preparation

[Lorna Evett]

Hi All

How do you prepare your bear/rabbit/creation.

What do you use to trace round your pattern, I have resorted to a very soft leaded pencil. Felt tips do not seam to work.

I cut out my pieces, trim back the fur, they fray check round all the edges. Then blanket stitch pieces together before I machine.

Does everyone trim back fur or do you not bother, what about the fray check, is it better just to use it round the opening where you stuff the joint etc.

I have no fixed idea on how i will finish the bear until i actually have the head in my hands. How do you trim the facial fur??

Lots of questions i know, but just curous to see how everyone does it. :6034:

Lorna

[shebob bears]

Hi Lorna, I always use a soft lead pencil to mark the pattern on the fabric. Then I fraycheck all round just inside the pencil line. Actually I have found that a 50/50 mix of pva (craft) glue and water is excellent and much cheaper too. You do have to paint it on with a small paint brush though or it sits in blobs on the surface. When it is dry, I cut out as normal and trim the fur up to the stitching line. I always pin the pieces together, and for awkward corners I mark in pencil the exact stitching line for the machine to follow.
As for trimming the face, I am happy to pass that one on to someone on the forum much more experience than myself! :rolleyes:

Sheila :6034:

[shelly]

I use different things to mark depending on the colour of the fabric, as long as I can see the mark that's fine.

I stiffen the areas round the openings, and I always trim the seams allowances of the fur, which is such a tedious job but is a must. I'm actually distracting myself from doing it at the moment because this message is soooooooooooo important to reply to!!:D

Shelly:6086:

[All Bear]

I use a simple biro to mark the pattern out on my fabric, unless it is a very dark fabric in which case I use a white pencil.

I think trimming around each of the seams is essential for a professional finish ... not sure about miniature bears because I've never made one, but it's certainly an essential part of making bigger bears.

I make big bears and I don't fray check the fabric, my seam allowance is sufficient for this not to be an issue. Also, if you use decent quality mohair the backing should be strong enough not to fray!

Blanket stitching each piece sounds a long process prior to sewing ... maybe it depends on the size of bear you are making? I always baste paw pads and the nose end of the head gusset with a simple overstitch before machining, but the rest of the seams are simply pinned and then sewn on the machine. Incidentally, I always machine sew the seams twice for extra strength.

To trim facial fur you'll need a good quality pair of embroidery scissors or similar. Some people like to use a comb as well, like a hairdresser would use. I just brush and trim carefully until I get the look I want. This is my favourite part of the process! If the pile doesn't run the way you need it to, a good tip is to use a water spray to dampen and then brush in the direction you need using a hairdryer to blow dry. It works a treat!

[Lorna Evett]

Go to chichester come back and loads of useful suggestions. Thanks everyone.

I am going to have to try the damping and blow drying hair, always been a bit wary of doing that in case it shrinks or something horrific.

I always blanket stitch because I feel guilty if I do not sew the bits together before I machine. I dont do it when i make cloths however I am totally confident when sewing them, I just get a bit jumpy round my bears, I think it is because i want them to be right, it is a nightmare process and takes a while, but have to say i am tempted to just pin and sew. I think paw pads will need sewing though.

I am going to be more adventurous with facial trimming though:6082:

~Thank you everyone~

Lorna

[Geralye]

Gosh, Blanket stitch sounds very refined, I just oversew :eek:

[Lorna Evett]

I am not really obsessive I am definitely not refined, but I was taught just to oversew, but I thought the blanket stitch helped when sewing I always feel oversewing makes the edges wavy!!:6044:!! Now this seems really wierd, I am not (my kids might not agree) I just worry that if someone unpicked my bear they might think just oversewing untidy, perhaps I am wierd!! Ha Ha

Anyway, I just pinned two bears bodies and sewed them yesterday :6013: Nothing bad happened and the pieces went together just fine. I shall do more pinning from now on.

ta ta

[shelly]

I am not really obsessive I am definitely not refined, but I was taught just to oversew, but I thought the blanket stitch helped when sewing I always feel oversewing makes the edges wavy!!:6044:!! Now this seems really wierd, I am not (my kids might not agree) I just worry that if someone unpicked my bear they might think just oversewing untidy, perhaps I am wierd!! Ha Ha

Anyway, I just pinned two bears bodies and sewed them yesterday :6013: Nothing bad happened and the pieces went together just fine. I shall do more pinning from now on.

ta ta

If someone unpicks your bears it will probably be in about 50 years time when they've been so loved that they need re-stuffing, and I doubt that they would comment on the oversewing:D
Best wishes Shelly:6086: .

[Lorna Evett]

oh well at least i wont be around to witness that, well on the off chance i am (god forbid) i can deny all knowledge!!!

:6086:

[Vicky Allum]

Hiya

I'm a bit late coming in on this one - I've been tied to the sewing machine for the last few weeks. During that time I discovered something I thought I'd share ..... I always trim my seam allowances, then machine once, brush out the seams from the inside and out and then machine again. In the past I've also done this with the very short 4mm dense mohair and to be honest I think it's a bit of a nightmare to work with. Really hard to trim the short pile and then when it's on the machine it moves about on itself. It drives me mad. Anway I thought I skip the seam trimming, pin it and squash it together like velcro and apply quite a bit of pressure as it goes through the machine. It actually worked much better, it needed brushing out but after a second lot of stitching it looked so much better than when I'd trimmed the seams.:)