I made a Teady Bear for my daughter. THe coat was her grandmothers. Very hard to hand stitch. She loved it.

A friend of mine had her mother's fur coat made into teddybears one for each of her children...The woman I believed made this as a business and lived in Pennsylvania....maybe you could google it. She brought one in and it was just stunning. Good luck....Bea

My best friend had a little bear making business and I had a blonde mink stole from my grandmother - so she made me a teddy bear for myself and one for my sister - also, using the silk lining for the paws and inside of the ears - very special to me! The bear had movable joints too.

I've just recently started researching this as well, for my mother's mink. It was given to me after mom's passing, some 20 years ago, and I have worn it every winter since. It's now come time to repurpose it and I have decided it will become 4 teddy bear keepsakes, one for each of my mom's (current) great grandkids. I'm hoping it's not as difficult a task to complete (working w/fur) and the kids will cherish something from their great grandmother. If anyone has pics of their fur creations, I'd love to see them, please.

You can also donate fur to help rehabilitate orphaned wildlife.
http://www.wildliferescueleague.org/take_back_the_fur

Thanks to all of you who answered my query. I was asking for my goddaughter who had her mother's old stole and wanted to know about making a teddy bear from it. I did some googling and found exactly what she was looking for, a gal who does just that with all the info including a price list.

I have had 3 fur coats given to me for this purpose and have yet to find a pattern, but have not looked hard - need to look online - and get serious one day - this winter will be a good time to work on something like that - not sure why I was chosen to be the gifted one to give these too... lol

What to do with a fur Stole
 

Thanks for all the ideas. Some time ago an elderly lady gave me a mink coat..but for some strange
reason she decided to keep the lining!!!! She said it was because it had her name in it. But the coat
is lovely, thin and flexible, even as old as it is I think it'll make a lovely whatever. There's a lot of
it, and I'm looking at putting it in a London Fog rain coat that has divorced it's liner, which went
AWOL some years ago. No child ever remembered taking it camping or even seeing it.....

i'll probably enjoy the warmth of it when the rains start this fall.

Why just bears? Why not a bunny, hen, seal pup, or mice? Animal patterns abound. The fur can be snipped or shortened with hair clippers. The warmth of these furs is astounding. If it feels too P inC to wear openly imagine a fur-lined vest, a posh coat for a chihuahua or a hairless, hand warmers on a cord--fur side, inside, of course. If you enjoy Christmas decor, a really old time Santa or Beltsnickle figure dressed in fur is authentic.

My mother had a set of (hideous) mink skins with paws, claws and glass eyes. A furrier converted them into an attractive stole. My grandmother's black pony (that's what theytold me) jacket was remade into a cape with a high collar. I found it useful at halloween and eventually donated it to a theater group.

My MIL had a fur coat of some kind and turned it into a throw pillow for her couch. It looks very stylish in her home.