Christmas Bears!

Two lucky little ladies are getting these in their Christmas Stockings...

#42 Delicate pink with pink paws

This 12" bear was made for my sister-in-law's friend, Janet. She choose a tufted mohair fabric that's made a really character-rich bear. The face is stuffed with wood-wool to make a nice pointy nose, and I spent a lot of time removing and styling the fur to make the features. 

#36 and #37 Have met their new owners!

Well, these MASSIVE bears took me quite a long time to make as they are a whopping 28" high! But their new owners are absolutely delighted, and so am I! Kim's bear is called 'Mignonne' and Alex's bear is "Whisper". So adorable! [And so are the bears...]

#41 Cream Mohair Ratinelle with Cream Cashmere Paws

Literally just finished this one! She's lovely. This is the first time I've used 'ratinelle' style mohair, and I really like it. There will be more bears made in this...

#40 Brown Bear with white tips and purple paws

This is a chunky little bear with a really well-stuffed body and arms. He's got an extra cute pointy nose, too!

#38 A Pretty Lady in Pink

This little bear has gone off in the post today to a lovely owner, who will be naming her when she arrives tomorrow.

Teal BEHEMOTH!

This is an incredibly ambitious project; a traditional jointed teddy bear that's TWENTY EIGHT inches! It's made with 50mm long fine quality faux fur and it's taking me quite some time, but with fabulous results. Little did I know that I would end up sewing something the size of a toddler!

This is the progress to date, the face and ears are yet to be added. And yes, that's a rabbit run he's lying on - it's over a metre long and he's dwarfing it! He's just chilling, enjoying the sun with my cat.

The iPhone App!

NEWS! My good friend Steve at www.iswhereiam.com has been busy pottering away making a little iPhone/iPad appliction for those of you lucky enough to have one [sigh - one day it WILL be me too]. The first version has been built and submitted to Apple, so may be available on iTunes in a few days.

Here's the idea: you click the teddy icon on your iPhone and the launch screen appears (like the middle picture). The software then starts the camera working so that you can see whatever you are pointing the lens at, but you can also see the bear on the screen. You just put the bear in any position you want and then click it. A picture is then taken of your bear in that background! Picture three is an example, and I'm happy to report that the bear decided NOT to jump. Phew!

I LOVE the thought of taking pictures wherever I go of the bear I made for my nephew, and then uploading them to Facebook for him to see whilst I'm on my travels! I once made him a traditional photo album of pictures of a bear I lugged all over Iceland - so this would have been amazing for that.

Version 1.0 of the App will be the latest lilac bear I've made, but we may add more. What do you think?

#35 Lilac Tiny Cutie

This is made with 1/16 metre of Schulte Dense Short Pile Mohair and stone/cream cashmere paws. He's cute, but he was a little tricky to make. I've got a spare arm for him that just didn't go well!

#34 Sparse Yellow String on Purple

I've been trying to source this type of fabric for a while, and finally managed to get a piece. It's really unusual and the bear has been stuffed super-firm but with a 'tender touch' belly, that makes it feel like a squidgy rubber ball. Fascinating material to work with and I hope I'll find more!

#34 On the starting blocks...

I've just ordered this amazing material from eBay. It's described as Helmhold String Yellow on Purple... but it looks pretty blue to me! Should make an interesting bear?

#33 Massive Purple Wookie

This is the longest fur I've used, and it's made an amazing bear. Rob picked the fabric from the internet and it was a surprise for both us us when it appeared. I love it! This is the second bear for Rob, and it's a real character!

Grrrrrr!

Teddy Bears are Warriors. FACT.

Source: unconventionalview.files.wordpress.com via Rhonda on Pinterest

Steampunk Bear!

At least I think it is, there's no way I'm cool enough to know!

Rob - the nose is purple and so is the mouth, though you can barely see it in all the fluff. This is even squidgier than the last squidgy bear I made for Paula! If you'd rather have a black nose, it's a VERY easy fix, just let me know. :)

New Bears Coming!

I'm starting on two new 12" bears for the lovely Rob Skinner. He's picked a fabulous combination of two different faux furs and purple ultrasuede paws.

These are the materials:

 They are both going to be massive great cuddle monsters!

Happy Bear Owner!

This is my cousin, who is delighted with her cuddly new bear :)

Teddy Bear Gallery - Link

So many bears and so little brain... I've created a Teddy Gallery, which can be seen here.

Enjoy! I have to admit that I'm relieved that they're all catalogued!

#31 Two tones of Mohair with Spots

I had some leftover mohair from different projects and wanted to see if I could make a two-tone bear work. He's turned out quite well, though sewing all the spots on was very time-consuming!

#30 Teddy Trente

My cousin has not been well, so asked for a bear. I've gone full over-the-top on cuddliness and created a bear soooo fluffy that the camera wouldn't focus properly! I've photographed him with a different background to my usual, as none of the pictures were any good!

This fun fur is very fluffy, but also quite soft - which made modelling the limbs a little tricky. He has a belly of pellets and polyester filling so that he's nice a squidgy. He's a full 12 inches too, so should be good for a few cuddles.

#28 A tiny little one called Bree

Smallest bear I've made yet. I've not quite finished the face yet - maybe a little more fur cropping and ear turning? But this is how he looks at the moment. Awwww!

Few more changes and I've finished. He's so squidgy!

My camera occasionally says, 'Blink Detected' when I take piccies of the bears. I always get slightly excited, eventhough I know it's only my hand shaking... :)

Peaches!

When I ordered this fabric, I was expecting a nice pale pink. Instead, I got a salmon pink - my absolute least favourite colour! Ah well. I set about making a bear and found that it's actually turned out quite well, and quite different to my others. The flash on the camera has stripped some of the colour; in reality it is more salmon than this.

This is a bigger version of the 'Tiny Tatty', standing at about 7.5 inches. He's also got a rounded head that I've filled with heavy polyester for extra squidginess. His belly has both glass and plastic pellets in it too. He's a cutie - not sure I'll be able to let this one leave home!

Spotty Bronze Paws 8 Inch

And another finished today... I would be cooking on gas, but the cottage is all electric :)

Another little Tatty!

I thought I'd add a bit more colour to this one by making the insides of his ears the same as the paws. I think he looks sweet! The eyes are quite close together for extra cuteness.

New material - Green Cord Bear

Ever the experimenter, this bear has been made with forest green coloured corduroy with woollen bronze paws. I did try a similar light shade for the nose, but black works best! (As it generally does...)

Bow-tie or ribbon? I think bow-tie...

I quite like working in non-fluffy materials, as you can really see the shape of the bear. This fabric has added lycra, so the stuffing can help to shape the limbs too.