More Teddy bear fabric is finished, but I still need to weave a few more. This is number four from the Finnish Twill warp (Davison, pg 37, version IV). This one is my favorite, and is very easy to weave. Both sides are different, but both look nice.
This is the final fabric from this warp. It is plain weave, and I will use it for the paws of the bears. I like the faint stripes from closer denting in the reed. The warp was sleyed in the reed: 2-2-3-2-2, and then repeated, to give 22 ends per inch in a 10 dent reed.
Here is the line-up of five fabrics.
Five fabrics fulled and drying in the sunshine. Because of the different sett, these fabrics were a bit wider than my first ones. They are all fused, using my new steam press, which I love! The fabric in the center is mohair, and is very hairy. I clipped the other mohair that I wove on the backside before fusing the interfacing, but I decided to try brushing this one first to try and bring as much of the long hair to the surface. It seemed to work, so I was able to iron the interfacing to the backside without clipping.
I traced around my pattern pieces with magic marker, and here I am stitching just inside the marks to further stabilize the edges. I have been worried that the fabric will start to unravel with the narrow seams, so the stitching is just added insurance.
I have been cutting out one piece, laying it on the uncut piece I'm sewing it to, and then stitching them together.
I'm cutting the underneath piece after stitching.
Here are arms and ears stitched and turned, and the rest of the pieces marked on the cloth, ready to cut and stitch together. So far, everything on this first bear has gone together without problems. I'm not looking forward to all the openings that will need handstitching, especially since my right thumb is giving me some trouble lately.
I will need to get to the hardware store to get the joint hardware in the next couple days. I will finish this one before starting another, so I can see if I will have trouble with any of it. If it's too hard, I'll look for another pattern.
WOW! what a cool project - your fabric looks so pretty lined up and on the line! can't wait to see all of them finished...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great post! Each time you've written about the Teddy Bear fabric, I kept wondering how all of it would go together. Thanks for shedding light on that! ;)
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing how the rest of the pieces go together. I do hope you will take a photo of the "joint hardware", too, prior to installation. :) I have no idea as to what to expect for those pieces......
Thanks, Mary and Mike. I went to the hardware store this evening and got what I need for the joints. My next post will show the hardware and how to assemble a Teddy bear joint.
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog, and I can't wait to see the finished bears, either. Do you have some already made that we can see in an earlier post?
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