Flannel Bear in Blue

Another single-shirt bear, with features like the button placard and collar used for detailing.

Elegant Pink Bear

A Christmas gift last year, this bear was created to commemorate a mother and grandmother.  The woman’s son-in-law contacted us to make this bear out of his wife’s mother’s clothing.

The bear was a wonderful surprise gift and have his wife a tangible item to cherish during that first Christmas without her mother.

Lotsa Shirts? Make a Quilt!

One of our clients had a LOT of shirts that her husband wore to golf tournaments and on the course.  She wanted a bear made, which we completed:

But she also wanted to do something with the other shirts.  So we agreed on a price and made this for her:

The quilt is roughly 60″x60″ and features golf shirts, logos from hats and tshirt designs from their years of traveling.

It was a great way to keep all those items she just couldn’t bear to part with!

Plaid Bear in Green

Sometimes our clients only have one piece of clothing to work with.  In these cases, we can either focus on structural details (pockets, collars, buttons, etc.) to make the bear interesting or use the pattern of the fabric to add interest.

In this case, we cut VERY carefully and used the pattern to make the bear interesting:

Of course, for the person who received this bear (the deceased’s daughter) the bear was precious and instantly recognizable.

Suit and Tie Bear

When this family sent us a suit coat and a tie, the decision was easy:

I was also excited to find, in our collection, some cartoon eyes that matched the tie’s colors.  I think the eyes (black eyes would have disappeared on the dark cloth) and the ears bring the whole thing together.

Antique Bears

These clothes were sent to us to commemorate a young lady who died young.  While she passed away in her teen years, these clothes were from her younger childhood, when she was seven or eight and living in the 1910’s.

Holding garments that were made even before the Great War (WWI), I was struck by the history and the need to preserve the items as well as possible for the young woman and her daughter (both namesakes of the deceased) so they would keep the memories of the little girl who preceded them by so many years.

The dress picture above was made from a patterned feed sack and cut from a simple pattern.  The sleeves are not seamed on to the rest of the dress, but are part of the wholecloth of the garment.

We marvelled at the handstitched details on this small dress (from her toddler years):

Here are the bears we made, with ribbon added by request of the client:

Odd Combinations are Common

Sometimes, people send us some odd clothes to put together, most often because they’re commemorating two different people.  That was the case with these pieces of clothing:

But then we work our magic and turn them into:

To many, these bears look a bit strange.  I mean, who would knowingly put these colors together?

But to the family of the man and woman commemorated here, these peices of clothing are immediately recognizable and the memories that flood back are real and beautiful.

Besides, everyone has different tastes and these bears, like all the ones we make, are unique.

Smaller Bears

In the past, we’ve hesistated to make smaller bears, because it’s so hard to capture the intricacies of expression in smaller sizes.

However, we had a very insistent client and we decided to try it, and here are the results, posed with a regular-size bear:

I think they turned out beautifully. 

If you’d like to order smaller bears (these are each about 10″ tall from butt to head), please contact us prior to sending your items.

Also, we recommend that you just use one piece of clothing, since the small size means that details like pockets and collars aren’t going to translate well to the size.

Bears this size are a $25 discount off our regular prices, for all quantities.  So one bear this size will cost $110 while multiples will receive the regular discount and this additional $25 per bear.