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Old hobbies
8 December 2006 15:21I'm not quite sure what possessed me. A few months ago, I borrowed Lacuna Diving Bunny's sewing machine to fix some loose seams on a jacket, and I've been slowly rebuilding my collection of sewing equipment since then. Rarely a week has gone by since that I haven't mended a tear or strengthened a stitch. Two weeks ago, I bought a leather trenchcoat at a thrift store, took it home and discovered that nearly all of the seams were coming apart, with both the pockets completely torn out and the lining missing. I repaired all the seams by hand, and replaced the pockets with LDB's machine, which she keeps "forgetting" to take home with her.
Since fixing the problems with the trench, and discovering that without the lining it's not suitable for winter, I've been checking out the Hancock Fabric down the street at least once a week, looking for potential lining fabric. At some point, I hauled a lot of my fabric, notions and patterns out of storage.
Yesterday, it hit critical mass, and I bought supplies to make a teddy bear. I already had the pattern cut, which is the part that has typically taken the longest procrastination period. The next thing I knew, it was 3 am, and I was looking at a finished bear (idly wondering what happened to the concert (f)AD had invited me to but never picked me up for). Not exactly a stellar success, but a finished bear.
LDB's machine no longer reverses, which made finishing my seams as difficult as remembering all the terms and techniques. Also, I frequently had problems with the bobbin unspooling into tangled messes. On top of that, looking at the bear today in daylight, I discover that I did not correctly account for the nap, which is frustrating because I spent a lot of time laying out the pieces to get that right.
On top of all this, the Simplicity bear pattern I have is just not what I think of when I think of a teddy bear. The Oscar-bear style (second link) is much better in terms of face shape, ear shape, leg and body thickness. However, that pattern uses joints for limbs, and I don't particularly want to use joints.
It's remarkably difficult to find the teddy bear pattern I want. I consider it a basic bear shape, but none of the patterns I've looked at locally even resemble that. On top of this, the McCall/Butterick/Vogue website, none of the images work, so I can't research them. After searching for three hours, Oscar here is the only pattern that comes close, and I don't think his pattern would arrive in time for the gift-giving season.
Edit The Patterns websites are back up. Vogue and McCall's both show bears that seem a better fit, and the McCall pattern is 54", meaning I can double the pattern to finally get the 9 foot bear I've always wanted!
Since fixing the problems with the trench, and discovering that without the lining it's not suitable for winter, I've been checking out the Hancock Fabric down the street at least once a week, looking for potential lining fabric. At some point, I hauled a lot of my fabric, notions and patterns out of storage.
Yesterday, it hit critical mass, and I bought supplies to make a teddy bear. I already had the pattern cut, which is the part that has typically taken the longest procrastination period. The next thing I knew, it was 3 am, and I was looking at a finished bear (idly wondering what happened to the concert (f)AD had invited me to but never picked me up for). Not exactly a stellar success, but a finished bear.
LDB's machine no longer reverses, which made finishing my seams as difficult as remembering all the terms and techniques. Also, I frequently had problems with the bobbin unspooling into tangled messes. On top of that, looking at the bear today in daylight, I discover that I did not correctly account for the nap, which is frustrating because I spent a lot of time laying out the pieces to get that right.
On top of all this, the Simplicity bear pattern I have is just not what I think of when I think of a teddy bear. The Oscar-bear style (second link) is much better in terms of face shape, ear shape, leg and body thickness. However, that pattern uses joints for limbs, and I don't particularly want to use joints.
It's remarkably difficult to find the teddy bear pattern I want. I consider it a basic bear shape, but none of the patterns I've looked at locally even resemble that. On top of this, the McCall/Butterick/Vogue website, none of the images work, so I can't research them. After searching for three hours, Oscar here is the only pattern that comes close, and I don't think his pattern would arrive in time for the gift-giving season.
Edit The Patterns websites are back up. Vogue and McCall's both show bears that seem a better fit, and the McCall pattern is 54", meaning I can double the pattern to finally get the 9 foot bear I've always wanted!