Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Thank you for your loyal readership throughout 2014.

The free offer for Noelle ended on 4 January 2015.  The pattern is available in my Etsy shop HERE.  Thank you for reading my blog, you never know when another freebie might pop up ;-)

Project 52 - Miniature Bear Making - #16

Make a waistcoat

Making clothes for tiny bears can be a challenge.  Non-fray fabrics such as felt are often too bulky, and thin cotton and silk tend to fray.  It used to frustrate me no end, especially since I have a wonderful stash of vintage cotton fabric with small motifs. 

A friend who makes doll clothes taught me this method for working with fabrics that fray - simply double it up!  This means no more working with fiddly linings around the neck and armholes.  Clothes that are made this way are robust enough that children can play with it.

 

To start, you will need a paper pattern.  I designed the pattern for a waistcoat for Angus the same way that we made the bolero pattern in Week 15.  If you don't want to draw your own pattern, you can use mine, you will find the the template to print HERE.

Fold double the piece of fabric that you will use for the waistcoat, with the right sides inside, and pin together so that the fabric layers won't move.  Trace the pattern on to the fabric.
(I used calico to make a sample waistcoat so that you can see the steps more easily.  My Angus waistcoat is made from burgundy silk with a fine black stripe, it would not photograph!).

 

The template lines are the sewing line.  This makes it easier to sew the seams accurately.  The seam allowances still need to be added on so don't cut the waistcoat from the fabric yet.  I stitched my waistcoat on the sewing machine, but you could do it by hand.  Leave the side seams open.   

   

Once all the seams are sewn, cut out the waistcoat, leaving a 2-3mm (1/16 inch) seam allowance. Clip the curves and corners.  The side seam openings can be fray checked, and a very thin line of fray check applied around the neckline and on the corners if you are concerned that the fabric might fray when turned right side out.

 

Carefully turn the waistcoat right side out.  I found it easier to turn it working through the side seams on the back of the waistcoat. Use a hemostat or long tweezers.  Press the seams flat.  If your waistcoat needs ironing, now is a good time to do it.

 

Fold under the raw edges on the waistcoat side seams, front and back.  At this point your waistcoat does not have a right side and a wrong side, unless you used different fabric for the lining.  Fold the waistcoat at the shoulder so that the front and back side seams match up under the arm hole. Whipstitch together the two inside layers of the side seam.

 

Ladder stitch or whipstitch the two outer layers of the side seam together.  Repeat for the other side of the waistcoat.

 

The waistcoat is finished!

Next time we will add hand made buttons.

 

My book page for Lesson 15. 

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.  Every week, you will find printable templates for Project 52 HERE .

Project 52 - Miniature Bear Making - #15

Make a bolero jacket

A bolero jacket is a short tailored jacket.  This is possibly one of the easiest pieces of clothing to make for your teddy bear.  The pattern requires very little sewing and is best made from fabric that does not fray, such as wool felt or suede.  Apryl is modelling a sleeveless bolero for us.

Start by folding a piece of scrap paper so that it is doubled.  The doubled up part should be at least as wide as your bear when it is lying on it's back.

Move the bear so that it is lying on its side, with its back against the folded part of the paper.  The fold in the paper represents the center seam at the back of the jacket.

Draw a straight line out from the top of the bear's neck, long enough to reach the end of the shoulder.  Then draw an armhole, draw a shoulder at the top of the jacket (another straight line) and draw the front of the jacket, taking the line down to the center back of the jacket.

Cut the jacket from paper and test to see if it fits.  Do you notice that the jacket is gaping a bit at the back of the neck?  Gaping neck holes are often a problem because bears have a slight hump.  The jacket covers Apryl's tail.  I'm going to shape the it at the bottom to accommodate the tail, and make a dart at the back to reduce the fabric at the neck. 

 

If there is too much fabric over the shoulders, cut the shoulders down at an angle for a better fit.

When you are happy with the shape of the jacket, cut it from fabric.

Sew the dart at the back (if you made one), then sew the shoulder seams.

 

Turn right side out, and Voila!  You have a little bolero jacket to dress your teddy.

Notice how the jacket fits neatly over the shoulders, and how the shaping at the bottom accommodates the tail?  It is worth adjusting the pattern until you are completely satisfied with the fit. 

This is my pattern template after several adjustments.  If you are making Angus, it should fit him well. 

A simple bolero can be accessorized with beads, buttons and embroidery stitches. I would love to see a picture of your completed jacket!

My book page for Lesson 15.

Next time we are going to make a more intricate waistcoat with side seams and lining, and the week after, buttons. 

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.  Every week, you will find printable templates for Project 52 HERE .

Project 52 - Miniature Bear Making - #6

Make Spectacles

To make spectacles for Angus you will need only a few things.  Most of them you probably already have.

Wire:  any wire that will bend easily, but hold its shape.  I use brass wire from a beading shop, sometimes wire from the hardware store, and often wire from the florist.  One can get paper coated wire from some florists.  This is great, because it can be painted any colour you like. And how about raiding the stationery cupboard?  All those lovely coloured paper clips...

Shaping tool:  I use a pair of chain nose (round nose) pliers.  You can get that from a beading shop or hardware store.  If you don't have chain nose pliers, a wooden skewer, dowel or knitting needle with the right diameter will also work. 

You will also need a pair of needle nose pliers and a wire cutter.

Let's get to work.

Cut a generous length of wire and fold it in half.  Don't make the top of the bend too sharp, it should look like a hairpin.  You can cut several lengths of wire and keep them handy, in case you need to practise a bit to get it right :-)

Fold one side of the wire around the shaping tool to make a half circle.  Hold the shaping tool against the outside of the top of your 'hairpin', and bend the wire up 180 degrees away from the hairpin.

Do the same with the other leg of the hairpin.  Check that the curve on both sides are the same size.  Now you have the bottom  half moons for your spectacles. 

Hold the spectacles up to your teddy bear's face and make sure that he can see you through both lenses. Adjust as necessary.

A little bit too small?

This one is big.  Not completely wrong though, it will give Angus a bookish look.

Perfect fit!

Take up your shaping tool again and complete the circles.  

The wire should now hang down on the inside of the hairpin.  

We are not finished yet.  Still holding your shaping tool inside the circle, take the wire around another half turn, so that it is on the outside of the circle, and facing straight up.

When you have completed one side, do the other side. 

Use the needle nose pliers to bend the ears of the spectacles 90 degrees away from the lenses.

Voila!  Spectacles custom made for your teddy.

For my small bears, I snip the ears of the spectacles to length, just behind the bear's ears. 

Make a hole with a big darning needle at the top corner of each ear, into the head.  Slip the ends of the spectacles into the holes, press them down firmly on the bear's nose, and you are done.

If the spectacles are the right size, and fitted properly, Angus will be able to look at you through both lenses of the spectacles.

Here's a summary of the steps.

This is my book page for lesson 6.

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 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 .

Want to make miniature reading material for your teddy bear?  On my Pinterest page you will find links to miniature books and newspapers to print, covering a wide variety of topics. 

Gerda and Lana have a regular date to make teddies.  They are working on their Project 52 books together.  This is what it looks like so far, exciting!  I love the idea of using nose shapes as a 'window' to write in.  You ladies are so creative.

Project 52 Miniature Bear Making - #3

Draw the Sewing Line 

We're only at lesson 3, and I've said it a few times;  while making tiny bears, accuracy is everything. 

When I look over a bear to see whether it was neatly made, one of the first things that I check are the paws and footpads.  Whenever things come in pairs, they should match.  It is the mark of an accomplished bear maker that they sew and stuff the paws and feet of their bear so that they have the same shape and symmetry, and form a matching pair.

These bears' identity is protected ;-) 

See what I mean about the footpads?  Once you've noticed, it will not stop bothering you.
Stuffing has a role to play, but before we get to that it is important to sew the footpads and paws symmetrically into the arms and legs.

In this picture you can see that I marked my pattern cutting lines with a brown pen.  I used a blue air soluble pen to draw in the sewing line on each pattern piece before I cut them out.

When I sew the footpad into the foot, I use the pen line to help me align each stitch perfectly.  You can see my stitches in pink.
I use a small running stitch to sew tiny bears together, also sometimes called stab stitch.  I know that many bear makers prefer to back stitch, but I find that the 'loops' resulting on one side of the work causes seams not to pull tight properly, and often you will see the sewing thread in the seams when you start stuffing the bear.

When I have done one row of stitches around, I go around the footpad a second time, filling in the gaps. I changed to green thread so that you can see the second line of stitches.  When using stab stitch, both sides of the seam look alike. 

A word about threads and pens - in these tutorials you will often see me using coloured threads and dark coloured pens.  This is so that the techniques I am demonstrating will show up in the photos.  When marking pattern pieces on to fabric for real, I like to use gel pens, because they do not bleed or smudge.  They come in many colours.  Always use the lightest colour that still shows up well on the fabric.  This way you will eliminate the risk of pen lines showing through on the right side of the fabric when you stuff the bear.
We will talk more about threads in a future lesson.  Try to use thread that matches the colour of the fabric as closely as possible.

You can draw the sewing line onto all the pattern pieces of the bear if you like, but I don't usually find that necessary.  I do usually sew twice around all my mini bear seams though.
Sewing twice around the seams not only makes them sturdy, it helps with another problem that miniature bear makers often encounter.  Sometimes the seams will appear to be perfectly sewn but once you stuff the bear, the seams become 'scalloped' and look unattractive.  Sewing twice around each pattern piece, making sure to pull the sewing thread tight as I go along, I have managed to eliminate this problem completely when making small bears.

This is my book page for lesson 3.

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 .

Liezel shared her book cover with us.  She is a teddy bear designer, computer and music teacher, and mother of three girls.   Her homework is always done.  In the studio we call her the Head Girl.  You will find Liezel's designs in her Etsy Shop, and at Bresbears on the Tin Soldiers Website.