A little over a year ago, I met Jae (not their real name) at a casual outdoor market. Their face lit up when they saw the doll formerly known as Wynter Doublemint, who they renamed Grace. Grace and my own doll, Zoomie, have had little adventures together. And when the time came for us to restore Teddy, Jae’s childhood bear, Grace came along.
Grace (right) with Zoomie (center) and Lesbun (left).
One of the most important things about restoring Teddy was keeping as much of his original body as possible. He needed new stuffing, and was in pretty rough shape. Teddy had belonged to Jae’s mother, and was passed along when Jae was just in double digits. Jae has now had Teddy for 30 years. At minimum, Teddy is 50 years old; at his oldest, he could be 70.
Needless to say, I was honored to take on the task, and also deeply intimidated. But Jae’s faith in me and support from V’s made the challenge gratifying.
The first order of business was getting the little man clean.
Teddy in his first bath.
It would take eleven washes and thirteen hours to get Teddy clean. But eventually, the water ran clear.
While he was bathing, it was time to make him a heart. We’d reserved a little bit of his old stuffing, and made a little heart-shaped pouch from a quilting square.
We dried him out flat in front of a gentle heater. Then, it was time for new stuffing for the rest of him. I had been nervous about this stage of the process, in large part because I was hesitant to make the incisions necessary. I was pleasantly surprised at Teddy having held up so well through so many baths, and at how strong his original fabric and stitching were. He had been through a lot worse, and he was going to be just fine.
The stuffing that had remained in his limbs had collected at the paws. Before washing, I had slightly expanded existing tears in the fabric in order to remove the old stuffing (you can see them in the bath pictures at the edges of the arms and legs). His head was, to put it bluntly, only half attached, and the front of his neck was entirely open at this point. He had come in with two large tears in the neck, one of which was covered with a patch Jae didn’t like. So, we removed the patch, and to get the rest of the stuffing out, removed the connective fabric between the two tears. It allowed for the old stuffing to come out of two areas, the torso and the head, with technically only one opening.
It was time for Teddy’s skin graft.
It was essential that Teddy keep as much of his shape as possible. The neck does a lot for a plushie, and depending on its construction, can make or break a silhouette. I did a basic running stitch around the opening with a sewing needle, and worked the oval closed with some caramel-colored yarn, a moss stitch, and a 3mm hook. This was the first part of the crochet element of the restoration. There would be much more to come.
He was already clean, and so much softer than he had been. His tummy was fat, and his remaining fur was fluffy. But, as you can see, there was very little of that fur left. Jae had thought of a solution. What if we made him his own little teddy bear onesie? But the ears needed to be intact— emotionally, they’re a very important part of Teddy, so we had to make sure they were kept.
We started with this cute little hood. Teddy seemed to like it just fine, so we slowly added on until he had a whole new outfit.
He was so fluffy! And I couldn’t have been prouder to send him back to his loving home with Grace and Jae. It was a fulfilling experience to restore him and even more so to see the look on Jae’s face when they came to get him. I was afraid I wouldn’t be satisfied. I needn’t have been.