I have
started a new bear. I wire the arms and legs. I do this because I
like to be able to bend the arms, and legs. Also wiring the legs helps
the bear to stand. I use an 16 gauge aluminum wire. I like aluminum
because it is strong, but easy to bend and cut. I purchased a roll on
the Internet from a chainmaille supplier, it is lasting forever. This
bear is smallish, about 10". If I were to make a larger bear the cuts
in the wire would be touching, so there would be two wires together,
all the way down the limb.
As you
can see in the picture, the wire is measured to fit inside the bear's
limbs. I do not want it to go all the way to the tip of the paw area
because I will be needle sculpting the paws and I need to be able to
pull that area in with the thread. It is bent at the looped at both
ends. The loop by the joint will slip into the hardware, the loop on
the other end will keep the wire from coming through the fabric.
After
it is the right size it is wrapped in layers of electrical tape, quite
a bit is used till it feels kind of cushy. Notice the top is left
unwrapped.
