Knitting, Sewing, Mending and Making

These are the projects for this week in between making new bears.
So far I have finished knitting a bear, given Bobby Bear a makeover, and made  set of clothes for Tiffany.

Here is the knitted bear's head (minus ears).  He is all knitted ready to put together.  That's a job for today.

I have been thinking of dressing Tiffany for a while now.  She has very pretty mint green mohair, but looked a bit plain and bare so I decided to try and knit her an outfit.  Here are the results - Tiffany in her lacy sun dress and matching hat. (different lighting in the pictures, the undressed one is more her correct colour)

The other finished project so far is Bobby Bear, a lovely 13" Chiltern Bear (I think, no labels).  He came to me a very grubby boy, thin, and with odd eyes.  One eye was his original glass amber but very damaged and the other was a larger makeshift plastic one just pushed into his eye socket.

He has had a clean up, a few stitches here and there and new matching amber glass eyes as I couldn't find a match for the damaged one. 

I also found when I was rearranging his tummy stuffing that he had a semi-working growler.  Not brilliant but it will make a noise sometimes if you 'burp' him (pat him on the back, then tip him over) and if he is shaken gently. 

There is not a lot that can be done for an old growler as they are made of cardboard usually and quite delicate.  This one had been pushed in by an over enthusiastic child pressing on his tummy to try to get it to work. 

I pulled it out as best I could and tried to glue it in place.  At least he makes a bit of noise now, he didn't make any before.

I managed to make him look plump again by loosening up his woodwool so didn't have to 'feed' him any new stuffing.  I prefer to keep the old bears original wherever possible.  Usually the stuffing has got compacted and just needs moving around a bit into the gaps.

Grubby and thin

Standing tall snd proud

Here are his before and after photos.  I think he is a charming litttle bear, but I love all of this style of 1950's bears.

Here is my next project - Jock the mohair dog.  Goodness knows what I am going to do with him, but I will give it a go.  My husband found him at a boot sale and brought him home for me to restore.  I am currently looking around the internet to try and find one similar so that I can see how he should look.

Well, that is me up to date, back to the mending and making now.

Small bears - better late than never

Sorry, I got waylaid and haven't shown you my new small bear's design, as I promised a couple of postings ago.
It went quite well, the first one is in a gold sparse mohair.  This is Jimmy (wee Jimmy).  I was fairly pleased with him for a first attempt.  The black nose cotton was 5 strands thick and I found that splitting it into 2 strands was about right for the tiny nose and mouth.  I think that the 3 strand pieces that are left will look better on the 5" bears than the full thickness so I will use it for their noses from now on.

He turned out a 4" bear.  Here he is shown against a 5" bear.

I made a bit of a mistake when putting his label in - got it in upside down!  I blame the painkillers that I'm taking for the Sciatica.

The joints I had were not as small as I thought and were a bit of a squeeze in the arms and legs so I set about widening them (the limbs) so that they fitted better.  I also thought the ears and the feet were a bit too small so increased the size of them too.



Meet Pinkie



Here is the next creation, a completely different look in 2 shades of longer pile pink mohair.  She measured 4.5" but I think the extra half inch is because her mohair is so much longer than Jimmy's.



She sits nicely in my hand



I'm still not sure that the feet are quite large enough, but it is difficult to tell with such a hairy bear.

I found that it was easier to show their actual size by taking the photographs in my hand.

Here is Pinkie sitting with Susie, a 12" bear to show the scale a bit more.

The bears are all available from my Folksy and Etsy online shops (see links to the right of this page) or my Sunday shop at Alby Crafts, Erpingham a few miles from Cromer on the Norwich to Cromer Road - A140.  Post code for those of you with Satnavs is NR11 7QE.  The shop is open 10am to 5pm Sundays only.

You can order any of my bears by e-mail too.  I take cheques (these will take a week to clear before the bear will be sent out), postal orders or paypal.  Please e-mail pauline.kingsley@btinternet.com for details.

Needlefelting talent

When I looked at my Etsy page this morning someone had favourited this shop.  The kitten captivated me so I took a look.  I was amazed at the talent this lady from Finland has got. (www.etsy.com/shop/lyukadesign) Her needlefelting is brilliant. 
The pieces are not cheap at around £100 each, but take a look at the size they are, shown in the 3rd photo.

This is the first one I saw - so beautiful



Then, as I went through the shop I was amazed



This gives you an idea of the scale.
The cat is real by the way, but not the dog



I then took a look to find more needlefelting on Folksy, got to show British talent too.  They didn't have any  dogs and cats, but I found many more lovely items from talented people.  The first three items are from www.folksy.com/shops/FeelinFelty




 

Aren't these cute? 



One of the many coloured flowers




                                              

                                                   They come as gift sets too

These colourful woollen bead necklaces are from www.folksy.com/shops/Tamsyng

Such wonderful colours

Finally this beautiful felted picture from www.folksy.com/shops/sheilablakemore



                                     

                                             Such clever work.  I never thought of making
                                  a picture out of felting



Look what the postman delivered

I had a wonderful parcel delivered a couple of days ago.  It contained 4 - yes 4! vintage bears that I had won in an auction. 
They are better than I had imagined they would be, each has it's own little character.
I had thought that one was a Chiltern Bruin, but even better it is a Chiltern Bruin with a music box. :)  I'm not sure if it works yet as they are all in the freezer making sure they haven't any nasty carpet beetles or such.
Here he is, isn't he lovely?

The next one is a Chiltern bear, he is quite malnourished and will need a feed of woodwool or sub to fill his tummy out.  He still has most of his claw stitching, but his pads are quite worn and he is a grubby boy.

Here we have the prettiest, and the largest bear of the group.  I have called her Daisy - my late Nan's name.  I'm not too sure of her make.  I've found an Invicta that looks very similar to her, and a Chiltern, so I'm not claiming either.  She, too needs a clean up, but she has a working squeaker (well it worked once).

Last, but not least is this little blind bear.  He has been named Eli.   Anyone a 'Last of the Summer Wine' fan? (for overseas visitors it is a UK comedy series).  Judging by the shape of his legs, he too is a Chiltern bear, although I am thinking that his ears are more like the large ones of a Chad Valley.   I am looking forward to giving him some shiny new eyes, amber I should think is appropriate for him.

Oh, and I wouldn't want Guiness to be left out.  He arrived today and has already had a brush and clean up and is for sale in my Etsy shop.  He looks to me like a Schuco bear, but I can find no reference to one of his colouring or size.  He is 10.5" and has the typical Schuco facing downwards paws.  He is a lovely solid little bear and has been very well made many years ago.

If anyone has any views on the makes of these bears I am always open to opinions.

And now to something smaller!

I am going to try and design a smaller bear than I have ever made before.
A potential customer asked what is the smallest bear I can make.  Well, the smallest bear I have made to date is 5" as below - Timmy and Lester, available in my Etsy and Folksy shops

I have some sparse gold mohair, tiny joints and eyes which I bought years ago and never used so I have no excuse for attempting a true miniature bear.
I am not expecting to get much below 4" as stuffing/turning the pieces is really fiddly and hurts my slightly arthritic fingers.

Here are my thoughts on the project :-
Do I still give the tiny bear paw pads?  I have seen them both with and without, and must admit I prefer with, so will give it a try.
The nose cotton I have is probably a bit thick for a small nose so I will see if I can split it.
As I like the look of them I think I am going to try to make the bear with the same look as Timmy and Lester, but smaller obviously.
I have various colours in what is called miniature bear fabric (not mohair), but I prefer the shaggy look of my 5" bears so will go with the sparse pile mohair first to see how it looks.

My first job is to design a pattern.  I use old cereal boxes for drawing out my patterns - very Blue Peter'ish.
I don't want to design a completely different look to my larger bears so will have the 5" pattern handy to refer to if necessary.

Well, here goes, wish me luck, I will post the results (good or bad) tomorrow.

Butterflies and Bugs

I have been browsing through the pages of Folksy to find butterflies suitable for sitting on the paw of a small bear.  I had in mind a colourful, quite realistic looking butterfly, in a fairly hardy material (not paper or cardboard as that would get damaged too easily.

Here is what I have found

Not what I want at all, but I do like this bronze brooch



I found this hair decoration on my journey through
the butterflies of Folksy - so pretty



Fabric butterflies - they might work



These are pretty, but I don't need the flowers
and they come as a set

 


         

                      Loads of just what I had in mind, but the price is too high

 


These are the right size and price, but vellum is paper isn't it?

 



These are just what I want, and in various colours too

Think I may go with the pink ones above.  My only concern is that they are made from feathers and I know that some people have phobias about them. 
If anyone has any other ideas on where I can get small (probably lightweight fabric) butterflies from, please let me know.  I only want 2-3 just to see how they look with the bears.

Knitted Bears + One

Here are the knitted bears finished, plus a red one that wanted to join the party!

They are all availble from my Folksy shop www.folksy.com/shops/PudBearsandFriends priced at just £11.95 each.

I have enough stock of large knitted bears now.  The next project will be to stock up on the small ones.
Before I do that I have to re-ticket all the bears with my new smaller price tags. (the old ones are much too big for the small bears).

My sister and husband are doing the craft shop this Sunday as I am still on painkillers for the sciatica and unable to drive or sit comfortably for long.  My sister opened it last Sunday with my brother and I think she enjoyed the experience. 

Go along to see them if you are in the area -Alby Craft Centre, on the A140 Norwich Road a few miles South of Cromer.
All of the bears from my on-line shops will be there in person available for sale. (nb the shop is only open on Sundays)

I've been busy knitting

I can't do much at the moment because of sciatica so I have been half sitting/half laying here knitting bears.
When I started to put them together I realised that I had no large neck joints left.
I am well impressed with Bear Basic's service - I ordered Monday and received the parcel on Tuesday :)
Here are the pieces to be made into 3 large knitted bears.  I had made one of the heads and then realised I had no safety joints large enough to fasten it to the body.  The knitted bears only have the one plastic joint, the arms and legs are string jointed.

This one is made from 4 different wools - 2 whites, a blue/purple mix and green.
I am looking forward to seeing the finished bear.

A mix of blues in an eyelash yarn doubled

When are you going to put my body together?
This is a wonderful bluey grey mix in a long hairy yarn.

I have changed the design of the foot.  On the left is the original stubby version.
They now have a more pronounced foot as in my mohair bears.

I will take more photographs later today when I have assembled these bears.

Small is beautiful

The small bears are evolving nicely.  The last two 5" bears have turned out well.  The pattern really seems to suit the sparse mohair.
I was really impressed with their photos too.  Not sure what I have done differently but I have managed to block out all of the background giving a very professional look.  (well I think so anyway).



This is Timmy...



....and this is Lester

Both of these 5" bears are available from my online shop at Folksy, priced at just £20 each + postage.

The vintage  bears are proving popular and a good talking point at my Alby Crafts Sunday shop.

I am now taking old soft toys and vintage bears for mending and restoration. As long as they are not too damaged  as I am not experienced enough for major restoration work.  Eyes, ears and rejointing is fine, but I wouldn't feel comfortable to do patching or limb replacement to valuable old bears yet.

One of the bears and the puppy dog have found new homes after having some work done a clean up.

I find it to be a satisfying feeling to make these old toys look good again, and hope they are going to homes where they will be loved and admired for many more years.

LtoR - Georgie, Humphrey, Billy.  Brian is sold
The little puppy dog in the front is also sold

Puppy Dog



Something made me love him!



I found a little Spaniel puppy toy and couldn't resist buying him to restore.  He looked really strange and quite ugly when I got him, but I could see the cuteness trying to get out.



He has had the usual dry bath and I don't think he is mohair as advertised, but can't be sure.  Anyway he looked a bit cleaner whatever he is made of and I set to work giving him a pretty face again.

His mouth had sort of dropped open and a seam had come open so that was stitched up and his jowls were tightened (sounds more like a face lift ).

His ears needed a few stitches and he had a small opening in one of his head seams.

Next he got his new nose.  I looked at my two Cavaliers and decided he should have a shield shaped nose.
I could see that he had worn a collar at some point as there was a cleaner stripe around his neck the same colour as the back of his ears.
I tried a few different things until I settled on black felt for his new collar, with a little bell at the front.
It seemed to bring him back to life, I felt he needed something around his neck.
Here are his before and after photos  (the 'before' ones are after he was cleaned as I couldn't wait and forgot to take them until after his 'bath').


'Heeelp me'




'Thanks, that feels better'



 I took a set of photos of him with my old doll and was pleasantly surprised at how well they look together.

I may be able to use one of these photos to frame for my craft shop stock.  I was a tomboy, so even though my doll is 55 years old she is still in very good condition.  I probably like her better now than I did then.  She has such a pretty face.

The little dog will be for sale on Etsy later this evening. (click on the flag in the right hand column of this blog to go to my shop)

Smiler

This is my new 'old bear' find.  He is not mohair, nor is he jointed, but I couldn't resist his face.
You know the feeling that you just have to have something- well that is what happened to me.  Luckily I didn't have to pay much for him.
I have called him Smiler for obvious reasons, and I challenge you all to look at that face and to not smile back at him!
He sits on my work table at the craft shop and is a great conversation starter (he makes the customers smile back at him too).



He was a bit grubby, but still smiling




Do you think he lost his false teeth somewhere along the way?

He is now patiently waiting for his 'big brother' to arrive.  I am hoping he will give me more information on what make he is as the other one has trousers and a bow tie so may even have an intact label.  

Old Bear No. 3 - Georgie

I have just finished cleaning and tidying up my 3rd old bear, whom I have called Georgie.  I am not sure if the bear is a male or female so with this name it can be either!
For the purpose of this blog I will refer to the bear as 'he'.

I am not sure of his make, but I believe him to be English circa 1940's 1950's as with my others.  This seems to be the era that draws me to the bears.

He is a lovely gold mohair with a few bald patches, but given his age not too many.  He has rexine paws which are a bit bare, but with no tears or holes.

When I got him he was advertised as a musical bear, but on investigation he has a very dilapitated squeaker that I left in even though it has gone to squeaker heaven a long time ago.
He has shivered in my freezer and had a 'teddy bear special' bath and now his mohair is lovely and fluffy and soft.

I have not touched his face apart from having to put a few stitches in one of his ears.  He has a lopsided quizzical smile and a bit of a wobbly head thing going on, but it all adds to his appeal.

I am not sure what to do about his eyes.  They are both there but one of them has lost the outer coloured bit.  They are old type plastic and if I replaced them it would have to be with same size and colour glass ones.  (the plastic ones available now have safety fastenings not the wire as with Georgie's).
I did wonder about giving him an eye patch or glasses, but think I will just leave him as he is and see what people think.  So far at the craft shop customers have said to leave them as they are as it is part of his character.


Anyway, here are his before and after shots:-



Looking a bit shy



Practicing his Regal wave



Squinting at the camera









Smiling at my craft shop cusomers

 

Looking a bit grubby




All spruced up and ready for his outing

Isn't he a cute little bear?  He is only about 11 inches tall.  I am beginning to fall for these old characters.  If no-one wants to buy them I will happily keep them for myself. 

Georgie will be available shortly in my Etsy shop (there is a link to the right of this page).