Too Much Info on a Teddy Bear in One Post

This young lady...

dressed in grand mom's sweater...

10 inches tall...

 sleeping on a kitten...

 a sweet smile on her face...

hanging out with her friend...

 felted nose and paws...

using wire, foam perm rollers for her armature...

 http://desertmountainbear.blogspot.com/search/label/wiring%20limbs

 limbs wired the way I was taught...

 a flexible spine...

 super glued eyeball loops...

taxidermy eyes ready to use...

made in a modified realistic style taught to me by Joanne at:

http://desertmountainbear.blogspot.com/

kittens and bears

 Spirit and Matilda...

just hanging with the family. 

We're all happy being together.

Marvelous Matilda

 Do not for any reason make a realistic bear...

because while you make them they'll frustrate you...

 then look ridiculous...

 time will have no meaning...

 and then something will go wrong...

 but not so wrong that you can't make it right...

and then you find you have fallen in love!

Friends

She Needs A Name

 I finished her paws this morning.

 She likes being a girl.

 

She also enjoyed the fresh air.

Oh and like I said, I haven't named her yet. I almost named her after my mother but I wouldn't be able to give her away then. I'm still working on her dress.

New Bear

Looking at Joanne's bears the other day at http://desertmountainbear.blogspot.com made me get out my recently purchased mohair. She makes beautiful realistic bears that have just won awards. I tend to like realist art but when it comes to bears I especially like reproductions of old teddy bears. Joanne makes these too.

I've determined that this bear will be a girl. I've already started knitting her a dress. I hope she doesn't tell me later that she's a boy!

 

I also decided to stuff her with llama fiber. Poly-fil is great, you can needle felt into it but it's squishy. Fine wood shavings are great (excelsior) but it's hard. I wanted something that would give an old fashioned feel, be easily needle felted and have a wonderful musty smell. Sheep wool or llama is perfect for this. I had a large amount of llama, in fact just enough!

 

I was able to machine sew everything but I always hand sew the foot pads.

Here's the llama fiber, I got it from my friend Londa at http://www.etsy.com/shop/4hornsheep we're Trade-A-Holics buddies!

No Name Yet

I just finished this little guy. He's just over 9" tall.

 I'm in the process of making him some clothing.

 When he is presented with clothes I will name him.

Then he will need a nice home.

My Bear Alistair

I'll try to keep my bear making insecurities to a minimum but ignoring the imperfections I just love him. He's so cute! I finished him today after having to set him aside.

I don't think he likes the baby sweater though. My grand mom made it, we'll talk about it later Alistair.

Too Many Things At The Same Time

Never go poking around for new patterns when you already have a perfectly good one! Why would I do that to myself? This face is much harder and I'm not sure I like it. Though it is more cat like, where my pattern is more kitten like. This is a prototype.

Don't worry, I'm still working on the bears, they're to the right in a messy little pile. It's their foot pads that are holding me up.

I need to sew on it's ears, needle felt a nose and embroider a mouth.

Right, it needs a tail also. This piece is only jointed at the neck.

Finished another granny scarf this morning while on the phone with sis.

I like these colors. Are they the ones I used on the vest?

Wire crochet I did before bed last night while Daniel was hogging the bathroom.

I have to force myself to go grocery shopping today. When there are this many projects going on I want to stay home and work.

30 Days of Bears

My girlfriend makes me challenges, she invites me periodically to do 30 Days of Art. I barely got through the last one, it's tough! So, when she invited me to join her and her family this time I told her I would commit myself to 30 days of making bears. I have all this fur laying around that I really should use!

So, today's the 1st of July, I'm gonna pull out my old patterns and start modifying. I thought I'd concentrate on smaller bears for a while.

Hey Charlene, are you starting today?