Production of the Hairy Bears in progress - Introducing Hairy Bear No10.

Hello Everyone!

Cy Bear back to tell you all about a new Friend of mine - Hairy Bear No10.  He's just been finished and is awaiting the completion of Hairy Bear No11 before we organise a Bear Catwalk Parade, so that MrsTB from Missouri, U.S.A   can decide which one she'd like to adopt.

This close-up makes it look as though he doesn't have a mouth:  but, because there's SO MUCH fur around his face, the black yarn Isobel uses to embroider noses and mouths doesn't really show up that much.

We managed to find the polyester hollowfibre stuffing Isobel was looking for in High Wycombe, and have just opened one of the bags she purchased to finish No10 off yesterday afternoon, after some hiccups along the way.  This is what the two Bears looked like before we started to stuff them.

One head is slightly bigger than the other, because MrsTB specifically requested that her Bear had a big head:  she finds that very appealing in a Teddy.  So, hopefully, that is what will end up happening.  I think, but cannot confirm, that the one on the left of the picture is No10.  As this post is being prepared, No11 has got all limbs attached to the body, and the arms have been sewn up.  Just the legs need to be finally stuffed and sewn, and then will come the inevitable battle involved in getting the head attached to the body.

(This post is being prepared while we have floor laying experts in our home re-laying the floors in our kitchen and bathroom - so everything in the flat is upside down and all about! Isobel cannot reach anything in the kitchen, and she's not sure she will have access to the bathroom this evening, so emergency arrangements are in hand for her to sleep over at Clare's.  She's dining there this evening at any rate!)

These Hairy Bears are so hairy, that when it comes to putting the limbs together and attaching them to the body, there can be a real problem deciding the right way they should be facing.  On this occasion, all four limbs were fixed on, but Isobel then found the arms were facing one way, and the legs the other!  So, as we need to make a fairly substantial  hole in the fabric to pass the plastic discs through, one leg had to be re-sewn entirely.  Whilst we could have got away with darning the hole and allowing the hairy fur to cover it in some cases, because there is so much fur involved, here we had to cut away the top layer of pile around the hole (on both the body and limb) so that they can move slightly when fully made. (To begin with, the limbs are very stiff - but as the years go by, and they become less firm - a natural maturing process for Teddy Bears - that stiffness will relax.)

These two pictures demonstrate just how hairy, No10 really is!  And you can see his mouth a bit better  in the one above, from this angle too!

He looks a lot bigger than me standing up, and he does it better than I do too - when he's not on the duvet on the bed!  But when both of us are sitting down, there's not that much of a difference - except in fluffiness!  But then, Beaver Lamb fur is not as fluffy as faux fur fabric can be - and my hide is nearly 100 years old to boot!

I'm very pleased to be able to tell you that the Tulsa-bound Puppet Bodies dispatched by Isobel before she left for High Wycombe actually arrived at the end of last week - their journey taking a few days longer than they were supposed to, but a jolly sight faster than the previous three packages did.  So, the result is that for the remaining two puppets we have to make and send, we will be using the Royal Mail International Tracker route.

That's about all for me to tell you today - we are both sorry for this post being a bit late, but until Isobel had managed to sort herself out after getting back from High Wycombe,   plus dealing with one or two other things that interrupted her planned life, in the end there was nothing much to tell you until, No10 was finished yesterday.

We think we're going to be able to tell and show you how some of the Puppet Bodies have been used too, as MrJS  has sent us photos as and when they've been completed, and Isobel has requested permission for us to post and talk about them here.  So that could account for a couple more posts here, at least.

See you all again soon.  Your Friend, Cy Bear.