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



The Bears in the Drawer

I have a number of bears and animals in the drawer awaiting mending and/or cleaning.
Some are just grubby and need a good clean and brush, and others, like the poor little Chiltern bear need various 'operations' and 'fur grafts'.


The bear waiting room drawer

I really need to get this drawer emptied a bit as it is near impossible to close.
Starting at top left and working clockwise:-
Rust and white large bear made by Betoy in Oxfordshire, England, and a large brown bear (unknown maker).  Both finds by my husband, so not as old as most of my bears - probably 1970's-1980's.

Large pink German Funfair bear.  The blue bear is a smaller version.  They need a good clean but are both beautiful bears.

Clemens 'Sammy' bear with open, happy mouth.  Again needs a thorough cleaning.
White bear with red ears and eyes.  Cute little bear, but I don't know his origins.

Gorgeous large mohair bear that is in good condition, but needs ears and eyes.  I am waiting to go to a bear fair to buy appropriate mohair to make ears.  I think he may be a Schuco bear.

 

Two Chiltern grey cats are next.  The larger of the two has a squeak box, but it does not work.  They just need a clean and brush.

Black and white mohair dog nightdress case.  Clean, no damage, but needs a good brushing.

Just peeping through the middle are two little elephants.  One I think is a Steiff, but he has no label and his tusks are missing.









Plush sleepy dog, possibly Steiff.

Very bald Chiltern bear with much work needed - ears stitched back, paws mended, hole in tummy to be patched etc.  He does have his eyes and most of his nose and mouth stitching though.

Beige and red rabbit with red coat.  He is very old, may be a home made toy.

White mohair dog pyjama case - just needs eyes and a brushing.


So, there they are, my future projects all jumping up and down in the drawer saying "me next, mend me next".






Chiltern Bear 'Darnit'

Darnit, with his strange button eyes.

I have not blogged for quite a while, but I just had to show off this cute Chiltern bear that I have christened Darnit.  He has quite extensive darning to his eye sockets, hence his name.
Here are his before and after photos.


What a difference a nice pair of glass eyes makes.
Darnit is now SOLD

He came to me with odd sized white button eyes, one stitched on with green wool and the other with white wool.  A delicate operation and he now looks much happier with his amber glass eyes.

He is very worn with just tufts of mohair and is quite saggy.  His paw pads are all intact though and he has his original nose and mouth.  I restitched his back seam as it was not very neat and put a few stitches in one of his ears.

He is now available in my Etsy shop www.etsy.com/shop/PollysVintageBears

More Dolls House and Miniature Dolls

Between restoring the old bears and dogs I have been dressing and photographing the little dolls house dolls that I came across in my searches for bears.
The ones that I have posted on Etsy have proved to be very popular and some have already sold.
I have just 3 babies left to dress - the 6" Schildkrot one in a grass skirt called Mambi  I am knitting a little lemon outfit for him so that there is a choice of clothing.


Mambi, a Turtle marked doll SOLD

Tiny Rubber Doll SOLD

Then there is the little bisque baby made by Hertwig in the Thuringia area of Germany 1940's-1950's.   Her elastic had perished, and broke when I tried to tighten it.  Not having strung a doll before I went to the internet to get instructions.  Here are her before and after pictures.  It took a few attempts and some wasted elastic to get it right.  As you can see she has a bit of damage to the surface of the bisque. 
The next job is to dress her.  I cut nappy shapes out of soft white material for all of the tiny baby dolls.  She is the last one apart from a little rubber doll that already has her nappy on.  These dolls are just 3"/8cm tall.

Poor little baby all broken



That's a bit better SOLD



Then there are the dolls house dolls I have available now -2 girls and a boy, in their original clothes.  These dolls are 4"/10cm tall.  The one in the hat has no markings, but the other two have a Fleur de Lys mark on their backs, which means they were made by a Japanese company. 

 

The other 3" baby doll I have is dressed in knitted clothes.  This is not proving as popular as the cotton and lace outfits I have put the previous ones in so I may make her a new dress and bonnet.

Awake

Asleep

I didn't notice until I put her away in my cabinet that her eyes, as well as open and closing, actually look from side to side.  I have not seen a doll that does this before, let alone one this size!

She can look from side to side if you tip her SOLD

These dolls will be available from my Etsy shop shortly www.etsy.com/shop/pollysvintagebears




Susie Patch

I was keen to tidy up the little Terrier dog named Susie. 
She came to me looking quite unhappy, with ears that just didn't look right and a perky tail that wasn't perky anymore.

I picked her up and took a good look at her to see what needed doing.  A few stitches in her tail, and move around the woodwool stuffing so that she stands better. What could I do with those ears?  They were either too big or too small I decided, so must be replacements.
I noticed that she used to be a beautiful cinammon colour as it could still be seen between her legs and on her tummy. 
Then I realised that there were darker patches just below her ears, and it dawned on me "they were her original ears, they just need stitching in place correctly".

Is this a 'hang dog' expression?

Standing proud SOLD

I set to work, carefully stitching up a seam that had come undone and fixing her wonky tail.  I managed, with a bit of pushing and pulling on the woodwool to straighten her legs out and then, with a few stitches in her ears, she was done.

What a proud girl she looks now.

The final touch was a little bead bracelet from my bits and pieces drawer.  It made a perfect collar for her. 
I left her white patch in place, as she has grown quite accustomed to it over the years.
My original name for her was Patch, until her previous owner told me that she used to be known as Susie.  Still liking the name Patch I gave it to her as a surname, so now she is known as Susie Patch.
Here she is with her new best friend, my old Chiltern bear, Hubert.  Don't they look good together?

Susie Patch and Chiltern Hubert waiting for a new home
They are both now SOLD

 They are both available in my online shops www.pollysvintagebears.weebly.com and www.etsy.com/shop/pollysvintagebears