Old Mink Stole
 

Does anyone know what you can do with an old mink stole?

sell it on ebay, use $$ to buy fabric!!

Teddy Bears
Ear Muffs
Slippers
Purse

...........send it to me?? :)

That's what I did with one. It was really cute. I think you can use pretty much any simple teddy bear pattern.

Years ago I heard of a woman who made Barbie doll fur coats and made about 10x her investment!

I like the way a good looking winter suit is improved by adding a fur collar and cuffs. Also many a young granddaughter thinks she is very elegant with a fur collar on a cardigan or her dressy winter coat. Unfortunately, many of our granddaughters wear parkas for their dress coats now.

There a some on etsy.com made into fancy throw pillows. They get good prices for them and the fur is only on the top.

Years ago my mil had a stole restyled with a mandarin type collar, zip front and matching knitted sleeves. PM me and I will try to send you a picture of it, it is great as sort of casual dressy.

I'm so glad you asked this since I have my mother's stole & don't know what to do with it. I'm having to thin things out around here but since her name is embroidered in it I just leave it in my closet for now. Hope great ideas come up.

I dunno, but you'll get lots of ideas here!

I have read that there are women who will make these into teddy bears for you, but it's really pricey. I asked someone how much and they said $100.

I made my DD a pillow with her DGM's stole. I put fur on top and used that wonderful satin liner which in hers was a beautiful brown with her name embroidered in gold on the back. This was over 20 years ago and my DD still uses it. PS, I remember it was not fun to sew but can't remember how really bad it was so it must have not been horrible! LOL and reminiscing.

i got one from an elderly lady at church for making into teddy bears. just use a simple bear pattern. i have numerous if you decide you want to do that. PM me and i'll scan and e-mail one to you. Can have with or without joints. i make jointed bears for the most part. i give the mink and mohair bears to older kids/teens. Kids who will use them for decoration, and luck versus cuddling

There are folks who make bears from stoles, but they are not cheap!

Several years ago I made my mother's mink stole into a teddy bear for her. I used the initial part of the lining for one of the paws. She loved it and several of her friends wanted me to make one for them. I explained that I would charge about $500 for it. It was horrible to sew on since it was the color of our cat and doing hand stitching through the skin part made me ill. I'd never do it again. She has since passed on and passed it to me.

An antique doll person would love it for dressing a doll up!!

I'd have it cleaned and restored (if needed) by a furrier and wear it when I went out anywhere dressy or whenever I felt like it. My grandmother had a mink stole and hat but my sister got those and let them get ruined.

what a great idea. If you had brothers or sisters one could be made for them also and given as a gift.

Since I was always in warm weather I researched and had a lady close to Peterborough Ont. make me 2 teddy bears and 1 cat mousie toy from my fur coat. I hope to live long enough to make child quilts to go with the bears for any future great grandchildren. Collecting bear fabric now as grandchildren are only teens. These bears are not really toys but sure are beautiful. Other areas have similar sewers as we had a relative in New Brunswick do it years ago.

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.

After my mom passed away, I had her mink stole made into two teddy bears. The lady even used the lining to make a bow and embroidered my moms name on it. I gave one to my sister and kept one for myself. It was a little pricey but worth every penny.