I am currently working on Custom Order #9 for Dawn
Dawn sent me a really beautiful black mink stole and requested 3 teddy bears.
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| Beautiful fur! |
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I love the reddish brown undercoat!
This will be more obvious when I trim the teddy's muzzle ... they should be amazing teddies! |
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| Dawn included a brown mink collar but there is no place where I can use it with the black teddies. |
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| Look at the wonderful sheen of the fur. |
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| This is what the inside of the pelts look like after I removed the lining. |
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I could tell that there was not enough pelt for me to "find" 3 of my 11 inch teddies
so I cut out patterns for my 9 inch teddies
and .... |
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I had JUST enough pelt for 3 9inch teddies ... with not much reserve for error ... so I need to keep my fingers crossed that I don't need to recut pattern pieces.
Well now it is time to start cutting .... |
Update: November 25
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| Pattern pieces cut out for 3 teddy bears |
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| I counted 96 pattern pieces! |
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Now I have to trim away the outside edges of EACH piece before I can start sewing ...
this will take awhile .... |
Update: Dec 13, 2016
I've been busy sewing and sewing ... and sewing ... all by hand because these are my 9 inch teddies with a 1/8 inch seam allowance.
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| I really prefer to sew my animals by hand because I have more control with the tiny details. Of course after all these years of hand sewing my hands have suffered but I still persist on torturing my hands for the sake of my mink creatures. I will occasionally use my machine for a few of the larger pattern pieces but my sewing machine and I are not very compatible. |
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| This little mountain of sewn together pattern pieces will eventually become three adorable mink teddy bears! |
Next steps:
- turning pattern pieces
- making and inserting wire armatures
- jointing
- stuffing and closing
- and my favorite part: scissor sculpting and finishing the head
Dec. 27 update :
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| The three teddy bodies are ready and waiting for their heads. |
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| I used the Pattern #2 (that can sit puppy-style). |
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| I always try to use the stole lining for the paw pads ... this stole had very decorative lining. |
I'm finally getting to my favorite part ... working on the heads ....
Update: Dec. 30, 2016 .....
(I'm determined to finish these teddies before the end of the year ... at least I'm going to give it a good try).
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| Yes !!!!! I knew this mink would make beautiful heads! This is the first one and I still have to do the detailing on the head but look how wonderful the face is with the undercoat of the mink being a lovely reddish brown. I love it!!! |
