Creating Pansy Posy, a Springtime Celebration clown bear

I mentioned my lavender and honey coloured mohair in earlier posts this week and now I can share the finished bear with you and of course, with the visitors to the Teddy Bear Artist Event on June 8th!

20" Pansy Posy

'Pansy Posy' took a little longer to finish than she should have done because I didn't like the original head I made for her ... the pattern I created first was too short in the muzzle and deep in the chin, which works well for some bears, but wasn't really feminine enough for what I wanted to achieve this time; trouble was, I hadn't really worked out what style of head I did want before I started work on the pattern! Will I never learn?! Luckily though, I averted a crisis because I knew I had enough of the lovely Schulte honey mohair leftover and time enough too, to create a pretty new head, one far more in keeping with my Springtime bear theme. This time I've used a more slender snouted design with a centre-seam, to give a nice rounded shape to the bear's head. I have also slimmed down her arms and given her a more feminine, slender paw shape.

For this bear, I decided sparkly hand painted eyes would be too over the top when combined with a multi-coloured nose, so opted instead for plain black glass eyes, subtlely shaded into the sockets to create depth of expression. The springtime palette nose is created from randomly dyed thread and required patience and extremely careful embroidery to ensure no overlapping or slightly off centre stitches because the colour changes in the thread really show up anything slightly adrift ... troublesome but well worth the effort!

Initially I wasn't sure what to use for the paw pads, but then I remembered the beautiful velvet silk blend I received from the US a while ago and thought it would be ideal - the shade is truly feminine, perfect for my pretty girl clown.

I've used the pale mint green and lilac chiffon ribbon from my stash to trim Pansy Posy. Trimming the clowns is always a pleasure and for this bear, I found some gorgeous pink hearts from my local Hobbycraft store and have combined them with some pretty round sparkly buttons from the local haberdasher's ... would you believe I have been shopping there for almost thirty years?! I love hunting for bits n' pieces for the bears - sometimes I will keep those pieces of satin ribbon, interesting buttons, delicate lace collars, for years before I put them to use, but then one day, the perfect bear will come to life and those special little odds and ends from magpie stash will be used at last!