Georgie

I was contacted by a lady on Facebook recently.  She asked if I could make a rabbit for her, with the colouring of her pet rabbit, Georgie.  She sent me some photos.  Georgie was a lovely black rabbit, with white socks on her front paws, and a little white star-shaped patch on her forehead.

So, here she is - Georgie, my first two-coloured rabbit.

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!

Commission No.1

This is the first of two commissions bears I am making. The brief was simply a bear similar to Gilbert (here). I managed to find what I think is the same mohair, but for some reason, the pile length is considerably longer than that of the first piece I bought.

On the good side, that means his seams are far less visible. On the bad side, he can look rather scruffy when his fur is ruffled (which doesn't take much).

To be honest, I haven't felt quite the same about this design since someone told me it looked like he had been hit by a car. The inspiration behind him was a Farnell pyjama case. I don't have any photos of it - it was just something I saw on Ebay once - but that too, could look quite pathetic, if you are inclined to view it in that way. I guess it's all about context. Lying on a bed, or flopped over the arm of a sofa, the road-traffic-accident connotations don't really arise.

I would still like to make a teddy bear pyjama case. I have also been quite interested, recently - reading other people's blogs - to find them making what I would call 'plushies' or 'softies', but calling them cushions.

How about a teddy bear cushion? Could I call this bear (currently known as Gilbert II) a cushion? Perhaps if I made him a little larger, and out of less expensive faux fur, rather than mohair?

Mmm-hmm! I might give that a try!

Meet my newest bear... Otto (ta-da)!

I developed Otto's pattern a little while ago, when I was making a commission bear. The customer wanted a replica of a vintage Steiff bear, from the early 20th century. I said I would have a go at it. I fiddled around with the pattern for a little bit, and then had a practice run. The mohair I used for the practice was the wrong colour, and I discovered when he was complete that the design wasn't quite right.

I sent the customer photographs anyway - mainly because it had taken me long time, and I wanted to reassure her that I was still busy working on it. Anyway, she loved the practice run (whose name was Siegfried), and decided to buy him - which was lovely.

I thought I'd have another go. The mohair is a little too short, I think - it doesn't hide the seams (which he has lots of), but I think he turned out okay. As you can see in the last photo, he was designed to be able to stand on all-fours.