About Me!

Teddy Bears For You was started during the summer of 2002 when I fell into the spellbinding world of teddy bears.  I’d been an “artsy” type of person for many years, exploring various crafts:  papier-mache, calligraphy, knitting and so on, but I never stuck with anything too long.  Then along came teddy bears and I fell for them hook, line and sinker.

I was lounging around at the family cottage, looking through a brochure about the Kawarthas, the beautiful region where our cottage was located, and I noticed a small ad from someone who made teddy bears using old fur coats.  I had one that had been gathering dust since the early 80’s and thought I would send it to her and have a bear made.   Before leaving the cottage, I made a note of the contact information so I could make arrangements as soon as I got back to the city.

On the drive home, fate intervened.  I passed an antiques barn that I had driven by dozens of times on my way to and from the cottage.  Although I always wanted to take a peek inside, I never did.   This time, for some reason, I stopped to take a look.  I thought I could find some unique items for the new condo I'd be moving into (if they ever finished building it!)  Lots of interesting stuff in there, but I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a real fur bear in a display case!  Right then I said to myself, if she can make one, then so can I.  My eventual goal, I thought, was to be able to make heirloom teddy bears, using fur from a loved one’s fur coat to craft a remembrance bear.  Since then I've primarily worked with mohair bears.  I'm still trying to design the ultimate bear to pay tribute to my late mother so I can make some remembrance bears from her beautiful blond mink coat.

Once I got home from the cottage, I went online and bought a few bear making instructional books and also reserved a few more from the library.  As soon as I got my hands on a book, I went to a local fabric shop armed with a long list of things to buy.  At that time I had no idea where to even get real teddy bear making supplies.  That came along later.  I started making bears out of synthetic plush furs, not wanting to work with real mohair until I knew I wouldn’t butcher fabric that could cost $200+ a yard!  I took my first class several months later and was reassured that my “book learning” had given me the basics and that I was doing things the right way.

I try to get to a couple of classes a year in person and online.  I've also found some really neat online discussion forums and have learned a lot from the bear artists who contribute.  This is a craft where learning never stops.  And neither does creativity. 

Making these little friends is a tremendous stress reliever and watching their personalities emerge is really quite marvellous.  They are made with love and passion and leave here with love in their hearts, eager to get to know their new best friend.