Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

That will be in the book Creating Heirloom Teddy Bears,The complete Pattern Book.Its got a nice picture of a Mitchom bear gazing into a mirror on the front cover.

Works a treat. A few years back I happened to come across an old bear very cheaply with moth problems. Popped her in a bag and in the freezer she went. Most amusing for the rest of the family as the talk of the body in the freezer of a frozen teddy bear circulated amongst family and friends. It done the job nicely, and stopped the infestation after a few days. Just to make sure she went back to the freezer a couple of weeks later. The quicker you can catch insects the better otherwise its ragged paw pads, sawdust  and a summer bear (without a fur coat).

I wish my bears would turn out that cute.

I was offered an old bear which I could not resist. I have a feeling he may date from the 1930's. He has such a cute well rounded face I just could not say no.

He is stuffed with wood wool and has cotton paw pads. His eyes have been replaced with orange ones which are too small. One of the original eyes has survived and this is a 16mm clear glass one as seen in one of the pictures. He has a great protruding snout. Of interest is his front paws. These swell out slightly at the wrist then seem to become quite pointy near the finger tips. This may be distinctive to a manufacturer. There seems to be no markings or tags which could identify his maker easily. So I put it to the best people who are in the know about these old bears. Anyone come across a bear like this one before? any ideas? I would be very grateful for any advice.
Best wishes, Tony.

This is Pip, a new bear for me. Not been around for a while but just had to finish this little fella off. All he needs now is a collar. He's giving me the cute look, possibly after the beer I am drinking.

At the moment I have, Logan a real cutie with hat and scarf, Buzz with a bee on his nose, Two little girls possibly siblings from the winter friends collection, little Kipling, Spencer who is missing his ribbon, and a tiny bear on a keychain named Laura. These all came from charity shops in my hometown for less then £2 each.Some cost as little as 50p.What I was trying to do is find out when some of these bears were released and if some of them were discontinued at some time. I believe Russ is no longer an operating company. Can anybody help with more info on who was released and when?

Hi all,
Can anyone direct me to a list of bears that were made by Russ Berrie. I seem to have gained a few bears with this name on the tags from charity shops over the last few weeks. For some reason I seem to have taken to them .  Best wishes, Anthony.

Hi,
Being a 4 part body I seem to have taken extra care to the extreme with it. Albert is the first bear I have used a 4 part body on.Sort of reminded me of a furry rugby ball before it was stuffed. All parts were identified with letters where they went and the arm and leg holes were also identified on the back of the material. It was simply a case of matching up the letters along the edge of the mohair during assembly. Albert has quite a humped back, which could give the impression of some parts being inverted. Give the hump a pat and he sort of makes a stuttering growl. My nieces favorite tricks with him :lol:
Still going over what might of gone a little egg shaped(Albert shaped) but guess I will never fully know. I am contemplating the fact that the people who published the book may of altered the size of some of the parts for Albert perhaps to make the pattern fit the page better. It may not of been a lot, but it could be enough to make a difference to the finished bear. It is something I have come across before but with balsa model aircraft instead. It's something worth keeping in mind in future.

I have two more teddy's in mind to make from published patterns then I wish to start either to modify a pattern or to design my own bear .I really want to be able to do the latter as I have a few ideas I would like to try out and a few fantasy bears to bring into reality. I have next week off work, so it's bear making time.

Then perhaps a few beers on the side

Still new to this hobby. So far all my bears have been hand stitched which I quite like and find relaxing especially after a hard days work. I find ears are my nemesis. Stitching them on and not being able to see or judge where the stitches are, and trying to get the ears equal. They are areal nightmare for me.

Hi Becky.
I spent most of yesterday going over the pattern even down to checking my templates. Even checked a spare piece of mohair I have left over for stretch. It did not have much give at all. I tend to stuff a little hard which could of caused me to have a plump bear. Even the seam allowance was right. I did not encounter any real problems whilst making him. He does seem a little rounded in the photo's of the original pattern design but not plump.

This could one of the pattern to alter at a later date. I was thinking about taking the body pieces in a bit so he's a bit slimmer, and looking at him his body could be a little longer. I was also looking to take in the head gusset a bit on the top of the head as well.

Has anybody else made a bear from a pattern or book only to find it turned out totally different to what it was supposed to?

What a lovely bear family photo. Such beautiful bears.

Albert is my third bear. Hmmmmm.........I think he ate all the pie's. He did not seem that fat on the pictures I got with the pattern :D

He's made from cinnamon mohair and has wool felt paw pads. He also has a growler which the kids love. He is the first bear I have made using a 2 part head gusset and a 4 part body. Albert was also part experiment in that I tried  out different methods from my previous bear. Some things worked very well and were certainly improvements other things seemed not to work.

Hello,

Just to show off my new girl Grace. She was made using a pattern I brought online. I found there was a few size discrepancy's between the pattern and the foot  and paw pads but managed to sort them out in the end. She has a soft to the touch curly mohair coat. It was supposed to be a swirl, but it decided to go curly after a light brushing. She certainly seems to have a mind of her own especially in the way she looks.Grace is fitted with a growler and is very vocal especially when she's being handled and shown around. One person nearly dropped her in shock :lol:

Hello.

Thank you for some great advice.

tcfolk;Great idea about using doilies.I went with this idea in the end and made a collar for the bear in question. It turned out ok in the end. :thumbsup:

Just the right size too. The little butterfly's I found down our local market and adds a little interest.

Now for the next bear so onwards and upwards.

Wishing everybody the very best, Anthony.

Hi all,
Sorry not got back sooner. Seem to get caught up between work and the bears lately. Work I can do without(except for the money) but the bears have started to take over :lol:

Pijangibears, That's a nice idea. Never thought of doing it that way.

Elli, I don't have a picture but after digging around on the internet I suppose you may call it a Peter Pan collar. Well I think that's what you would call them. Not too up on lady's fashion. I have been looking perhaps towards a heavy lace perhaps in ivory colour that has the look of crochet but do not have a clue how to stop the ends from falling apart. I only picked up a sewing needle for the first time  over Christmas and made my first bear then. So much to learn for a near sewing virgin who cut his teeth on a small teddy. :whistle:

jenny, love the idea of a ruff . I will be using one later on when I get a bit better at bear making. Would love to make one of those harlequin/clown type bears. They are really cute in ruff and clown hat. Certainly one to put together later this year.
I keep my eyes open on e-bay but most sellers do not include the size of the collar they are selling and many that I like that I think would suit my bear seem to start for well over £5 and many are double that price. I keep looking.

Is there a way of cutting and sewing lace perhaps with a backing that would enable me to assemble something suitable(and where did I put that question mark)...?.sorry lost my way around the keyboard for a while there.

Hi all,

Trying to find a good way of making a nice big floppy lace collar for a lady bear. Are there any good tutorials out there, or does anybody have any great tips for making one. Perhaps there are a few other things that could be adapted.

Looking forward to hearing your answers. :thumbsup:

Best wishes, Anthony.

I would like you to meet my first mohair teddy.

He was made using a pattern designed by Wimblebury Bears. Just love these old looking type bears with long snouts and arms. I think the name his designer called him by fits him very well so I have decided to keep it. So I would like to introduce Jack.

Jack was a great teacher and being very patient taught me a lot about bear making and using many traditional materials. He has also inspired me enough to order the materials needed for another bear. :)

He seems to have a bit of a swirl in the fur just above the nose which gives a little bit of character:lol:

Best wishes, Anthony.