Steiff and Other Teddies

i love teddies and have a small collection. i like all kinds of stuffed animals to my hubby's dismay. i even make teddies which is fun but tedious.....

hmmm...think they'd sell under that label, "Tedious Bears"?

i think they would!!

if they'd sell at all!! *grin*

do they have fangs??

no, but they can be modified....vambears maybe?

make em VAMPbears and put lingerie on them!

haha!!

now we're talking!

Guess who went to Germany and - I bet - didn't buy (among other things...) a single Steiff animal...

WHO????

ok, i just got a gund bear (18") from Avon. his name is bearessence. not as good looking as in the pic but he just needs some lovin'. didn't really expect him to be as tall as he is.

Teddys! I adore teddybears! One year the resident house male sneaked out on Christams eve and set up a surprise for me to see in the morning. When I got up and went into the Living Room, every surface had teddybears cheek-to-cheek sitting there smiling at me. !2" ones, at that! It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. I think there were several dozen all around the entire room and on the lamps and chair backs and everywhere!

the smaller ones are so darned cute and i have a few adorning my tree! two ride around in the car with me....

I make little boxes for them the the top open(tapestry on plastic canvas,) stuff them with holly or other seasonal goodies and give them away for Christmas - in all sorts of sizes and such way down to wee teeny. They are adorable. Never met a Teddy I could not love!

i know! the very first teddy i made was so ugly that he was cute and i couldn't throw him away. we dressed him in baby clothes and both tim and sophia loved him. can't part with him now! (i've only made three or four and from patterns, still toying with my own design)....

I have knitted a few. One went at auction for $50. I was stunned!!!

go marcia! i can't knit to save my life. these teddies were cut from faux fur with armatures and everything. they had to be hand sewn too. made a couple of miniatures and gave one to a friend's little boy. he loved on him so much that the arms and legs fell off (they had yarn armatures and not plastic). never got the pieces back to fix for him. but i'm glad that he got some joy from a silly looking miniature bear! got the pattern free at a local festival plus the 6 inch square fur piece to boot. couldn't believe it. all i did was talk to the lady making these 4 in bears and told her i couldn't believe they were so tiny and perfect. told her about my adventures in bear making and viola! the pattern was enlarged to make my friend's bear (just to 10 inches) and i still have that pattern. and i was ready to buy a bear from her too!

Can you scan a bear? Love to see allof that tediouslabor of love you put into them!

i don't know where i put the one i made. probably in a box somewhere. when i find them, i'll scan them in for your perusal.

Oooh, splendid! Looking forwad to that!

will take a pic of the bigger ones i've made as they won't fit on the scanner! oh, i've got an old teddy that i need identified. have gone through all the books and haven't found one yet. will get to that in a little while!

I have my original Teddy and he is very scratchy - mohair and all that. Ugly, too. Looks like a real bear, but he IS mine so I love him as he sleeps in my cedar chest...!

mine is mohair with the old stuffing used. he's a polar bear with red eyes and his fur is loveworn as well. i believe he belonged to my mother and then became mine and i've kept him ever since. there are no identifying marks on him (like the knobb in the ear or tush tag). he also has something unique, a red tongue! i've got to dig him out so give me a little while to scan the image. oh, his arms and legs are moveable and his head and body are of the same piece of fur.

How really neat yours sounds. Scratchy, too?! Shoulda had a blue tongue, though! Mine has jointed shoulders and at the top of the legs. Not sure about the head, but I think it moves as well. Mine still has its nasty sharp-edged ribbon around his neck. Gads, it just occurred to me that I just might be your mother's contepmorary...sheesh! No identifying tags or whatevers on mine, either. He is all original stuff and is chestnut brown with brown eyes and embroidered nose and mouth. No tongue that I can remember...gotta dig hiim oops! ...gotta dig him outta the cedar chest and give him a real physical!

please do and i can go through my teddy books and see if we can figure him out. my red-tongued polar bear originated in Germany but i don't think it's a steiff. it doesn't look anything similar to my steiff animals but that doesn't mean any thing! think i'll go dig him out, he's probably wondering why i put him away in the first place!

ok, digging...brb...

here's mr. polar bear....his eyes are plastic and he had a nose that was glued on (black). his eyes are off but not as much as this photo depicts, he had a slight lean while lying on the scanner! and his armatures are made of wire.

he sounds like he's stuffed with straw and that's what it looks like while peeking into some worn spots on the seams. the paw pads are peach and made of felt. he's all original and really dirty!

Ok I cannot see your web post or the URL where the bear is on your space at Spring. Could you email it to me, please? I am most anxious to see him.

done!

He is darling. BIG red tongue considering that it is felt. I am impressed that it survived. He is not nearly as mothyy as well-loved teddies are. At least his "antiquing" is uniform so it does not look like dirt as such. Have you tried to clean him with dry shampoo or cornmeal?

no, am afraid to ruin him.

I agree...treat him with TLC and he will be multi-generational and revered member of the family. He actually looks really good. Your computer is still working I see *grin* I think the ret of the world is alseep!