- I have found using a cheap place mat for a template is wonderful. Trace your pattern pieces onto a place mat to make a template. After cutting your template out, just draw around your template onto your fabric, either cut your pattern out or sew where you have traced around your template. This way your sewing machine won't eat your small pieces. - DD Scott

- Use a razor blade on back of fur when cutting and you will not cut any hair.

- Use very sharp small scissors for cutting fur. Be sure you only snip the backing fabric when cutting so that you do not cut the fur itself.

- When making a jointed bear, instead of cutting into the top of the head to tighten the joint nut, glue the screw to the washer and the washer to the disc and sit in the top of a narrow neck bottle to wait for glue to set. Make sure you use a glue that adheres to metal. When the glue is dry, stuff bear head and insert the disk into neck, gather neck opening closed and insert screw into top of body and affix the other disc and nut. The glue prevents the screw from turning. This is much neater than sewing an opening closed in the top of the head.

- Unwaxed dental floss makes an excellent heavy duty thread to sew your bear openings closed.

- Keep a small magnet in your sewing basket. Use it to pick up any pins that fall on the floor.

- If hand sewing needles get rusty or dull, rub them lightly with fine steel wool to bring them back to life.

- Painting fray stop on seams will prevent them from fraying. Ensure you turn the pattern right side out before the fray stop dries!

- For an easy way to trim those tiny muzzles, try using a men's ear and nose hair trimmer. I have one made by Remington that has a very small flat tip . Don't get the kind with a circular tip, they won't work well.

- If you have a hard time tracing pattern pieces onto the back of a fabric with a dark backing, try tracing the pattern pieces onto the non-shiny side of freezer paper, iron in place, then cut out. All you have to do is peel off the paper after you have cut the pieces out.

- When trying out a pattern for the first time, do not mark the fabric for jointing or eye placement. You may decide (or need) to move them! When ready to insert the joints or eyes, simply pierce the fabric at the point of insertion and proceed as usual.

- Skip buying the expensive fabric-marking pencils at the craft store. We've found that gel pens work the best for marking teddy pieces! The gel allows the pen to flow evenly and smoothly on all surfaces, unlike water-soluble pencils, chalk, quilter's pens, or anything else! Be sure to buy a bright color (such as pink or blue) that will work on both light and dark colored fabrics.

- If trimming pieces before sewing, save the excess fur for stuffing the muzzle. Since fur does not trap air the same as polyester fibers do, this eliminates quite a bit of time in stuffing, as you can insert large amounts at once and pack firmly. It also produces a good, firm-but-still-soft muzzle.

- Keep a chopstick in your sewing basket for all poking and stuffing needs.

- Squeeze the loop on the back of the glass eyes almost flat with pliers, this allows it to slide through the eye hole easier.

- When tying off the eyes pull HARD, this helps to sculpt the face, it will pull the eyes in and " tip" up the nose.

- To get an idea of how the nose and mouth will look before you stitch - wrap thread around pins to try different expressions.

- After you outline the nose you can cut a piece of felt the same shape and stitch over top of it.

- You can rub blackened fire wood or newspaper on the ears, nose, and paws for that well - handled look.

- Blot the bears snout, forehead, ears, chest, arms and legs with a hot tea bag for darker patches.

- Be a collector--bits of lace, ribbon, trim, buttons, beads. Develop a stash of pieces of small graphic prints, such as checks, stripes, and dots. They will spark your pieces.

- To avoid losing your patterns, use envelopes to store pattern pieces after you have copied and cut them out. Use a bit of foam core board to pin pattern parts on while you are using them. More time is lost looking for stupid little things than either of us care to think about.

- The "template method" - This technique will save you lots of grief when working with tiny pattern parts. Trace your small pattern piece off on paper, and cut out the new paper pattern piece. Then, using this paper pattern as a template, place it on the fabric and draw around the paper pattern template. Now, before cutting out the fabric piece, do the stitching your pattern calls for slightly within your drawn line. Then, cut out and clip the piece. This means you will not have to handle tiny pieces, and your sewing machine will not eat them. Do change your sewing machine needle every eight hours of sewing...this is elementary, but essential.

- 100% cotton is the most predictable fabric to use with tiny figures. If you are a skilled seamstress, and you know how to handle your machine, then using silk, ultra-suede, a knit, or a blend will cause changes which I assume you will be able to handle. Lames, of course, must be backed, and are usually not very durable. But, hey! This is your project. Keep your Fray-Check on hand.

Site Map / Home / Workshops / Hints & Tips / Free Patterns / Links / Ordering Information / Contact