OPEN MOUTH DESIGN

 

There are many different ways to give your bear and open mouth. I've chosen three basic methods and given a general overview of how to tackle each one. Remember to use your creativity to tailor each method to fit the look you want to achieve. Ask yourself if you want the mouth wider, deeper, thinner etc. Use these instructions as a guide to create your own design. Don't be afraid to experiment and have fun!

 

 

Full Open Mouth:

This is an example of a standard open mouth design.

 

 

Designing:

Using your standard head pattern, draw your mouth line in the side head pattern piece as shown. The gusset shape should be square-ish rather than pointy. To create the inset piece for the inner mouth, first, measure the mouth slit.

 

Draw a long straight line through the center of your paper. Using a bendable ruler or a piece of string or wire, measure double the length of the mouth slit. Create 1/2 your mouth inset on one side of your guide line as shown. Fold the paper in half along the line and cut out the complete inset. This is the same method used to create footpads that fit perfectly.

Tip:

I would suggest that when cutting out the inset piece, cut slightly more inside the tracing line to make it a bit smaller. This will help the mouth to curve slightly in toward the inner mouth and help avoid the inner mouth bulging outward.

 

Sewing:

Stitch the side head pieces together from the tip of the nose to the bottom of the neck, leaving the mouth slit open.

From the wrong side, stitch the inset in place just as you would stitch in a foot pad. Pin the center top lip, the center bottom lip and the two mouth corners first, and then pin the rest, easing in around the curves. Stitch all the way around, reinforcing in the corners of the mouth.

Stuffing and Finishing:

When stuffing this type of open mouth, be careful not to let the inner mouth bulge. Additional sculpting after stuffing will enhance this type of mouth and make it look more realistic. When you look at an actual mouth, the lips meet outside and over the inner mouth. The roof of the inner mouth actually curves upward. Using sculpting stitches to pull the center of the roof of the mouth upward will help achieve this realistic effect as shown in the diagram on the right.

 

 

 

Finishing:

After embroidering the nose, give a gentle tug to the stitch between the nose and upper lip (septum) to create a bit of a jowl look on the upper lip.

 

 

 

 

Addition of chin piece:

Another way to achieve the look of an open mouth is to add a lower lip/chin piece to the bottom of the snout.

 

The snout in this case should be narrower than with the full open mouth method above since you will be adding a piece at the bottom instead of dividing the existing snout. The added chin piece should be designed to look kind of like a long, thin ear.

 

Use matching fur for one side and pinkish (inner mouth color) ultrasuede or felt for the other. Stitch the two pieces together right sides together leaving the bottom open, again, like an ear. On the pink (inner mouth) side, pull up a dart and stitch. This dart will curve the fur side inward to make the mouth look more natural.

Turn to the right side and close the open edge with a ladder stitch. Using the same thread, attach the piece underneath the chin with a ladder stitch on two sides, leaving the mouth end open.

 

Sculpted, indented open mouth

Another option is to create the look of an open mouth is to use sculpting.

 

 

As with all areas that you intend to sculpt, stuff evenly, filling in all gaps and avoiding lumps in the stuffing, but stuff gently to allow you to sculpt. Using Mastex (upholstery thread), sculpt the mouth inward by taking stitches at the corners and at the center of the mouth and pulling backward toward the back of the head. Push your thumbs into the corners of the mouth and pull up the thread to indent. Repeat the indenting with the center of the mouth. To further indent, continue to take sculpting stitches along the mouth line and pull in toward the back of the head to indent the mouth. When the sculpting is complete, use embroidery yarn to stitch the mouth and cover the sculpting stitches.

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