in which I blather on about this, that & the other

tutorial... free teddy bear pattern!

this fine fellow is what we are going to sew. first, grab the pattern here: arm, body, head, and leg. the ‘large’ size will produce a 13 inch bear just like our pal above. notions needed: long doll needle, heavy duty nylon upholstery thread, and regular thread, safety pins, small or medium sized self-cover buttons (the ‘no-tools required’ kind), black perle cotton, just a little bit of felt (preferably wool or wool blend, no more than a fat quarter), stuffing (wool, bamboo, excelsior, fiberfill, etc.), 2 black buttons. a self locking hemostat and needle nose plyers are 2 tools I can’t imagine living without. most fabric/hobby stores carry them, and they are not that expensive… $5 maybe?  as far as fabric… I cut up an old mohair overcoat that I bought from the Salvation Army. one front side panel of a three-quarter length coat was all I needed, so, if you’re going to buy fabric or mohair… cut out your pattern pieces first, lay them out and measure. (by the way… sorry for all the links to JoAnn’s… it was just easy. SUPPORT INDEPENDENTLY OWNED STORES!!) edit— oh crikey! none of the damn JoAnn links are working anyway… stinkers… and I’m tired, so I’ll fix these tomorrow 9/10/09.

here’s all the pattern pieces and my butchered coat. did I mention this is my original pattern? well it is. and you can have it and do whatever you want with it. make stuff! *remember* lay out the pieces so that the direction of the pile is always going top to bottom. I just trace around the pattern and cut on the line.

here are all the pieces, including the felt ones, cut and laid out. my oh my!

I sew all the easy stuff first to get it out of the way and feel like I’ve really accomplished something quickly! the wobbly, pink photoshopped line indicates stitching line. I am sure you will do a much better job than me. when done, be persnickety and trim off the thread tails and even up the seam.

sew the center front and center back (leaving the gap indicated by pink) then put right sides together and sew all around the side seam. it will look like you have a little furry football.

do not even bother trying to pin the soles of the feet on. just baste it. it takes 2 seconds and will save you miles of aggrevation. take the basting thread out when you’re done! oh, and take your time stitching this… make sure you have a nice, even, steady stitching line. go around another time (I did) if needed. if you aren’t working with fur, shaky sewing will show up here.

sew the chin

insert the center head piece. and once again, I beg of you, for sanity’s sake… BASTE!

on the the brilliant part! the self covered button interior joints! I learned this from Mimi Kirchner’s blog (and I think she in turn learned it from someone else). instead of repeating everything, I’m just going to be lazy and link you to Mimi’s hidden button joint tutorial. please come back though! I know it’s easy to get carried away with Mimi’s fantastic-ness…

welcome back! now we stuff. today I am using bamboo, which is expensive and lumpy, but also wonderfully old-fashioned feeling… like kapok. I’ve never used wool stuffing — anyone know where I could get some? anyway, I really REALLY cram that stuffing in there using the hemostat and the end of a wooden spoon.

this, I think, is the most important part of a really polished looking bear… the blind ladder stitch. it is so easy, but I never could figure out how to do it until I geeked out and borrowed a bunch of ‘how to sew’ videos from the library a couple years ago. here we go (and all of our hand sewing is going to be with the heavy-duty nylon thread)… insert needle left, from inside, a bit above the opening.

insert right, at a right angle — no slanting! then take up a running stitch.

insert left, at a right angle, then take up a running stitch.

keep going back and forth until you get to the bottom of the opening

then PULL your thread hard… ZIP!

knot your thread and bury it. now sew up the legs and arms. then on to the head… sew a loose running stitch around the neck opening.

then PULL. tuck in ends. overlap a few stitches in an asterisk pattern over top your tightened opening. knot.

using the same thread and a few stitches, connect your head to your body. knot

still using the same thread and the invisible ladder stitch, attach the head more firmly, and expressively (tilted? off center?) to the body. knot and bury the thread.

take the time to pull out the pile that has gotten trapped in the seams. I just use a sturdy pin and scratch it out. then attach the legs and arms using Mimi’s invisible joint technique. make sure you PULL the thread really hard so you have nice, firm joints.

almost done!

apply the ears using our favourite blind ladder stitch.

now, I have a bunch of “how to make a bear” books and not one of them says how to put the paw stitches in. this is what I’ve figured out. knot your thread once and sneak it in between stitches on the side paw seam and up to the start of the middle paw stitch. pull to get the knot through

…this is fairly self explanatory…

(did you see my doggies?) with the completion of the last stitch, exit out through the side seam, once again sneaking through the stitches. go back and forth through the left seam and the right seam 3 times, pulling so that you can’t see the black thread, then snip.

whew! this is long! I’m loosing steam!

(secret… as in plastic surgery, the ears can hide a great deal.) for the button eyes, insert the long needle in the head, under where the ears are attached. poke out where the eye belongs. thread the button. poke out where the other eye belongs. thread the button, then exit up underneath the other ear. knot and bury.

same with the nose… insert the thread under the ear and out the nose. create a triangle guideline. satin stitch…. blah blah blah!

AND WE’RE DONE!

I stitched this bear on Labor day from about noon to 6 pm… and that wasn’t continuous, intense sewing! there was lots of lolling about and eating and walking the doggies… so, this is not a very labor intensive project.

I would love to hear from anyone who gives this a go! and, as always, if something is not clear, or if you have any questions at all PLEASE ask. really! and if I did something dopey, or if you know a better way… PLEASE share!

tutorial... doll wig. (less simple)

I am going to expand on the last doll wig tutorial here. give it a look-see because I am feeling lazy today and don’t plan on repeating instructions.

I am going to use crepe hair which I’ve bought from my local masquerade shop. it’s what those theatrical-types use to make fake beards, etc, and comes in 12 inch braids. fantastic stuff to work with, but NOT, I repeat NOT especially child-toy-plaything friendly as it will not withstand tugging, washing, etc. I would only recommend it if you have a very mellow and careful child. you can also use the kanekalon synthetic hair mentioned in the last tutorial.

I am using two packages.

unravel and flatten. lightly press with an iron to remove some of the kinkiness.

with tissue paper, measure the lengths that you will need to cover the doll’s head. I am doing 3 lengths; center part, around the head from temple to temple, and around the head just above the ears.

the top of the head, center part section should be quite dense, you do not want to be able to see through to the scalp. make your tissue paper-hair sandwich, sew down the middle, blah blah blah… just like in the previous wig tutorial…

using teeny-tiny stitches.

and keeping the rows very close together.

once again… go to the previous tutorial for a more in-depth explanation.

for the wrap around hair, we are going to fold it in half and sew on to the head that way, so maybe stitch and extra line or two down the edge to make sure it is extremely secure. I sew it on to the head upside-down for fullness and prettiness sake.

that’s it! done. she’s getting a head band.

maybe someday I will learn to make wig caps? or felting? and then I will share that too. we’ll see!

(and thank you Tumblr tech people for sorting out my technical difficulties so quickly!)

tutorial... tea dying cloth dolls

up until recently I’ve been constructing my dolls from really heavy duty upholstery polyester suede. it is soft, takes VERY well to spot cleaning, and comes in 5 or so lovely skin tone colors. it’s a tiny bit on the expensive side (but I don’t need much) and slightly bothersome to work with, but makes very nice, sturdy, child-friendly dolls.

however, I have found that in trying to keep the dolls child-friendly, you are restricted in what you can do, and after really looking at the old Kathe Kruse and Lenci dolls, as well as my own Stupsi doll, I’ve been wanting to use glass eyes and wigs… make a doll  more for ME!

one of the things that appeals to me is age… I love second hand things; clothes, furniture, photos, toys… I like things that have lived a whole lifetime before I was even born. they are more interesting and precious to me, and also makes them less “mine.” and I like the patina of age. so, although I do think it is rather like cheating, I decided to “age” the material I’m working with. I’ve seen some really great examples of current doll and toy makers aging their work, (specifically Whendi’s Bears!!) so I decided to give it a whirl. because the upholstery fabric I’ve been using is so GREAT, I can’t stain it! so, I went with plain, unbleached, high thread count muslin. simply soaking the fabric in tea and tossing it in the dryer does not get great results, so I did a little bit of poking around and this is what I’ve found…

in addition to black tea, you need vanilla and cinnamon! the cinnamon acts as “dirt” and the vanilla, well, I don’t know. but it smells good! and I do know that if you only want to lightly stain your fabric, vanilla will do the trick! cheap vanilla and cinnamon from the dollar store. black tea is whatever you have kicking around. I usually use Bewley’s… as the husband’s Irish and fussy, and it’s very strong, but I’m out.

toss it all in a pot. I put about a third of the vanilla bottle, and perhaps a quarter cup of cinnamon in with 5 or 6 tea bags. not a LOT of water, but just enough to cover. bring to a nice, rolling boil.

I sew up all the pattern pieces first and then dye, as I want the doll to look specifically, individually aged, not a doll made from aged fabric… does this make sense? because you could just put the uncut fabric into the pot and then cut out your pattern pieces. I think it could be riskier the way I do it as something could go wrong, but… let’s live dangerously! below is the undyed fabric.

pop it in the pot and boil it up! doesn’t this look kind of gross? it smells good though, and it never fails to bring my boy out of his room, hopeful that I am baking something lovely… he should know me better by now. sucker.

so, as far as how long you should leave it in? at least a minute. the longer it stays in the darker it will get, so, it’s up to you. if you want to save your potion for later dying purposes, fish out your fabric with a large, slotted spoon. it will be kind of slimey (maybe that’s from the vanilla?) and covered with cinnamon. this is good. lightly rinse you fabric in the sink… leaving some of the cinnamon on the fabric.

oops! I forgot to mention that you should pre-heat your oven… low, about 150 degrees. squeeze out excess water and place your fabric on a cookie sheet. I put a layer of parchment paper on my sheet, but you don’t have to. I have found that if the fabric is laid directly on the metal, it will singe a little bit, which is nice too! I just didn’t do that this time.

so, keep a vigilant eye on your little toasted project. it will dry very fast. turn it and move it about, you don’t want to set your house on fire, do you? no.

when it’s dry, it should have a lovely, marbled look. rub the remaining cinnamon into the fibers of the fabric.

and voila! here is my dolly stuffed, ready and smelling like french toast.

you can see how the dye is very specific to her form. I actually wish she was a bit more marbled, and I think next time I will just put the fabric on the metal pan, but she does look good! I am also going to take some dry cinnamon and rub it into areas that I think should be darker… hands and face.

well, that’s it for today, kitty-cats!

vintage doll collection, part two

ugh

it has been blindingly hot this week. I won’t complain, however, because up until now we have had an unseasonably cool and rainy summer. and that makes me happy. and productive. for when the themostat creeps upwards of 82F my brain slows down. when it touches 90F, my brain stops.

so, in order to fight off brain death, I closed myself into my air conditioned bedroom and started work on drawings. a rare event in recent years.

while working, I realized why I am reluctant to spend my time on drawing… I have precious little free time, and unlike sewing, there is no guarantee that the project I am working on will be successful or that I will be able to fix a mistake.

it’s good to get out of a safe zone, however. so here is the work in progress…