Well, Charlotte and I read the other week about a few bear artists who completed a bear in one day from start to finish and as we cannot seem to manage more than 2 bears per week each we began to discuss how they might manage this. Charlotte is not an early riser and whilst she is home from contracts usually crawls down the stairs between 9.00 - 10.00 am. I hinted that the fast bear artists may probably get up at dawn and sew until midnight and that Charlotte would not ever be able to get up in time to complete a bear in one day.
Anyway, being girls that love a challenge she said she would prove that she could get up early AND complete a bear in one day. I work in an internet office in the afternoons for 4 hours and said to Charlotte “ok, if you could do that then I bet I could, if I pushed myself, make one bear in a day AND go to the office in the afternoon as I was usually out of bed at 7.00 am. We agreed to do this on the Friday and were allowed to get our materials ready the day before.
Friday morning arrived and I jumped out of bed and was cutting out at 7.00 am, not expecting to see Charlotte until 10.00 am but to my surprise at 7.30 am she padded down the stairs, had a quick breakfast and started to cut out her bear. We were both doing miniatures and hand sewing away. I had to stop and go to the office and we hadn’t gotten further than a couple of limbs sewn up, but these little bears need such small stitching and we are both always striving for perfection in our bear making. Anyway we were enjoying our friendly challenge and had a few laughs pinching each other’s pieces, hiding each other’s thread etc. We decided we wouldn’t go to bed until they were finished.
I came home from the office and Charlotte was way in front of me but still not at stuffing stage, I had a quick tea and was back to work. We were still sewing at 11.00 pm and as Charlotte had gotten up at least 2 hours earlier than she normally did she was yawning! My fingers were aching by that time and my eyes were also closing and as we did not want to spoil these little bears that were looking stunning already we agreed that we had failed our challenge and reluctantly put them down and went to bed. We are in awe of the people that can manage to make a bear in one day.
Anyway the next day we did manage to finish them and so glad we did not stay up and spoil them, we are so pleased with the result. Kiyoshi the panda (my little one) and Cloud (Charlotte’s little one) made their debut on Ebay Sunday night.
3 comments:
Wow! good for you and Charlotte, Pauline! Two days is still amazing. I know for a fact I could never do one in a day.... probably not even two or three... and your little guys are very cute.
I am sure that even if they are tiny, the people who do manage them in a day are using a machine for many of the pieces. As a matter of fact, I have done some teeeeeensy bits (on my Bichon)just trying it to see if it can be done and yes it can...same as doll fingers. Turn the hand wheel two stitches, turn the fabric... two more turns of the wheel etc... It still goes much quicker than hand stitching. But, ...... I prefer hand stitching. When we are hand stitching there is only so quickly we can go...and when we are striving for great hand stitching..even slower I am afraid.
They are adorable and what a fun challenge to read about!
What a great challenge!! A one day bear is much easier when you sew on a machine. I could never hand sew a bear in one day....EVER! My Truly Silly bears can be done in a looooong day. However, the pattern is simple and they're relatively small in comparison to my traditional bears. Kudos to you for trying. You're much more daring than I!!
Warmest bear hugs, Aleta
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