Vinnie

I have been working all this last week on a new polar bear - a curly-haired polar bear! The aim was to re-visit this design, which was based on an antique Steiff bear from the early twentieth century. Unfortunately, having made the last bear, I promptly lost the pattern pieces, so I had to start over!

This one has turned out quite well though. I misjudged the size - I think he must be the biggest bear I have ever made, standing at about 22 inches (17" sitting)! Given this and his quite muscular proportions, I have decided to call him "Vinnie".

But he does have a very sweet, fat face...

Sorry for the multiplicity of photos! He is quite a simple bear - I think his charm is in his shape, rather than in the details of his face, so I had to take plenty of pictures to demonstrate.

Hmmm, so...

Only made one bear last week...

Definitely falling down on my resolution to speed up the bear-making processs...

Ta-da!

This is Emma - she is a commission bear! I made Emma before Christmas, but I was waiting for my mother to finish her white coat. It took a while (and a lot of nagging on my part) but it was certainly worth waiting for. It's a fantastic coat, with pockets and a collar, and a sort of sagging belt at the back - like the doctors have in those American TV shows.

When I was in hospital a while ago, the doctors always seemed to wear suits - but with Emma, I was going for the easily-recogniseable look.

I bought her stethoscope on Ebay - I think it orginally came from the Build-A-Bear-Workshop place. We have one in Colchester: the stuffing machine is fascinating, and the accessories are fantastic, but the poor bears do look a little soulless.

Anyway, I didn't make two bears last week, but I have two bears to show anyway. Coming up this week [hopefully], Valentines bears and some panda designs!