Kit Contents & Pattern Information
Kits include mohair, paw pad fabric, the eyes suited to the project,
joints and nose thread.
In some kits, American cotton is supplied for clothing.
Kits do not include stuffing materials - beads, steel shot, glass beads,
polyester or wool noils.
These can usually be purchased in Craft or Teddy Bear supply shops in each
state. If they are required with the kit, it must be stated when ordering.
In Australia, postage is calculated by both bulk and weight. A bag of stuffing may weigh very little but is large in size. A bag of steel shot, say 250gm, is film canister size, but adds considerably to the weight, and hence cost, of a package.
Where bears are portrayed wearing clothing, fabrics can sometimes be
supplied as part of the kit if requested - for Sarah, Tom, Edwin, Edward, Alex, Heather & Taddeus.
However, bears such as Jonah and Teddy Olde are dressed from old socks,
which can't be supplied. Victoria is dressed from old lace and doileys, neither of which can be supplied.
The scarf that Woe-is-Me wears is an accessory, and must be knitted as such.
It and its instructions do not come with the kit or pattern instructions. He looks equally as nice with an old
key around his neck.
Sowelu and Gebo wear rune stones which can be made from modelling clay.
However, it is assumed you may have your own ideas about better accessories than these.
Anastasia's flowers aren't made, but purchased in flower shops.
The dog that travels everywhere with Rufus was put in because he was nervous
about being photographed with Anastasia. It can be bought at BigW, or Kmart.
Suitcases etc. as photographed, come from gift shops, the boats from $2
shops, shoes from the childrens departments of BigW and Myers. Fishing rods came from my own backyard.
The new Mister Bare, depending on the photograph used, wears some wooden shapes (dyed with coffee and coloured with a white hybrid roller - by Pentel - to look like gingerbread), or old cotton reels, or old socks, cotton dungarees or rags.
Instructions in the patterns are written in a manner that we hope can be followed by people with a basic knowledge of stitchery. However, with the best will in the world, we cannot cover every contingency.
The instructions are set out in the stages of bear-making - head, body, limbs etc. In a class situation, it takes about 10 hours to make the first beginner bear, and then there's homework! That includes a great deal of talking and repeating, and doing. This is what I have endeavoured to put in the instructions, but the "hands-on" experience will always be missing. Only experience will help, and it does take the making of a few bears to gain that experience, if classes haven't been attended. It is often a trial and error process until one day you suddenly understand everything you've read.
For those who strike problems, I am only an email away, and would love to help.
Yours, in bearthing,
Sheila Linton