Giving A Bear Some Backbone

Last year I started using a plastic type armature in the arms and legs as well as removing the neck joint and giving the bear a spine.  I have changed the method of joining the body to the head since that time.  This new way is much easier. 

First let me explain what ‘Lockline’ is.  Lockline is a plastic hose, yes the hose that water squirts out of.  It is measured by the diameter of the hole.  The smallest that the Lockline company makes is 1/4”.  I am not using ‘Lockline’ it is too big.

There is another company Jeton, they also make hoses.  But they have taken this idea and made it smaller for armature use.  You can buy it in bulk directly from the company, I think they are in Taiwan, or you can buy it from CR’s Crafts in the US. They make it down to 1/8” in diameter.

I have had both the ‘Lockline’ and the ‘Jeton’ in my hands and at 1/4” they are equally strong.  Now having said that the smaller you go the more bendable it is, but the weaker it does become.  So for a large bear you would not use 1/8”  There are also companies selling pre-assembled armatures they are cheap plastic and cheaply priced and you will get what you pay for, they break apart very easily.

Here is a picture of three sizes of armature 1/8”, 3/8”, and 1/4”.  Look at how much bigger they are than the measure. The 1/8” is closer to 3/8”, the 3/8” looks larger than 1/4” and the 1/4” looks like 1/2”.  I use the 1/8” in the arms and legs of my 9” bears and the 3/8” in the spine.  The 1/4” I use for the spine of a 12” bear with the 3/8” in the limbs. 

You can also see looking at the picture that the smaller you get the more balls and joints you get so the more bendy it it.  It will not bend at a 90 degree angle, so if you need this kind of flexibility, it will not work.  You break this stuff apart by bending back onto itself.  I usually use a pair of pliers to help me with this.

The reason I started using a spine rather than a double neck joint is that I wanted the bears to be able to sit with the back of their heads flat and then bend their head up to be on all fours, and have it be rounded.  The lockline will do this.

   

When I started using the lockline type armature I used a separate collar to hide it.  This year I changed my body pattern to get rid of the collar.

The back of the neck sits up and is sewn directly onto the head.  

 

There are little pieces and angles you can get to join the armature together.  You need a special tool which is expensive, so I just wire them.  (Someday when I get to the one piece body design I will buy them.) 

I wire a small piece to the top, so that two pieces will be in the head.  It will keep it from twirling around in the head, that would defeat the whole purpose.  I have the length down to not quite the tail area of the pattern.  I usually make it too long and I go back at the end at take off a couple of more links. 

I use felt (you could also use cotton batting) to wrap the whole piece.  This will make it so you don’t feel it, and it will also help it again not to twirl.

As I stuff the head I keep the area where the two pieces are joined inside the head.  It will want to come out, it must stay in.  Sometimes I need to close the neck up a bit with a running stitch to help me here.  The reason you want it inside is because right where it is joined it will not be flexible, and you want the neck to be flexible.

I secure the bottom of the head with a running stitch, just like I were to do with a traditional joint.  I run the needle through the felt to help it stay put.

I wrap the area around the neck with some extra felt.  I have that secured to the bottom of the head.  This is all the stuffing I use in the neck area.  I want it to fill some of the space in the neck, but not be tight.

The hardest thing for me to do this year was to learn to under-stuff.  If you stuff firmly the bear will not move.

Here is the bear head, and here is the bear waiting to be joined.  Notice I only have the bottom legs in.  I pin the head on and mark where I think the arms should go, but until I have the neck on I do not joint them.  This is because for one thing I want to see the neck bent back to make sure the arms are not too high.  Also if the neck is connected just the slightest bit higher or lower on one side of the head it will affect the position of the arms.

 

All the way around the neck opening of the body, the fur is trimmed and the raw edge is turned under. 

The head is slipped into the body, the back of the neck comes up to sit high in the back, and the front it positioned under the chin. 

 

I begin by tacking the body in place first under the chin, then in the center back, then on both sides.  I use a ladder stitch with upholstery thread to make very tiny stitches joining the body to the head.  I start in the center back.

The head is attached, the spine now needs to be tacked into place. Otherwise it will wonder around inside the body.

I start attaching the spine in the upper back area,  I leave the neck area unattached to that the fabric can move more freely there.  Before I get the the opening in the back of the fabric I just take some small back stitches attaching the mohair to the felt.  When I get to the opening I anchor the one side of the mohair down to the armature. When I then get past the opening I go back again to using small back stitches. 

The other side of the open seam is then closed with a ladder stitch to close up the back.

And that is it.  I use the lockline also in the arms and legs, you can see how I do this here.  I do wrap the arms and legs with felt too.  I use very little stuffing, only at the top around the joint area do I stuff it firmly.  This keeps everything moving easily.

Please feel free to ask questions.  I am so happy with the way my bears have begun moving this year.  I will continue working any playing around with new ways to get it into the bears.  

There is one drawback that I do see, and that is in the turning of the bears head, it will not swivel without the joint.  If you do not stuff to firmly it will still turn to the side though, as well as diagonal, up and down and everywhere in between.  To me it was a fair trade off.

Sit, turn,and on all fours with no neck joint.