locate the specific post I was looking for I'll attach a link.

Shantell

Heather....ditto the above regarding the sewing machine...the other thing I did (well not on my new machine I haven't) but I took a ruler and drew the 1/4 inch line all the way down the front of my machine that way I had a bigger line to follow instead of the one only on the footplate.  You can also layer pieces of tape to create a kinda of edge.  I do however, check my needle position before starting any new project...I found it can get off a smidge from just normal wear and tear.

On the smaller bears that I've done I actually do a smaller than 1/4 seam allowance which I read in Nancy Tillberg's book...less bulk when trying to turn those tiny tiny pieces....this is where the frey check really comes in handy for me at least.   

After awhile you get where you can be pretty accurate with "eye balling" a 1/4 inch...but I do double check myself from time to time.

Have fun...and there is also nothing wrong with just marking it on your pieces ahead of time...which I might try anyway!!!

Shantell

Well...this is all well and true...however, I have a 6'6" 235 lbs son who cries at sappy movies, or when someone he loves is in pain (emotional, physical or mental), gets teary when an animal is hurt or distressed, and is just an all around teddy bear.  He's also one of the most compassionate people I know...his friends confide in him all the time because he's strong and understanding and shows so much empathy.  I knew it...he WAS suppose to be a girl.

There's also a side of him I wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley either but that's another story...

From the teary-eyed mother of a sappy son,
Shantell

yep...bloody rightch ya are!!!

Speaking of accents...that is one thing that is lacking on this site...can Quy fix that...I wanna hear everyone's accent. 

Thanks...I knew it was something like that I just couldn't quite remember...

I didn't know superglue came in a gel form....hmmmm I guess I should pay more attention....nah!!!

No Dilu...you have to go out the cotton fields and pick a bud off of one of the plants... 

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your siblings...it's not an easy choice to take over the "parenting" role of a parent.  I know I have that in my very near future with my own stubborn as a mule mother.  I also have the burden (for lack of a better word) to myself as I have no siblings. 

Love to you...

Shantell

I know you've posted this somewhere but I can't seem to find the exact posting....

How did you say you did the cording around your eyes...I remember reading it before but can't find it.  I guess I'm asking specifically how do your secure it inside the head....I love your bears eyes and would like to try it or come up with my own variation...

Sorry I'm not very original...but I can copy copy copy!!!