[Melani Moore]

I’m interested.

[Melani Moore]

I saw a sign once that read “Life is difficult for the organizationally impaired” & I knew instantly that it was talking about me.

[Melani Moore]

The country mohair was offered by Edinburgh back in the ‘90s and was manufactured by Schulte so it is well made.  It was listed as C10 and the description made it clear that the backing had no sizing.  The pile is 5/8” & is sort of like string mohair in texture.  The only problem is how soft the backing is & how easily it ravels.

I look forward to trying these methods for stabilizing the backing.

It may be a while before I get back to you on how each process worked.  I had some serious health issues in the spring & wasn’t able to keep up with housework.  Then I retired & brought my toys home from school.   My house is a mess & I’m slowly clearing out, organizing, & preparing to get back to bears.  Since I purchased so much fur on ebay & etsy, much of it needs to be identified & labeled.  I was good about logging purchases into a database on my computer (& later on my iPad), but was not good about labeling it when it arrived.

[Melani Moore]

So sorry for your loss.  My mother passed several years ago.  Losing a loved one is a difficult transition.

I have limited my doll collection to 2 types.  First, I have a collection of American Girl dolls & am happy they’ve added boy dolls recently.   Second, I have a collection of vinyl dolls by Annette Himstedt including all 5 of the World Children dolls offered in 1988.  They are 30” tall and each has a toy collection of his or her own.

My critter collection contains critters by Kaylee Nilan, Ted Menten, Joanne Mitchell, Bev White, Marilyn Wade, Mary Holstad, and Mary Wimberley, & pieces I made but couldn’t part with.

 

[Melani Moore]

I’m trying to get organized.  I’m gathering my bearmaking tools & supplies, creating a useful inventory of my furs, and looking for the patterns I designed years ago.  I also plan to expand my repertoire by making critters from patterns which I believe will teach me something new.

[Melani Moore]

Thanks for the info.

I purchased some mohair years ago which has no sizing on the backing.  It was referred to as ‘country’ mohair.  I tried making a couple of bears from it just sealing the edges w/ Fray Check.  That was not as succssful as I’d hoped.

I plan to try both the product for which you provided the link & the 50/50 glue.

[Melani Moore]

My name is Melani.  I live in North Carolina.  I’m normally a dog lover, but currently live w/ a cat named Willa.  I began as a doll collector, but knew that I didn’t have the talent it requires to sculpt my own doll.  A friend suggested I try making a bear.  (I learned to sew when I was much younger.).  My first bear was made using a pattern from a Jennifer Laing book and synthetic fur.  He ended up looking more like a weird monkey.

I have a strong academic background & tend to gather resources & go whole hog into an area of interest.  I must have read every book I could get my hands on back in the early to mid ‘90’s.  I moved on to taking workshops whenever I could.  I was fortunate to be able to study under Ted Menten, Beverly Port, Martha DeRaimo Burch, & Bev White among others.  I sold a few bears through shops before life stepped in and I had to get a ‘real’ job.

Several years ago, hoping to refresh my skills, I enrolled in Ebear University (which has since closed), but wasn’t able to devote as much time as I would have liked.  However, I did begin to purchase mohair when I could find bargains on ebay and etsy.  I have now retired and hope to supplement my retirement income by making & selling bears & other critters from the stash of mohair & alpaca I have accumulated over the years.

I made a bear over the holidays and look forward to learning more and getting back into the swing of things.  I’m not aware of any in-person workshops and am grateful for this opportunity to network & learn from others.

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