Real fur

[Steffi]

Hi

just wondered if any of you have ever used real fur to make a bear from? I am not talking about an old coat that is then unpicked but actually using a pelt. Up until now I would have avoided it like a bargepole, however I had the opportunity of looking at New Zealand possum pelts today and they are so soft. There are genuine reasons for culling possum in NZ up until 10 years ago the carcases were incinerated, however now there is a lovely knitting yarn made by retrieving the fibres from the pelts. However there are also some bear makers in NZ who make bears from the pelts. I must admit I was inspired but am not certain about some of the aspects. I did wonder is it would be better for example to use an interfacing on the reverse, however I don't think it could be an iron-on one. Marking the back would not be that difficult as they are treated and like ultrasuede. However I would be wary of making sure that the pieces matched, let's be honest the markings are reliant on the animal they came off of. I know that sounds callus but if you look at web sites like http://www.kcc.org.nz/pests/possum.asp then you will read why the cull is so necessary. BTW if you don't want to look at the site I will just say that possum was not native to NZ but introduced by humans and now are destroying much that is native. One last thing if any of you are interested in the yarn then it can be found on www.jamiepossum.com

Hugs Steffi

[marktaoh]

I've used rabbit pelts.
Do not iron on backing.
Lightly use a glue stick - dont overdo this. Then mark out your pieces. cut and fraycheck the backing and proceed as normal. However do not embroidr nose. use leather or clay nose.
Not using a backing would allow the pelt to stretch into unwanted shapes during stuffing and the stitching is liable to tearing. Glue damages the pelt and ironing the backing on would apparently cause shrinkage/distortion of the pelt.
I got this advice from other bear artists and I made my first bear ever for my daughter. The results are pleasing.
However it is difficult and slow to stitch - involves much swearing and blood loss!!!!!
hope this helps.
Mark.

[Lorna Evett]

Do you reckon the same goes for soft red leather. A friend has given me some to make a bear up, never used anything like this before, I take it a backing is recommended to keep the leather in shape? What sort of needle for the sewing machine?

Lorna

[marktaoh]

I reckon this would be the same for leather as I once used small stitches on leather paw pads and the stitching just tore out on stuffing- so always back these types of material would be my advice.
Mark

[Judi Russell]

You can use a leather needle for hand sewing, it has a sort of arrow head. They are incredibly sharp so a good light and sharp eyesight is a must. (yes again, we stock them, the needles that is), for the machine you can also buy needles to sew leather or tougher fabrics, try John Lewis.