Wednesday 19 June 2019

Olde English Charm

It has been a while since I worked with dense straight mohair, so when I saw this piece in a beautiful aged gold, I decided it was time to indulge myself...


I love trimming a bear's muzzle in this mohair .. it gives such a gorgeous effect.


And I make no apologies for creating such a traditional teddy bear ... in fact my days of fiddling around with fancy techniques for the sake of contemporary embellishment, are long gone. The plain fact is I love making traditional bears and these days will happily leave the modern twists and turns for someone else to battle with.


In fact my latest bear is so traditional, I designed him a classic Harris Tweed waistcoat, lined with Liberty print cotton - it really doesn't get much more classic than that! I even taught myself how to embroider my first proper buttonhole by hand.


So here he is, 'Tomas', a beautiful, 18" classic teddy bear with lovely chunky drumstick legs, designed in the traditional style of fine old English teddies.


My apologies if you just fell in love with Tomas and his drumstick thighs, he is a bit of a heart-breaker with all that olde English charm of his I know, but as we speak, he is on his way to meet his new owner in America!


Boy Voyage Tomas!

:-)

Thursday 13 June 2019

Tweedy Teds Tags

Since making and selling quite a few Tweedy Teds over the past few months, I think they have earned the right to their own postcards and hang tags, to celebrate their unique identity.

The Tweedy Teds!

My new 'Tweedy Teds' stationery arrived yesterday and I confess, I am delighted with it! Next time you adopt one of these stylish cloth bears, he or she will arrive with official 'Tweedy Teds' hang tag attached and a matching 'thank you' postcard.


The first 'Tweedy Ted' to be released with this smart new hang tag, is of course, the rather debonair 'Loveday Tweedy' ... which seems only fair, as he is the bear featured on it!

:-)

Monday 10 June 2019

Soggy doggy days

It has been a weekend for pottering about and doing nothing much in particular, with a brief exception when I popped out to visit my daughter for a cuppa and a catch up.  Unfortunately the weather is continuing the rainy theme I mentioned on Friday and Saturday's walk with my dogs must rate as the soggiest for quite some time ... in fact I was soaked right through to my undies after tromping along in torrential rain with them for an hour an a half. Madness!


Thankfully Sunday's walk in Jeskyns Community Woodland was a little drier and a whole lot more fun ...


Polly and Betty had a lovely time racing around through pretty meadows and along woody pathways, then finished their walk with a splash in the duck pond ... although neither was quite brave enough to venture in for a proper swim as that meant stepping from a ledge and dropping into deeper water. Big they may be, but brave they are most definitely not!


And as if I haven't been quite wet enough already, this week has begun with storm warnings and yet more torrential rain. As I write, rain is crashing onto the glass roof of my conservatory and my poor roses are struggling to stay upright in the garden. Not a good day for walking dogs that's for sure, but we'll don raincoats and I'll hunt out my wellies anyway ... urgh.


On a happier note, it is the perfect day for staying cosy in my workroom sewing and yes, that means a new teddy bear is on the (hopefully sunnier!) horizon!

:-)

Friday 7 June 2019

Rain, rain, go away!

The rain is lashing down here today, boo! I am hoping it will ease soon so that I can walk my dogs ... I really don't fancy a soaking. While we wait for the skies to clear, I'm sat here supping a mug of hot coffee and the dogs are snoozing on the rug, so I have time for a short blog post ...

11" Wilber

It is a shame about the rain, but as we've enjoyed some glorious June sunshine of late, I suppose I shouldn't really complain, but it is a pity that my roses will be spoiled by the heavy rain as they have been so pretty this month.


I popped out to my garden to take a couple of photographs of little Wilber before the heavens opened. I decided he needed a sweater, so knitted him a cosy cute cable to wear ... I think it suits him and hope you do too. I do enjoy a bit of cable knitting! He is back on my website now by the way:


In other news, I am starting to think about our Summer holiday. This year we are taking the dogs to Norfolk for the first time. I am especially looking forward to long coastal walks and visiting the seal colony at Horsey ... goodness only knows what Polly and Betty will make of them!


Until then, I plan to finish a few more teddy bears, tidy my workroom (long overdue!) and perhaps teach myself how to make a bag or two. Yes, I'm feeling the urge to learn a new skill again! I've purchased a few books to get me started, so watch this space ... 

Oh and I might also squeeze some time for using some of my Harris Tweed stash to make a few smart waistcoats for my bears to wear. Here is 
a little practice waistcoat, modelled by one of my Chiltern Hugmee teddy bears, cute eh?!


I just need to stop myself from flitting from project to project and never quite finishing anything. My Dad used to call it a 'grasshopper' mind ... perhaps he had a point!

:-)

Update: Wilber has been adopted.

Saturday 1 June 2019

Weaving a landscape

I created Loveday Tweedy from Harris Tweed, the only fabric in the world governed by its own Act of Parliament! This wonderful cloth is hand woven on traditional looms by independent weavers throughout the Hebridean Isles.

'Loveday Tweedy' is 19" tall

The Harris Tweed I selected for Loveday, is reminiscent of the pretty pastels found in a shimmering summer sea and like many of the tweeds woven on the Hebridean Islands, takes inspiration from wonderful colours found in the local landscape, from sea to moorland.

It has been a real privilege to combine this unique hand crafted cloth with my own teddy bear designs ... 

If you would like to know more about Loveday Tweedy, please pop over to visit him on my website.

www.allbearbypaula.com

:-)

Update: Loveday Tweedy has been adopted and will be flying to Australia!

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