No new bears

I'm afraid I have failed to get any bears made this week. I started on the cotton bear mentioned in my last post, but I ran into problems. When I started to joint him, the fabric wrinkled terribly around the joints. So, I gave up. I have started the same design in mohair, and that bear is half-finished, but looking - I have to say - a little strange.

Anyway, here are some pictures of a bear I made a while ago - which is really the effect I was trying to achieve:

I love this bear to bits (perhaps because he has been sitting on my desk for the past couple of months), but he has his problems. The cotton has wrinkled down the stomach, where the final stitches went, and the double-neck joint didn't fit properly (see second pic below).

I love the jaunty floral cotton though, and he has a lovely, friendly face. And I remembered to include the tush tag when I was sewing him up - which makes him totally unique!

My recent attempt excluded the double-neck joint - I thought perhaps there were just too many seams - but I made the body taller to make up for the lack of neck. It is a very awkward design though, with a long skinny body, which is perhaps part of the reason why I had so much trouble with it.

I will see how the mohair version goes. I do wish I could find a design which worked with the cotton though - the effect is fantastic.