Hermann Bears With a New Lease of Life

I have a group of Hermann bears in my Etsy shop at the moment. Three of them are from around the 1950's.
The first one though is a more modern example that I would not have recognised as a Hermann bear, but I am told on good authorisation that he is.  He is definitely a German bear.
This cute chap is really cuddly with a good covering of mohair. 

 



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 The next is this cheerful open mouthed bear with his black dog.  He is not jointed, but sits quite happily if leaning on something.
I had to remove his head (sorry if you are squeamish, I hated doing it) and stitch it back on again as it was in danger of falling off.
He has a squeaker that works when it feels like it!


This grumpy looking growling Hermann bear stands very straight (with a bit of help from me) and looks very proud of his little bell.  He is a serious soul, but very cuddly with his beautiful long pile mohair.  I had to do some extensive repairs to his paws, practically having to replace the left one as can be seen if you look carefully at the photo.  He is probably my favourite of this group of Hermanns.  As with other damaged paws I tried to leave as much of the original fabric in place and just slip the new underneath and stitch in place with tiny invisible (I hope) stitches.

This is the last of the German bears to date.  I am not sure if this one is actually a Hermann bear, but he is definitely from that area of Germany, as there are many similarities in his design.  He is not mohair, but a soft plush which has cleaned and brushed up very well.

All of the above bears are available for sale in my Etsy shop www.etsy.com/shop/PollysVintageBears

along with many other bears and vintage toys.

Pedigree Musical Bear

I loved this bear as soon as I unwrapped him.  He has a gentle face and his mohair is lovely and soft.
He has bells in his ears that jingle with the slightest movement.

I took a look to see if I could mend what I thought was his squeaker, but it turned out to be a musical box.
The evidence of this was staring me in the face really as this worn circle on his back gave it away.

The music box wouldn't work anymore so I have replaced it with a new one.  The worn area was very delicate and threadbare so I found a piece of mohair that was a good match and carefully sewed a patch on.  It has blended in very well, I am very pleased with the result.

Here is Jasper, the Pedigree bear after he has been restored.  He needed major surgery to one of his paws and one of his foot pads.  I do not like to cover original pads and if at all possible will just put a patch on the worn area. 
He is now more beautiful than ever after his makeover and is in my Etsy shop waiting for a new home.  www/etsy.com/shop/pollysvintagebears