I would like to start by showing you a few bears from the past. I have tried to pick a sampling of different teddies. Each one is unique in his or her own way. I like to work with different fabrics and I use lots of recycled fabrics. One of my favorite fabrics is recycled denim jeans.
Little Logan is made from recycled denim jeans and was tea dyed. I painted each of the jingle bells a different color and stitched them to a lace collar. I have always loved Logan's sweet face.
Lila was also made from recycled denim jeans, but I colored her in layers with fabric crayons. I made her dress and hat from a lilac sateen fabric, which I washed and deliberately wrinkled. I added an old lace bit with beads to her dress and hand stitched green ribbon around her armholes and waist. I made a fabric flower from the same fabric for her hat.
Pablo is also made from recycled denim jeans, but he has a longer nose and I found these vintage buttons and they were just right for the costume I had in mind for him.
Geoffrey and Chawcer are such a cute pair. I bought a wool blanket at the flea market and used the main color of the blanket for Chawcer's body color, and the stripes at the end for the contrasting pieces. I added patches and vintage buttons along with a felt collar. I made Geoffrey from felt and hand painted his spots with a marker. I used wooden wheels and dowel rods to give him mobility.
I love this pair and ended up giving them to my neice. Stanley, the elephant, is made from upholstery mohair. I knitted him a little sweater, with contrasting bands. His companion Livingston is made from teddy bear mohair. I knitted him a sweater from the same yarn that was used for the contrast on Stanley's sweater. I also made him a little collar and tie and gave him glasses for an intellectual look.
Guinevere was also made from matted mohair, which I chose to leave matted. I made her a jumper from green felt that I had stamped with hearts. I sewed a pink blanket binding ribbon around the waist. I made her heart buttons from sculpy clay.
Ayiana was made from off white upholstery fabric. I stamped the fabric and hand colored the stamped images. I hand drew vines on her head and around her ears, then colored them. Her ribbon is black blanket binding with a vintage button for a clasp.
And last but not least, there is Alucard and Mina. You have probably guessed that Alucard is Dracula backwards. They are both made from black velvet upholstery fabric. Alucard's cape is made from black satin and lined with red. His nose is shadowed with red cotton and his eyes are backed with red felt, and you may have noticed his pointy ears. Mina has black felt wings and pipe cleaner claws.
Next time I will post some of my critters that I have been working on recently.
