Category: Tools

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Teddy Bear Making Tools at Harbor Freight

Do you have a store near you called Harbor Freight?  They sell tools at a good price.  In this video I show you three tools that I use from Harbor Freight when I make teddy bears:  a small needle nose pliers, a basic calipers for measuring teddy bear eyes and a magnetic parts holder that is great as a magnetic pin cushion.

Would you like more teddy bear making videos?  Join Teddy Bear Academy for access to all of my teddy bear making videos and free teddy bear patterns too!  Get a 7 day free trial:  https://teddybearacademy.net/join-teddy-bear-academy-on-sale/

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Tools for Stuffing Teddy Bears and Stuffed Animals

I like to stuff my collectible artist teddy bears firmly. This tool – a Sizzix stuffing tool is a great help! On Amazon: https://amzn.to/40AJvOv.   When I bought the Sizzix, it was under $20.  If you are just starting out, you don’t need this tool to stuff your teddy bears.  You can use an unsharpened pencil!  If you find that you love making stuffed animals, then you may find that this is your next favorite tool to add to your teddy bear making tool box!

Try out Teddy Bear Academy for a 7 day free trial: https://classes.teddybearacademy.co/pages/start-today-teddy-bear-making-video-classes-from-a-professional-blog

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The Best Gifts for DIY Teddy Bear Makers

It’s that time of year when friends and family are looking for gift ideas for their favorite bear maker.  This year I thought I’d come up with 10 gift ideas for your favorite bear maker with prices ranging from $10 – $500.

1) Quilter’s Plastic Template Sheets:  https://amzn.to/3Flbqs0

Perfect for your teddy bear patterns.  Trace your patterns onto these plastic sheets and cut them out.  Now your teddy bear patterns are practically indestructible!

Quilter's Plastic Template Sheets

 

2) C.S. Osborne Round Point Upholstery Straight Needle Kit:  https://amzn.to/3uI8Sz1

These specialty needles make inserting teddy bear eyes a breeze!

C.S. Osborne Round Point Upholstery Straight Needle Kit

3) 5″ Fiskars Micro Tip Easy Action Shears: https://amzn.to/3YsEuqe

These scissors are so much easier on your hands when you are cutting out your teddy bear parts!

5" Fiskars Micro Tip Easy Action Shears

4) 4″ Gingher Curved Embroidery Scissors:  https://amzn.to/3Wg0wut

These curved embroidery scissors are wonderful when you trim the muzzle on your teddy bears as they curve along with your teddy bear’s muzzle.

4" Gingher Curved Embroidery Scissors

5) eGift Card for DIY teddy bear making kits and patterns: https://teddybearacademy.company.site/products/Gift-card-$25-$200-p425578304

This is a digital gift card for teddy bear making kits and patterns at my own online shop.  After the purchase, you will receive an email with the gift card and instructions on how to use it. The card can be used as payment for any products I have.

eGift Card for DIY teddy bear making kits and patterns

6) Mustache trimmer (battery operated):  https://amzn.to/3HyIZcS

Makes trimming seam allowances a breeze!  Also very helpful when trimming a teddy bear muzzle.

Mustache trimmer (battery operated)

7) Sizzix Stuffing Tool:  https://amzn.to/3hhm1MF

Great tool to aid with stuffing your teddy bears.  This is very similar to the mini cotter pin turner that I use as a stuffing stick.

Sizzix Stuffing Tool

8) Storage box for bear making supplies: https://amzn.to/3WdSkKZ

I use a Plano tackle box to store my teddy bear making tools and supplies.  I keep my teddy bear joint discs, jointing hardware, glass teddy bear eyes, thread, pearl cotton and artificial sinew all together in this box.  It’s great to have all of your basic bear making needs (except the fur) in one place.

Storage box for bear making supplies

9) Gift Membership to Teddy Bear Academy: https://teddybearacademy.company.site/products/Gift-Membership-to-Teddy-Bear-Academy-p419491018

Choose between a 6 or 12 month gift membership to Teddy Bear Academy and your recipient will get unlimited access to the entire library of bear making video courses, free teddy bear patterns and more!  You will receive a gift certificate to print out at home.  The membership will start after the recipient starts the set up process.

Gift Membership to Teddy Bear Academy

10) Janome HD 3000 sewing machine:  https://amzn.to/3FNSzHi

When I started making teddy bears, I used a simple Kenmore sewing machine.  It was a very basic model that was under $200.  It did OK I guess, but I had a hard time with some of the mohairs and furs I used.  A while ago I upgraded my sewing machine to a Viking Romeo sewing machine.  I think they came out in the late 1990’s and have since been discontinued.  If I was buying a new sewing machine today, I would go with the Janome HD 3000.  It’s a good heavy duty sewing machine.  For my basic teddy bear sewing, I prefer a good heavy duty machine.

Janome HD 3000 sewing machine

 

 

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What tools do I need to Make a Teddy Bear?

Full transcript below:

Hi I’m Laura Lynn from Teddy Bear Academy.net where you can take online teddy bear making classes from the comfort of your own home.

In this week’s free video, I’m going to go over the basic tools you need to make teddy bears.

You don’t need a lot of fancy tools to make teddy bears.  In fact you don’t even need a sewing machine.  So I’d like to show you some of the very basic tools that you need to make teddy bears.

  1. First, you do need some needles.  These were all straight when I bought them.  They became bent with use.
    1. I use this needle – it’s a quilter’s basting needle for my hand sewing.  I chose this one because it is very skinny so it doesn’t make large holes in the fabric. The head on the needle (the eye of the needle) is also thin which helps prevent large holes in the fabric.  But it is still large enough so that I can still thread the needle easily.  If I’m out of these needles, I will use a Size 7 Quilter’s basting needle.
    2. This is a 3″ soft sculpture needle.  I use this for stitching my bears’ noses.
    3. This is a 5″ doll needle.  I often use this for inserting the eyes.  Occasionally I’ll use it for sinking threads.  Sometimes I’ll use it for stitching the bears’ noses as well.  So those are the three basic needles I use to sew my bears.
  2. You also need some pins to hold your fabric together as you are stitching.
  3. A pair of needle nose pliers comes in very handy for grabbing the needle when you are having a hard time getting that needle through the fabric, or through the bear’s nose when you are trying to stitch that nose.  I also use them for closing up my joints inside my bears.  I us these all the time.
  4. You do need a very sharp pair of scissors that you use ONLY for bear making or other fabric.  I personally like a shorter blade length because then I have more control over it so I don’t chop the mohair or other fur.
  5. A black Sharpie.  I usually use this fine tip one, but sometimes I’ll use the regular size Sharpie.  I use this for tracing the pattern pieces onto my fabric.
  6. A chopstick with a rounded end, or a new pencil eraser.  I use these as stuffing tools for my bears.
  7. For making the holes for the joints and eyes of my bears I use an awl.  But if you don’t have an awl, you can use a barbecue skewer or you an sharpen the end of a chopstick.

And that’s it!  Those are all of the tools that you absolutely need to make beautiful teddy bears!

Get your FREE eBook:  How to Make Teddy Bears which includes 7 free patterns when you sign up for my bear making tips newsletter here: https://teddybearacademy.net/teddy-bear-making-instructions/

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