Friday 16 September 2011

Challenged ... part 2!

As I was about to tell you yesterday, before I started work on my challenge bear's white bits I discovered I didn't have any suitable blue paw fabric;  fortunately though, I did have a piece of white felt tucked away in a storage box, so before I could go any further with my project, I had to nip back down to the stove ....


And after a little more hubble bubble, my scrap of white felt soon became the perfect matching shade of blue!


My plan for this project was to tackle the advanced element of the Guild's 'A Teddy Bear World' challenge by creating a 1950's 'Chiltern Hugmee' style bear, in clown style.  After scouring the internet for information about the Chiltern Hygenic Toy Company, I only managed to find a couple of photographs of their clown bears dating back to the 1930's, but that was enough to tell me Chiltern had once manufactured teddy bears in clown style!

1930's Chiltern clown/harlequin style bear

As my first childhood teddy was a 1950's Chiltern Hugmee and I have always had a fondness for this most English of bears, I decided to meet the Guild challenge criteria by attempting to create a 1950's Hugmee type bear in patriotic clown style ...


My mohair dye bath worked perfectly, giving me the vibrant red and blue colours of our national Union Jack flag.


And once sewn, I could begin to see my design taking shape!


As the Chiltern Toy Company used excelsior in their bears' heads, I decided I would give it a go too ... but it was such a messy job, I don't think it's something I'll be repeating in a hurry!


Chiltern Hugmee bears were stuffed with a natural fibre called kapok, so that's what I chose to use for my challenge bear.  Boy did that stuff tickle my nose ...  from now on, I will be forever grateful for my usual, non-tickly, polyester!

Something old, something new!

I have really enjoyed the opportunity this Guild challenge has given me to step away from my usual style of work and do something completely different.


 So here he is, introducing my challenge submission 'Jack' ...

I do hope you think he might have made an acceptable addition to the 1950's Chiltern Hugmee range of teddy bears!

6 comments:

  1. Thank you Paula to share with us the creative process of this beautiful clown, it's very interesting, really. You can be proud of the result!

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  2. He is gorgeous! More than acceptable! Love the colours!

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  3. How patriotic does that bear look. He is wonderful. Great job of dying and also a GREAT BEAR.

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  4. Aww, he's fab, well done. I've used wood wool once, and I think that'll be a once in a lifetime thing, very messy!

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  5. Oh he is very nicely done Paula:o)) Such fun playing with the dye pots isn't it?!
    Anyway, take care and have a good weekend.
    Hugs Lyn x

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  6. Jack is beautiful. You did a wonderful job.

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