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lapousmor Jan 4, 2006

Hi!

I have made 4 baby bears so far and gave them to my little cousins and niece who are from 3 years old to 5 years old. All of them are crazy about their bears. I was told by their mums that they were playing a lot with their bears.
Due to the success of these bears I am thinking about making more baby bears and selling them.

My concern is that I have no idea whether synthetic furs/plush are child safe or not. Out of that i use safety joints and eyes as well as polyester fibers, which are all safe for children...

I was thinking about just selling them to members of the forum, as all of you (or almost) are bear artists and all of you can decide or not whether you would give such bears to your children. But really i don't know what to decide...

Please help!

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

psichick78 Jan 4, 2006

If I had a kid, I would buy one!! Soooo cute! My favorite is the dark one.
I've only heard of child safe bears having safety eyes and joints. Never heard anything about the material, although I don't think what you use is any different than what the bear manufacturers use.

Cleathero Creations Jan 5, 2006

Plushes usually are used for pricing reasons rather than any other reason.  They are quite safe to use with children as are mohairs.

lapousmor Jan 5, 2006

Thanks, girls!
Heather, they are not exclusively for children!!! The next I will make is for my sweetheart Malko, who definitely is not a child!!!

Bronwen, if you tell me mohair and lushes can be as good as each other for children, my worries can vanish! I suddenly feel better!

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

jazzyrags Jan 5, 2006

What great little bears, Have you tryed the Ko Hair by beary cheap

lapousmor Jan 5, 2006

No, I have not tried the ko Hair, Fran. To be honnest, the problem with Beary cheap, is that postage cost is very high for me. As long as I don't order a lot of teddy bear making materials at the same time, it doe not worth buying there. They have an amazing choice of plushes and synthetic furs. So far, I managed to find synthetic furs in local tissue fabric stores. They generally have nice synthetic furs in Winter only, none or almost none the rest of the year. So I have bought a lot of the ones I prefered and have enough for a while. I will go back to these stores next week for the sales to see if they lowered prices for the sythetic furs (if they have some left!!!). Unfortunately, i did not buy a lot of the brown one (when I bought it, I did not know that the shop was not always refurnishing its stocks!). So I have bought  a fat quarter of a black one from Bear Country UK to try it: it should be quite similar. The pink synthetic fur comes for Bear Country UK and is so soft!

My other problem with Beary Cheap is that they have so much choice that I cannot decide what to buy! My concern too is that I cannot touch the plushes to know if they are as soft as I want. So the day i will decide to shop there, I will ask on the forum who can help me to choose!!!

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

plushkinbear Jan 5, 2006

Sophie, those bears are wonderful! I love the dark one too!! 

I think mohair is good for children 4~~~~~ and older...But plush is good for small babies..
I even embroidered eyes and didn't even use the safety plastic ones..

Julia :hug:

matilda Jan 5, 2006

Here in Australia the authorities worry about whether the fabric is fire safe. Just ask the relevent authorities. They will be in the phone book. You could even ring up the fire service to put onto the appropriate people. Just to put your mind at rest. AND it could be used as a selling point. 'Safety First' sort of thing.
regards
matilda
by the way I would love one of your babies. They tickle my fancy so to speak