Customer Reviews

Creating Heirloom Teddy Bears, The Complete Pattern Book

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I love teddy bears and this is a excellent book on how to make them.

Basic overview of teddybearing is ok, but leaves out lots and lots of details. The bears are cute, directions are skimpy. It's helpful to tell new crafters to flip the pieces over and embroidery of the nose and jointing will never go as smoothly as they make it look. Great illustrations, nice history of the teddy bear. Perhaps Mrs Mullins should have actually made a bear or three herself before writing this book. Not a bad book for beginners definitely find Margaret Hutching's book "Teddy Bears and How to Make Them", it an excellent book and high-light the passages.

This book is a find for those who know how to craft and want a vintage- or antique-look bear at a reasonable price. It contains nine patterns for teddies based on vintage and antique bears owned by Linda Mullins. There are three traditional American bears, four German bears (one traditional, one standing on all fours, one circus bear, and one with green-tipped fur), and two pastel-colored English bears (the colors of fur can, of course, be changed by the sewer).

By using authentic materials--such as mohair, glass eyes, and wool felt--sewers can create genuine looking "new" antique bears. However, one thing the book neglects to mention is that the ambitious can still use what was originally used to stuff many old bears. Aspen excelsior is readily available in most floral departments of craft stores. Excelsior gives bears the feel of a true antique, but can be a little challenging to use.

This book has cute details, down to a little drawing appearing on the bottom of each page from 5-12 showing a little bear crafting a new bear friend. There is also history information about each bear.