A few months ago a teddy bear maker and doll enthusiast by the name of Ted Menton made a kit for a sasha-sized teddy bear (ie a bear scaled for sashas), and offered to post the construction instructions on line. At the time he started the project, there was plenty of faux fur available in the shops so I elected to use locally available supplies rather than buy the kit from the US. So many people did order the kit, however, that the project got delayed as Ted completed the orders, and by the time the lessons were posted online (Ted kindly emailed me the pattern for free) at "Ted's Teddy Talk", I could find no fur in the Kamakura shops, it being a winter fabric... I guess people in Kamakura mostly wear faux fur rather than make furry animals out of it.
I opened up my numerous bags of fabric scraps and used some faux suede. Very little fabric is needed to make this bear, who Ted named Snappy (because his joints are made with press studs, "snaps" to Americans). The faux suede does have some give so I fused some non-stretch interfacing to the back to make sure that Snappy would maintain a good shape. I stuffed him using the insides of our couch which our little furry friends have made plentifully available. He did look rather naked when finished so I decided to sew him a hairstyle out of some blonde silk yarn I had lying around. This addition does seem to have given him quite a lot of ... character. James says he looks like Johnny Rotten... Consequently I have not yet dared introduce Scrappy Snappy to the comparatively genteel Sashas for fear he will corrupt them.
P.S. That's my marvelous new 15" MacBookPro in the photo!
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