Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Project 52 - Miniature Bear Making - #5

Left foot, Right Foot

When a teddy bear's footpad has a regular shape like an oval or round, there is no definite left foot and right foot when you sew the pieces together.  If the legs are evenly stuffed it doesn't matter which leg gets attached on the left or right side of the bear.
I've noticed that sometimes after stuffing, the legs seem to become 'left' and 'right' all on their own.  This is my work method when making bear legs:
Mark the joints on both sides of the leg so that you can decide later which leg goes where. (See lesson 4 for joint marking tips).
Sew the legs and stuff the feet.  Now hold the legs together at the hip, and look at the footpads.  Swap the legs around and check again.  Like shoes, sometimes the shape seems to indicate that there is a 'left' and a 'right'.  By matching them up correctly, the bear's feet will look like a perfect pair.
With this little Angus, swapping the feet around did not make much of a difference.
This one does.  Feet on the right are definitely the better choice. 
Now I will pull out the threads marking the joints on outside of the legs, and keep the marks for inside legs.  I'm ready to joint the legs, finish stuffing and attach the legs to the body.
Yargh!  For this bear I used a piece of vinage cotton fabric from my stash.  It frays like anything.  Look at the mess.  Closing up the openings neatly is going to be difficult.  In lesson 8, I will show you how to avoid this happening. 

This is my book page for lesson 5.

A while ago I mentioned that we would make a pair of spectacles for Angus.  Coming up in lesson 6!  If you have a completed head for your bear, you will be able to make a pair of spectacles that is a perfect fit for Angus.

In this miniature bear making series, we are using the Angus pattern, which you will find in my Etsy Shop, and on the Tin Soldiers Website.
I have made a few page templates if you would like to copy mine, but it could also be fun to make your own.  Every week, you will find printable templates for Project 52 HERE .

Lee sent photos of her Project 52 book.  I love the 'label' idea, and what a beautiful colour scheme!

2 comments:

  1. I would be very careful in marking both sides of the leg, because on very light fabric the mark will show through, even if you do lit lightly. You may get away with it in pencil and the thread marking. I have learnt by experience.
    Hugs Kay

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  2. Very good point, Kay! When I first started making bears I used my office ball point pen... the ink used to bleed through everything, and leave smears on my hands, which I transferred to the front of the bear's fabric. A real mess. Thank heavens for the invention of gel pens, and air soluble pens. These days I prefer to use a gel pen, pale colour for pale fabrics, and the metallic ones are great because they give good visibility but don't seem to show through the fabric.

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