They are a cute pair!

I have some new ideas brewing around in my head, so I’ll start to sketch them and see where they go.

Halloween is a couple of months away, so I thought I would put up some critters from the past for you to see.

This is Frankie, made from green leather, he sold on e-bay in September of 2002.

This cute pair are Casper and Boo, made from Mohair and berber wool. They sold on e-bay in September 2004.

Meet Esmarelda and Slither, a couple of cute critters, made from moleskin and sold on e-bay in September 2004.

This is Gustave, made from recycled denim and sold on e-bay in October 2006. Just a walk down memory lane to revisit some of the past Halloween critters. I hope the future brings even more.

How could you resist those eyes!

I am hard at work on a new teddy. I have sketched the design,drawn and cut out the pattern. I hand sewed Scarlett and started on her dress, but it hasn’t turned out as I expected.

I went shopping for buttons for Scarlett’s dress yesterday and spent a half hour trying to decide which ones I liked best, but now that I have sewn them on, I am once again unsure if they are just right. I have hand croceted the edging on her dress and also the straps.

I also made her companion, O’hare, but am having some problems with him. I drawn the patterns three time, cut it out and sewed it, but was not satisfied with the end result, so I redid it a fourth time, but now I am thinking of reworking his arms. I cannot decide which way to go from here. I returned to my sketch book and I am on track, so I hope it will all come together by the end of the week.

I am hard at work on another duo. As you probably guessed by now, I love to play around with famous people’s names and design critters around their name and personalities. I am working on Scarlett and O’hare now. I am having a bit of design problems with O’hare. I usually sketch out my ideas in my sketch book and then develop the critter from these ideas, so O’hare is a rabbit (how did you guess), and I have definite ideas of how he should look, but am having a few problems bringing him to life. I will probably have them ready in a week or two.

I cannot believe it is the end of July already. Have a great weekend!

They are a part of my Orphan Critters line, they will be the third in the series. All my Orphan Critters have a little story to go with them. The first was a mouse named Stanley. He sold on E-bay in 2003.

The second in the series was a dog named Casey. He sold on E-bay in 2003.

I want to thank all our brave men and women in the armed forces, who have protected us and our freedoms at the utmost cost, THANK YOU!!!

Have a safe and happy July 4th everyone!

Oliver is a return to my recycled denim teddies. I love using this material because it is soft and worn with a nice patina of age. It is also unforgiving of errors, so your patterns need to be right on, there is no fur to hide little oversights. My recycled denim comes from family and my own collection, it seems there are always plenty of jeans around. I don’t use the stretch denim, only the regular old denim.

Oliver

Oliver is also a bit bigger than I have been used to making, he is 21 inches tall and softly stuffed with poly and pellets. His arms and legs have lots of pellets to give him a more relaxed feel.

My designs usually follow a routine. I usually draw the idea in my sketch book first, then draw the pattern. I have usually decided what material I am going to use when I am drawing the sketch, so then I lay out the patterns, trace around them on the material, and cut them out. Next I sew the head, stuff it, place the eyes, stitch the nose, sew on the ears, then go on to the rest of the bear. If I am dissatisfied with the head, I make a new one, making the changes I feel it needs. I always hand sew the head. I hand sew the bodies of all my teddies under 15 inches. I use a back stitch and sew every seam twice for extra security. After I am finished sewing, stuffing, sculpting and tweaking, I start on the clothing and accessories.

I had Oliver sitting in my workroom for several months while deciding if he was finished or not, then I decided he needed claws and a companion. I had a idea for Wendell floating around in my head, and decided he would make a good teddy for Oliver. I had a bit of a time deciding which material to make him from, but finally the left over material from an old wool coat seemed just right. I knew I wanted him to be a simple design, so I used button joints and made his head stationary. I also thought button eyes suited him best.

Wendell

I love them together, they seem to belong to each other.

Oliver and Wendell

I am working on an orphan critter, these are a separate category, and I have only made two so far, this one wasn’t meant to be the third, but the idea for him came to me one night and I sketched him out in a few minutes and just had to make him. If you would like to see the other orphan critters, please visit them on my web site.

I start out with an idea, then I sketch my ideas in my sketch design book. Then I draw the patterns on copy paper, and refine them, making the leg longer or shorter, less or more hump on the back, shorten or make the nose longer, etc.

Then I assemble all the materials, sometimes I stay on target with my sketch, sometimes it changes as I work with the materials. As you can see from the sketch, the name for my teddy changed from Chaucer to Chawcer. For him I bought an old red wool blanket at a flea market, then washed and felted it. I used the edge of the blanket so that I could have the black stripe be incorporated into his body, and the black wool stripe was used for his ears and paw pads. I hand sew most of my critters twice, so the seams are very sturdy. I sewed pink felt patches on his cheeks and felt patches on his tummy with vintage buttons. I also sewed a green felt patch on his arm and a felt patch on his leg. I made his collar out of different colors of felt.

His companion Geoffrey is made from felt with hand painted black spots. His mane and tail are made from black felt. I painted the wheels red and mounted Geoffrey on them.

After I finish making my critters, I photograph them for posterity. I keep a scrapbook of all my creations and a note of who bought them.

I love designing and making my little critters. They start out as just an idea, then pieces of material, then become personalities. It is an amazing transformation for me, the designer.

May 6, 2009
Hello, and welcome to my blog. My grandson Jacob is pictured above. I would like to introduce my family, so I figured I would post a few pictures of them each month. We live in an old house with two dogs, two cats and two birds. I will be introducing them along the way also.

I was a wedding photographer for many years. I still love my photography and carry a camera with me everywhere. I find that even the most ordinary objects have beauty. I will be posting my photographs here in the hopes that someone might enjoy looking at them.

I am a fiber artist, and like to dabble in designing and making teddy bears and dolls. I like to knit, crochet and sew, so I make most of their costumes as well. I have sold on E-bay under the Id jannebears for many years, and I am planning to sell on my website in the near future.

I use recycled fabrics for some of my designs, such as the recycled denim bunny above. I have used old coats and their linings, old blankets, and faux leather.

The teddy bear above was made from an old blanket I bought at a flea market. The ones below was made from faux leather.

Sometimes my children decide that they would like to keep one of my designs and they become a part of our family, such as the one below.

I keep a journal of all the teddy bears and other critters I have made and sold over the years, and it is an interesting look back at all the stages I have gone through. I also dabble a little in drawing, some of which I will post later.

I have a studio where I do most of my work, and am in the process of setting up my darkroom once again. Please feel free to spend as much time as you like here and I would love to hear from you. If you would like to visit my website at jannebears.com, I would be honored.