My bears..

These are the bears I made for my niece and nephew.

I made the golden one first and named him Grumbles because of his grumpy looking face. He was made from a kit ('Marmalade') bought from SL years ago and put away until I gained enough confidence to start him. He was suprisingly easy but I had a lot of trouble with the nose and pulled it out several times. That's probably why he looks so grumpy! My nephew managed to pull his head off, leaving the neck joint intact. I did a repair job and think next time I will try gluing the top disc to the fabric if possible, and make sure the gathers at the neck are much tighter.

My niece selected the burgundy coloured fur from my stash for her bear and I was pleased because I loved the colour and would have picked that for her anyway. I used a pattern called 'Butterscotch and Cocoa' out of a bear-making book. I named him 'Cran-beary'. The fur was fairly lightweight and stretchy so I had to back it with interfacing so I could sew it together. This gave him a rather leaner look than I had planned but he ended up with quite a nice shape. The nose and face sculpture was much easier this time around.

Both bears have growlers in their bellies. I've had a fascination with growling bears since I was little and love the different sounds you can get. I've got several growlers still waiting for bears to bring them to life.......