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Dilu Posts: 8,574

DSC01228-2.JPGDSC01227-2.JPGHere is my first thread bear.....of course I had to change the pattern....(dilu doesn't follow directions well and runs with scissors....)

And I think the gaps between the stitches are too big, should have used a smaller hook and a tighter tension.....but it was a learning experience.....

SueAnn Past Time Bears
Double Oak, Texas
Posts: 21,683

SueAnn Help Advisor, Banner Sponsor

CUTE and COLORFUL!!!

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

Dilu...have you gone mad...first felting...now threading...you must be up to your ears in bears....are the Gollies getting jealous yet?

plushkinbear BEAR ME SHOOTKA
Vladivostok, RUSSIA
Posts: 2,139

Dilu, your bear is great and yes Ido think we need that section too!!

We already have our talanted Sandi!! :hug:

Dilu Posts: 8,574

Sandi and Deb and......who else is lurking?

Marion Acid Attic Bears
Versailles
Posts: 2,284

She is adorable ! Thread bears are so impressive !  :clap:

Sandi.S. Posts: 1,277

Dilu, she is so cute! I love her little flowers.

I had some gaps in my first couple bears too. I use the smallest hook I can without driving myself crazy, but I still get gaps on the tops of their feet. It's not too noticable with the angora I now use since it's so fuzzy.

Now give yourself a pat on the back for the great job...and give your gollies a big hug so they don't get too jealous...I'd probably hide those scissors from them too as a precautionary measure!  bear_grin

Dilu Posts: 8,574

I am in the process of finishing up a thread golly girl.....want to gove her a nose and some hair and ....oh yeah.....a dress.....can't have her pic on the board without any clothing.....


These are all adaptatings of Berta's patterns......I wonder if I could force myself to do a pattern exactly as stated..... n050.gif

MerBear MerBear Originals
Brockville, Ontario
Posts: 1,540

good idea Dilu and we have an expert in Deb to help us! I have all the ingredients to make thread bears but the time! I've only made a couple so far but they were fun.

Marion

gotobedbears Posts: 3,177

Cor Blimey Missus - ain't they cute!  bear_rolleyes

Yeah, lets have a thread bear thread too - it's always interesting to read about different beary making tecniques

Penny - Great sharp photo's Dilu but i think the colours have burnt my retinas  bear_tongue   bear_wub ha ha ha ha - only joking i love bright colours

kbonsall Kim-Bee Bears
Pennsylvania
Posts: 5,645

Dilu she is adorable!  I cant crochet or knit so I am really in awe of people who can!

Judi Luxembears
Luxemburg, Wisconsin
Posts: 7,379

knitties-017.jpgDopey.jpgknitties-001.jpgVery nice Dilu.  I really like all your detail.

Now, I have a questions for Thread Bear people.  Is ther a size limit?  Do they have to be miniatures?

I have made quite a lot of knitted and some crochet jointed bears.  Here is a picture of a tiny white French Angora knitted/jointed teddy.  The other pinjk and white bear is 4 inches tall too and is made from a fine strand of alpaca with a strand of white Flash Eyelash yarn.

The other fellow you should all recognize.

kbonsall Kim-Bee Bears
Pennsylvania
Posts: 5,645

OOOHHHHH!  Beautiful and fuzzy!  bear_wub

Acipenser Bine-Teddies
Stockholm
Posts: 862

Hi Judi,
I make thread bears as well. I don't think there is a size limit, but large bears are rather made from yarn than thread. Anyway, the term thread bear is trademark/copyright protected and can not be used in any ebay listings or other "official" context. On one of the thread animal groups I belong to the term fiber bear was suggested as an alternative.

Cheers

Sabine

image0.jpg

This bear is from Debi McCarthy's latest pattern.

Shelli SHELLI MAKES
Chico, California
Posts: 9,939
Website

Shelli Retired Help Advisor, Banner Sponsor

Yes, Sabine is correct... do NOT "go there" with the THREADBEAR thing.  It is a trademarked term and the owners of the trademark (I believe a mother/daugher team) got in a right snit, according to some reports, over that term being used as a descriptor.  So you must choose something like Sabine said... fiber art bear, bear from thread, yarn bear, ted from threads, etc., in describing these darling little ones.

I learned this in one of my Yahoo groups too, I think... a year or so ago at this point.  I can tell you, based on what I read (and not direct experience or opinion of my own), that the owners of the trademark didn't make (or keep, by some reports) many friends over this one.  Although, legally, they were completely and inarguably "in the right" in terms fo protecting their trademark with legitimacy. 

I guess it was a problem mostly because, like the terms Q-Tip and Kleenex have come to represent "cotton swabs" and "facial tissue," so had the term THREADBEAR come to represent bears knit or crocheted from yarn or thread.  What I heard was that artists who had been describing and selling their bears using the term THREADBEAR in their listings as a keyword felt, after so many years of using that term without opposition, that it was just an unfriendly move on the part of the trademark owners to choose at that point to claim their exclusivity rights, which had been the case for many, many years ... and that their decision hurt the camaraderie and morale of the community.

Dilu Posts: 8,574

Well, Life is too short for snits......and I certinly don't want to cause a snit...if someone is in a snit does this make them a sno......nope dilu be a good girl.... a015.gif

how about delicately embroidered with very very thing yarns and threads.....


Awwww Judy....... n010.gif

Awww  Sabine .... p020.gif

By the way my little bitty yellow Judibear sits beside me....she's my muse!


By the by the way....I do have signed permission form Berta, in case I want to sell one-or send it off with a golly.  h055.gif

Sandi.S. Posts: 1,277

I took a little break from making bears earlier this year when we bought a new home. The move and all the rest kept me away for a while. When I finally got back at it I listed a bear on ebay not knowing what had happened with the trademark deal. About a day into my auction, a fellow ebay bear artist kindly emailed me to let me know I should change my title. Apparently, while I was away a whole lot of people had their listings pulled from ebay because of this. I now call them thread crochet bears. I still want to have the word thread in there because collectors may not be aware and still search for "thread bear."

Judy...your little knitted ones are so cute! I don't think there's a size limit.

WildThyme Wild Thyme Originals
Hudson, Ohio
Posts: 3,115

Oh this was an insanely big issue, and continues to be, I'm sure... especially since the trade magazines were also using the word 'thread bear' as well as like every artist who was making them.  Anyway, just the low down..... you can file a trademark on any words you want.  I could trademark 'coffee cup' if I wanted to, and then I hold a legitimate trademark on those words.  Whether it's enforceable in court of law is another matter entirely!  If I am the trademark holder of the  words 'coffee cups' and I show those trademark papers to eBay, I can participate in their Vero program and actually stop each and every auction in which those two words appear next to each other.  I could become the coffee cup Queen!  Halting every coffee cup auction in its tracks.  People would have to start calling them 'cups that may be used to hold one's coffee' or 'cups for coffee,'  just not  'coffee cups.'  bear_grin  Now, if I tried to get a legal injunction against someone for selling their coffee cups, and having the audacity to call them such.... well, we all know the judge would laugh in my face.  I actually read through all the statutes as well as a good deal of case law back when this was all going on.... and their isn't a leg to stand on in a court of law.  There are instances of people calling crocheted bears 'thread bears' back in the 1940's and 1950's.  It's a descriptor, much like coffee cups,  mohair bear, antique bear.... Anyway, it is a another lovely example of how eBay is NOT the real world, and how ridiculous their policies can be when applied across the board.  UUUGGGG! 

Beary truly yours,
Kim Basta

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

I've always wondered what had happened with that. I remember reading an angry auction once, but I didn't really get the point.

Kim, thanks for the description. Now I can say I completely understand. Too bad though, I was going to sell some coffee cups........ bear_laugh  bear_laugh  bear_laugh  bear_grin  bear_laugh  bear_laugh  bear_laugh

Anyway, sure sounds silly to me. People could do some real damage on ebay, trade marking names like 'coffee cup'. Lets' just hope it doesn't become the new scam.

Judi Luxembears
Luxemburg, Wisconsin
Posts: 7,379

It is a shame really that so much negative energy has come from "Thread Bears".  I think it would have been wonderful for the artists who trademarked this would have come up with thier own business name.  This all reminds me of children in a school yard fighting over the sand box..."That's MY sand you can touch it...nya nya nya-nya nya."

I wonder why the owners of Band Aide brand down rant and rave over the fact that thier name is synonymous sticking plasters.

How about just "Bear Threads", then when some one does a search on ebay for "Thread Bears"  they will ALL come up.  Let them put that  in thier coffee cup and drink it!  Oops...I said "coffee cup"...I meant man-made-ceramic-pottery-used-for-the-consumption-of-roasted-and-ground-beans-grown-in-Columbia  and drink it! bear_laugh

Thanks for your inof Shelli and Kim.  It has been most enlightening. bear_wub  bear_thumb

SueAnn Past Time Bears
Double Oak, Texas
Posts: 21,683

SueAnn Help Advisor, Banner Sponsor

Judi wrote:

How about just "Bear Threads", then when some one does a search on ebay for "Thread Bears"  they will ALL come up.  Let them put that  in thier coffee cup and drink it!  Oops...I said "coffee cup"...I meant man-made-ceramic-pottery-used-for-the-consumption-of-roasted-and-ground-beans-grown-in-Columbia  and drink it! bear_laugh

bear_laugh   bear_laugh   bear_laugh   bear_laugh   bear_laugh   bear_laugh   bear_laugh

Dilu Posts: 8,574

Bear threads works for me Judy

or Barethread bears

428.png

Sandi.S. Posts: 1,277
Judi wrote:

It is a shame really that so much negative energy has come from "Thread Bears".  I think it would have been wonderful for the artists who trademarked this would have come up with thier own business name.

They do have another business name, but I guess one just wasn't enough!??

matilda Matilda Huggington-beare
WA
Posts: 5,551

Well after reading all this,........  why dont all the people hanging around TT, who sell crocheted, knitted ,weaved.... bears, sell under Judi's title "BARE THREADS", then you will all have your own exclusive little club.
That way, you get to tell the "thread bearers" where to go.
It sounds an excellent idea to me. :twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted:  bear_grin

And boy did I laugh over that coffee cup bit. I literaly snorted coffee out my nose.  bear_grin  bear_grin
you lot have got to stop making me laugh when I'm not expecting it. bear_grin  bear_grin

Dilu Posts: 8,574

Matilda wrote:

Well after reading all this,........  why dont all the people hanging around TT, who sell crocheted, knitted ,weaved.... bears, sell under Judi's title "BARE THREADS", then you will all have your own exclusive little club.

It's a charming idea.....we could take it a step farther:  The TeddyTalk Barethread Bears?

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