I begin with leather, I think wool felt or ultrasuede is also great,
but I use lambskin. It is very thin and easy to sculpt. For this bear I
have the shiny side of the leather in. I start with an oval the same
size as my foot pad. I cut it into two pieces the toes and the pads. I
have appliqued the leather to the fabric, leaving a small hole open for
stuffing. The toes especially are stuffed full. Then everything is
stitched closed.
I have
drawn my lines for stitching on the suede with pencil. You can see how
full the toes are stuffed.
I am
using a waxed cord. It is unbreakable. I believe it is called eye
floss. Artificial sinew also works well. Thread will not be strong
enough, not even Mastix.
I begin on the inner side, taking a stitch to
secure the thread. Bring across between toes and pad. Come to first
line, insert needle.
Bring it straight up through the paw. I
usually angle it back just a little so the paws are long on the front
side. You can see in the picture I have a pin right at the first line.
Bring the thread to the front right
next to the pin. The pin will keep it from slipping out of place.
Insert needle again right under first
line,and pull straight up again.
I am
using a thread spool to help me get leverage to pull. I have tried
different ways and this really works. Wrap the thread a couple of
thimes around the spool and pull the toe in. When you have it good an
tight, insert the needle very close to where it came out and bring it
down to the first line again. I then wrap it around the spool again and
give it another pull.
Here you can see I have had the needle come out by the first toe, an now
I have moved it over to the second line. I have inserted it at the
second line and brought it straight up again to make the second toe. I
leave the pin in the previous toe and add a new one to the toe I am
working on
In this
picture from the top you can see I have brought the thread around to
the front inserted the needle at the toe line again and pulled it
straight up to the top of the paw
.
I have
then again inserted the needle from the top very close to where it came
up, back down again. You can see that the stitch has loosened,
So
again I am wrapping it around the spool to pull it, making the toes
really sink in.
All the
way across I go, one toe at a time, pulling hard between stitches. The
wax on the cord, or sinew will help hold it in place.
When I
get to the end, I make a knot by taking a stitch and passing the needle
through it. Then I sink the knot into the material. Then I stitch back
and forth a few times before cutting the cord.
The last
thing I do and this is important, is to take a drop of superglue gel. I
use Locktite., Place a drop at the top of each toe on the cord. I
have had the cord slip off the toe days later and have had to redo. The
drop of glue will prevent the little end toes from slipping.
For the hind feet I take two more
stitches to make a heel, It makes the foot flat and the bear can
stand.
I go from one side to the
center, then straight up to the top. back down to the other side to the
center, straight up. Go back down to the side, knot and then back and
forth a couple of times before cutting the cord.
I finish by shading with
Prismacolor pens and a colorless blender.
