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Tips & Tricks for making your Bear
Some times after making a mohair bear you will find that the fur on the head is perhaps going the wrong way. Hold the part over a steam kettle and brush the fur the way you want it to lie. Let it completely dry out and it will lie the way you want it to. I find that sometimes I buy fur from overseas, and when it arrives it has a few creases in it and I do exactly the same thing as above and the creases come out.
Joints
When jointing a bear if you hate ladderstitching and are using split pins, sew completely around the leg or arm. Making it an enclosed "bag". Place a wooden disc over the place you have marked for the joint hole and draw around it. Cut across the circle (just one cut) and turn the leg or arm right side out. You can stuff through this little cut and when the leg or arm is stuffed place the joint in and ladderstitch around the joint. This also gives a better finish to the arm or leg as all stitching is concealed
When making a bear I always complete the head entirely before jointing it to the body. It is easier to handle just a head rather than the whole body. I always place the eyes in, bringing my thread out at the front of the head as close to the joint as possible. I find that this tends to eliminate the "dent" you get in the back of the head and is really well concealed when the head is placed on the body.
Noses
When making a nose I embroider them from top to bottom never from side to side. I do a series of about 5 stitches to give a framework and then proceed to fill in the gaps. I never unpick a nose - I always just keep going over it until it becomes even or the size I require. Keep stitches firm and even and make sure that the nose is stuffed firmly.
Eyes
After the head is stuffed you can attach the eyes. Place pins in the head so you can establish the best place for the eyes to go.
Take a thread about 18 inches long doubled preferably, a strong thread of either "Goliath" or "Grizzly" or even Tooth Floss and thread through the loop in the glass or plastic eye as shown below. Then make a knot at the loop of the eye trying to get both threads equal. Take the four threads you will have, two for each eye and thread them through a long doll's needle. Take a pair of pliers and gently squeeze the loop at the back of the eye to form a long thin needle shape. Put your needle through the place that you have marked on the head of the bear with the pins and come out at the front as close to the neck joint as you possibly can, and towards the middle leaving a long thread. Do exactly the same with the other eye, coming out at exactly the same place or as near to it as you can. Take the threads and tie a good knot. Then thread the threads back into the head and lose them - cutting off remainder of thread. Before you knot however you should make sure that the eyes are pulled in as tightly as possible. Get a friend (I use my husband for this job) to press the eyes firmly while you tie the threads.
To make the eyes look sleepy draw a small circle of leather the same size as the eye and cut in half. Stick the curved half at the back of the eye with the straight edge half way down the eye. Another enhancement you can make is freckles on the nose. Simply sew six to eight French knots on the muzzle of your bear.
Noses
It is important to trim right back to the backing of the fur before you do your nose (this is in the case of mohair - with acrylic just trim back to about 1/4"). Cut a shape of your choice (square or triangular are the most popular) in the fur using a pair of small narrow blade scissors. Take a long thread (approx 5 feet) of Cotton Perle No.5 and thread into a long needle. Noses are easier to sew with a long needle and if the nose has been stuffed firmly, especially around the seams. Put your needle into the centre seam coming up above the nose seam.
Do a series of lines across like so:
Then gradually go backward and forward filling in those lines, and if you are doing a triangular shape try to keep taking your needle through the same point in the chin of centre front seam. Don't worry if this is uneven. Just persevere and keep going over and over.
When you are satisfied that the nose is covered with embroidery thread but your stitches are slightly uneven, then do a long stitch across the top of to disguise this.
Any bits of fur that gets caught or shows through can be drawn over with a felt pen the same colour as your bear's nose. With the long piece of thread that you have left dangling out of the bottom you can do your nose line and mouth features.
Examples:
Paws & Pads
Puff paint is available an after cutting out the feet in leather or ultrasuede (I tried this technique on felt but the results were unsatisfactory), make a template of the bear's foot pads.
Examples:
Other methods are embroidering the foot pads on and the toe pads on in leather or ultrasuede or using fabric paints and colouring in the background, but not the toes and heels.
Example:
If you just wish to sew lines on the feet when stuffed, then do just that, entering the bear's foot at the back of the heel and pulling a small knot through.
Ears
When placing ears on the bear's head after stuffing, place pins in the places (one pin at the top, one pin at the bottom) you wish them to go. You can even measure from the side of the eye to the bottom pin on both sides and also from the top of the eye to the top of the head where you want the ear to go. Take a fairly long needle and with one corner of the bear's ear sew the thread through and into the bottom pin bringing your needle up under the fur to the top pin coming out there and once again into the other corner of the ear. This will then stabilise the ear and allow you to sew it on at the front and back.
If you want your ears to come forward sew both identically - from the bottom to the top at the front of the ear and the bear's head and then go back down the back of the ear and the back of the bear's head. This will make the ears come forward - do the opposite if you want the ears to slope backwards.
To identify your bear as your own creation you can either write on the foot pad a name like so:
or cut a small piece of leather or ultrasuede and put your initials on it and sew it onto the teddy bear's thigh or arm as shown.
Patterns of
bears and other furry creatures. 
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