Marmalade Bears

A nice solid catch up day today! Two dresses and pinnis cut and 2 more dressed bear patterns ready to cut!

Also a spot if "cheat dying" ; As you know, I like to use food colour and vinegar to dye but sometimes a bit of Rit Dye and a bowl of hot water from the kettle is great when needling a bit if paw pad velvet!

Fingers crossed I have enough cotter joints!

Been dyeing linen today! Time to get my skates on! December 14th has been confirmed for the Christmas Fair and I can't wait!

Jobs still to do :

* More dressed bears (including a festive pair!)
* Decide on ticketing & Design & order
* Make calico bags & order iron on logo's
* Finish covering boxes
* sort out/ sew table covering & banner/sign
* sort out a bear for the raffle
* Plan & design my woodland collection for next year!!! ....and still have dressmaking to finish!

My aim would be to make enough to book my table for Alton next June! ....I think I may need to book another "Bear sebatical" week in the autumn!

6 weeks in the making as every bit of them - bears and clothes - were sewn by hand
I'm now a bit behind target for December but they are well worth it! This sooty duo are so adorable.......now I have one bear left to dress.....lady or gent?.......

A happy hour or two with the latest TBT!

Well done to all of the lovely bear designers whose FB pages I follow who got a mention with pictures of their gorgeous creations!

A handsome chap in a flat cap!

A week off clearing my embroidery studio - again! (For those who are interested,I have some stunning rare antique embroidery books on Ebay right now!).....In other news ; Making slow progress with bear clothes! Have designed a lady and a gent and will put it to the vote for my third bear!

Tea dying fabric means matching thread!

I think this is the general idea!

Think the front and ruffles are cracked.....now for the back and ties....I think!.....

I think I've cracked the padded front and worked out how to do the ruffled crown! It is all a bit of guesswork but I love these little challenges!

Finished tea staining the fabric for my dressed bears but a pause to design some head wear....When living in a traveller van I read alot about itinerant cultures in Britain and this is my inspiration. I've been researching Staithes bonnets worn by the fish women of this area and adopted as practical work head wear.....

Neil and I initially met whilst living in caravans...he had the hot running water, loo and a shower ....and I had the useful Venetian glass and painted china door knobs....We miss this way of life despite all its harshness.

Shirt fabric in tea.....I love natural dyeing and hope to do much more of it in the future.....

Three hungry bears ready to fill and finish before airbrushing! .....

It is amazing what a huge difference 1mm makes when it comes to choosing eyes! I've learnt that bigger eyes can make a bear look younger but when I asked Neil if my bear for whom I had chosen the 9mm eyes was a boy or a girl, we both decided he was going to be a gentleman bear....We decided my bear with the 8mm eyes was most certainly a young lady, so perhaps smaller eyes are more whimsical ... It is often hard to choose but I think in the end each bear I make just tends to develop his or her own personality.....I wonder what my last bear will be?!

Perfecting tiny buttonholes....

Driving Neil nuts with my self criticism which is at times crippling, but I think once the trousers are longer and the final mock ups are done in proper fabric and the addition of buttons the gentleman bears outfits may come together.

Harriet obliged me by trying on a pair of gents trousers. Just a couple of adjustments and they will look super in corduroy! Now to draft a collarless shirt, waistcoat and flat cap and a bonnet to finish off my ladies!

Today on the bear table!

Progress on the bear table!

Tonight's view from the bear table!

Pattern perfect! Harriet will stay with me as my model but Neil adores her and she is perched with him! I love all the tiny hand stitches.

I played "dye bingo" with lots of browns yesterday which are now dry so tomorrow I will start a couple of dressed bears for the stall.

Final dress pattern fits!

Pinafore done! All patterns are interchangable so lots of options! Just waiting on a 19L dye pot which I managed to snaffle second hand on Ebay! In the meantime I'll test the final patterns out in some prettier fabric for her!

Today I have spent the day drafting un**es (I'm sparing my darling bear the indignity of showing her wearing them!).

I spent ages perfecting them and mucking around with sewing elastic and part of me is irritated it has taken so long....mainly because I annoy myself at being so exacting and also realise that when all said and done, there really is nothing like hand sewing....tiny running stitches are so pleasing to the eye.

Second pattern adjustments good to go!

A very sweet little model!

Note to self!.....There is nothing to beat hand sewing! I machined this one as it is bigger but sadly I didn't realise this mohair was quite so loosely woven and should have stabalized it with cotton backing rather than pva....you live and learn and there have to be hic-ups along the way too!
...this lovely bear will still be made up but will be used as my bear for designing clothes patterns around as I am delighted with how the elongated proportions came out so not all a disaster by any means ; in fact it means I have a permanent model! (though bless, her she will probably only ever get to wear calico toiles of my designs!)

In other news! Am waiting on a designer from the US (Etsy) to help me realise a new logo. I have the vision and exacting (obsessive!) eye for detail and know exactly what I want but am no artist or graphic designer! This job is for a proffessional!