Toy Restoration - A Poodle from France

I had a toy dog that came all the way from France with his Steiff bunny friend.  The dog was in a terrible state, with his head just about hanging off and various holes in his curly lambswool coat.
He arrived with his little friend in a small box, his coat covered in bits of stuffing. 

He arrived in a small box with his rabbit friend

 I carefully removed him from the box, and straight away realised what a mammoth task I had ahead of me.  The backing of the pretty curls was disintegrating to the point of falling apart.  I put him to one side until I could think of a method to use and felt brave enough to try it.  He was a handsome dog and deserved the best I could give him.


His head was nearly off

His tail wasn't much better!







Looking much happier now



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One evening Alan was watching a film that I was not interested in so I decided to go into my sewing room and make a start on the Poodle.  Three hours later (after midnight) I was still stitching and gluing him together.  The larger holes, such as where his head had come off, had a piece of material put underneath the fur to give the thread something to hold onto.  The smaller holes, of which there were many, were sealed with special fabric glue.  This seemed to do the job, and by the time I went to bed he could stand with his head up.   There was still work to do on his back end though.



The patch at the top of his front leg after attaching his head

 Yesterday morning I set about finishing the pair of them.  The rabbit got his new ear, after some careful 'tea dying' (I now look as if I am a heavy smoker, with orange fingers).
I mended the hole at the base of the Poodle's tail, and various other smaller ones around his back legs.  Luckily the shorter sheepskin is much stronger, and is holding him together.  I put his red collar and lead back on and found a Daffodil in my bits and pieces box to brighten up his worn straw hat.
They are now safely packed in a large box and flying back to their owner in France.




Standing proud and ready for the journey home