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Mo Beary Mo Bear Designs
Redcliff, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 1,536
Website

How many pattern designs do you use for your bears?

I have 3 or 4 that I like and then sometimes modify them.

Jane

TamiL Dolls N Dreams
Aurora, Colorado
Posts: 6,454

Me too, I have a larger 14- 16" pattern I like and then a smaller 10-11"
and I play around with the pattern pieces on both of those.  bear_original

sarahjane Brisbane
Posts: 2,951

I have lots of pattern pieces that I tend to mix and match depending on what I'm looking for...I did keep them all seperate for a while but I'm really messy and they kept getting mixed up  bear_innocent ...I guess I have about 10 full patterns in total...

Daphne Back Road Bears
Laconia, NH USA
Posts: 6,568

I have about 8 that I use often but almost always tweek something so no two bears are ever alike. I get bored so easily!!! bear_wacko

shantell Apple Dumpling Designs
Willamette Valley Oregon
Posts: 3,128

I have 5 or 6 basic patterns with various pieces and parts that I can innerchange...I get bored easily also and am always doing something different to a leg...an arm...making the nose longer, shorter, wider forehead...fatter tummy...rounder pawpads...longer feet...just something!!!

bearlyart Canna Bear Paint
NY
Posts: 749

Between my mother's patterns and my own, they total many, many dozens (mostly her's, I must admit).  In the earlier days, we had a different pattern for every bear.  We now have perhaps half a dozen patterns that we lean on more heavily, and those patterns have "options" that go on for textbook length (four different leg options, three different body options, eight different head options, and it keeps going).  My mother is a whiz with patterns, but she is a lifelong fine artist and seamstress, so she can sketch out exactly what she wants it to look like, then knows what to do to make a 2D sketch translate to a 3D bear.  Yes, she is a little scary.  I sometimes wonder if we're really related...
bear_ermm    bear_original

Best wishes,
Kelly

Dilu Posts: 8,574

:crackup: I have about 30 golly patterns...and maybe 15 bear patterns

Why so many?

Because while i save everything  can never remember which is which....so now I save them in brown envelopes with a piccy of the golly on the front so I can remember,then I don't have to reinvent the wheel every single time i sit down to do a golly....


this winter i plan on going through the box and analyzinf all the old patterns and weeding out the ones i don't like....I would love to be able to get them all into one file box.

honestly....I have never seen a more disorganized organizational system.

The piccys are such a great idea!!!....not mine...the Hubsters.... :crackup:

Maybe hes tired of me reinventing the same thing over and over.

The upside.....if there were another golly maker out there making gollies even remotely like mine i could proove I do it because I could just sit down and go for it ...

Laurie Laurie Lou Bears
Norfolk
Posts: 3,246

I am never satisfied with what I do so I can end up with loads of different pieces and I then have a problem with trying to remember what bear I done what with so I have a little book with their names in and what pattern I used and what differences there are to the original otherwise by the time I get to using it again I would have forgotten how I designed the last bear and how I achieved that look.Although I do have a handful of original patterns that I stick with.
Laurie :hug:

All Bear All Bear by Paula
Kent
Posts: 5,162
Website

Loads!   bear_grin

I have an A3 portfolio file full of 'em!  I intermingle all the pieces and keep pieces of card handy, so that if I want to make a new something or other, I can sketch it out and play.  I keep looking at my very old pattern pieces and wonder whether I should give them a makeover, or whether I should just accept I probably won't use them again and keep movin' on.  Sometimes I go through a phase where I like something in particular, for example, at the moment, I'm really into my straight arm designs.  :P

If I'm making a limited edition, I try to remember to write the name of the bear on all the pieces I use, so I can find them again!  bear_original

bearlysane Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 2,188

After ten years of designing...how many would you expect?

patternbox.jpg

Two archive boxes full!

But of late, I have been working with only three of four basic patterns that have lots of interchangable limbs.

Hugs,

Tami E Tami Eveslage Original Teddy Bears
Milford Ohio
Posts: 2,367

Like, Sandi I have two boxes full of patterns I have designed. And like other people have mentioned I have many with interchangeable parts and my new designs are often grown out of my previous ones. I like to work in different styles some traditional, some realistic, some whimsical, etc., so I save them all.

KJ Lyons KJ Lyons Design
Seattle, WA
Posts: 1,413
Website

Yes, bear_thumb
Patterns are my thing. I work with about a dozen different patterns each month and I add features, like an open mouth (special added pieces in several patterns), and I'm always refining patterns. Because I have designed many different animals I have a collection of over 85 original patterns. Some, such as a 5 foot Tyrannosaurus Rex, I don't think I'll ever use again  :P
Karen
KJ Lyons Design

Jodi Falk Bears by Jodi
Gahanna , Ohio USA
Posts: 3,463

Oh my I have a pattern box like you would not believe. And a ton of mimi patterns also !! I would say at least 100 , I know that sounds like allot but.......I don't like staying with one look very long.It is hard to keep track some times. I should sell off some of my older patterns. Maybe some day !!!

                                                      Jodi Falk

psichick78 Flying Fur Studios
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 3,073

Oh my, I don't even know. I pretty much draw a new one everytime still. But I'm lucky to make one a month.

Even if I try to use the same pattern, I can't help but tweek it a bit.

I wish I was like your mom Kelly.

Jare Hares & Bears Jare Hares & Bears
Polo, IL
Posts: 983

Ok so I thought I had a lot.
I had 30 patterns that are current.
But I have about 6 core patterns that I use most of the time.
Many of those have interchangable parts that makes it easy to come up different animals/styles.
My anime pattern is the most popular of late. I have 3 different sizes and about 6 different citters that I can make from each.

rkr4cds Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)
suburban Chicago
Posts: 2,044

Literally.. hundreds. All different and for either my retail work or my (past 3, discontinued) kit lines.My quandry is, I no longer work in fabric.
Do I chuck them out?
Let them keep using precious storage space?
Let my descendents pitch them into that huge dumpster they're ordering as soon as I'm gone?

Jare Hares & Bears Jare Hares & Bears
Polo, IL
Posts: 983

Bobbie -
I'd keep them if I were you. You never know when you might want to pull an old pattern out and make it again.

Right now I am tearing my hair out trying to find a pattern that I made 7~8 years ago, and it is no where to be found. Luckily, I can re-draw the pattern, but who wants to do that? k030.gif

hatsuko Nasseh-Ya
Seattle, WA
Posts: 12

I create a brand new pattern for each toy I make. I have a couple of pieces I have reused before but not a full pattern. For me it's less stressful that way bear_tongue I don't want to worry about keeping track or storage space

Eileen Baird'sBears
Toronto
Posts: 3,873

bear_original Good question. I expected to have a well-ordered file after 18 months at this endeavor, but I've never yet used the same pattern twice.

Interesting concept . . .

I'd love to try a limited edition, but I'm afraid of producing an edition of wildly non-identical siblings. I guess it comes of being a confirmed tweaker, with a brain full of second thoughts!

Jellybelly Bears Jellybelly Bears
Australia
Posts: 4,066

Me too!  I have a whole big winnie the pooh folder full of them bear_original  even when i use an older pattern I can't help tweaking it a little   bear_wacko  then i end up with, 'pattern a with new pattern a leg' on my instructions...can get confusing! lol.   Its fun tho...i enjoy designing  bear_grin

jenny Three O'clock Bears
warwickshire uk
Posts: 4,413
Website

I started out with 3 and now I have about 18 or so...and counting. I chop and change all the time so I am always adding bits here and there.

lovenshire Love and Cuddle Nursery
Missouri
Posts: 945
Website

bear_grin  I've just started in this bear making but I have for many, many years made cloth dolls.  I have boxes full of patterns but I can not bring myself to make the same doll twice.  I already know what that one looks like.  I make up a new pattern every time.  I am musing over the  concept of having just a very few patterns with many options.  That sounds great to me.  You could put your bear together anyway you like...
My problem is...I tend to like the big bears...say 20 to 30 inches!  I seem to be really wierd.  Perhaps I should try making a smaller bear and trying to love that?  To me Teddy Bears are for hugging and I can't see anyone hugging anything less than, say, 15 inches!  Can you just see it, I am having a bad day, sitting home alone and reach for my teddy, a little 7 1/2 inch thing, to give me a big "it's OK" hug!  Now that's a picture....

rowarrior The Littlest Thistle
Glasgow
Posts: 6,212

My smaller bears just give me smaller hugs, or we have a group hug-in  bear_wub

PeachtreeCottage Peachtree Cottage
Georgia
Posts: 527
Website

Hi, my name is Mary and I'm a pattern collector...hehe...I have tons of them, but I usually try them once or twice than make adjustments, mix and match parts, make more adjustments, etc, until I end up with another one...hehe

In general I have about 3-4 that I use on a regular basis.

/miniteddyhugs,

lovenshire Love and Cuddle Nursery
Missouri
Posts: 945
Website

bear_grin  I just bought three bear patterns to chose from but when it came down to it, I made my own pattern for this baby bear!

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