Something a little different
 

Made these out of my mom's (35 plus year) old black mink coat, one for each of her great grandkids. They're called Teddy Bears with a past, or memory bears. The pic doesn't seem to do their 'cuteness' much justice, but they are really cute and snuggly in person.

Turned out terrific, great job and thank you for sharing. What a treasure for the G grans
Have a Blessed day
Ellen

Beautiful and so soft and cuddly! What a wonderful treasure you created for the great grandkids!

Awesome! That's on my "to do" list.

What a treasure you've made. Very cute!

Those are adorable, and what a nice thing to do for your family!

Was it difficult to sew with the fur/pelts? I have an old mink stole I was thinking of using for this, but I don't want to fail!

What a great idea, fantastic job on the bears!

Honestly, yes, and no, to the level of difficulty... but 'failure' diffcult, not at all. I think the hardest part is making that first step to dissasemble the coat. Just a mental hurdle to overcome.

I used muslim to back all the pieces, kind of reinforcing the old 'fragile' pelts, which helped, but most of the sewing was done on my regular domestic machine. Just take your time with the cutting to avoid cutting the fur. The part I didn't like was sewing the ears on, but I'm not a big fan of hand sewing. I purchased a book on ebay, I think the name was Teddy Bears with a Past that helped out w/a lot of the 'insider' tips and beginner help. Also I picked up the child safe eyes, noses and joints from Hobby Lobby. Ultimately I'm glad I did it, but am glad I don't have another mink sitting around to make more! haha

Fabulous bears and such a great heirloom gift!

I agree! These are just adorable & such a great use of your mom's mink! Great job!

Those are adorable!!!

Those are very cute bears. A good reuse for the mink coat. Great job.

I still have to do that with a fox coat...I keep putting it off due to my allergy to the fur.

I took my Mothers mink & had a lady in Mt Holly Nj, make bears for me, that was 28 years ago.,, And added eyeglass to them, as Mom wore glasses. And on the bottom of the foot took the lining, which had moms name embroidied on it and was the pad on one bears foot. It was the most meaningful memory for my brother and my daughter (Grandmas Shadow).

What a great idea! Now the grandkids have something special to remember their Grandmom.

I usedd to design and sew furs. It helps if you can apply a fusible interfacing, but this must be done c a r e f u l l y.
Old skins dry put and rip. To test for this, pot some spit on the skin side. Give it a moment and tug a it.
good skins will stretch, dry will rip apart. From there, you will know in which way to proceed.
the best way to cut the pelts or skins is to use a blade,exacto or razor on the skin only, the fur will sepeerate on its own, any wont have sich a mess.

Sorry, forgot to say how cute they are.

The bears are adorable and you are a very brave woman to cut into a mink coat. But it turned out great and I'm sure you family appreciates them.

Lynnie, thanks for the cutting tips.

Such a great way to use an old fur coat...I hope they are loved for many years!

Awesome idea..

I have a fur coat that I've planned to use for bears. Even have the pattern, that's been years ago start project still waiting for me do. I made rabbits out of a white fake fur coat one Easter, fun but alot of work.

This photo reminded me of an event about 30 years ago. I had a fake fur black coat, nowhere near as great as real mink, but people assumed it was. It looked just like the bears. I had a lot of trouble at church and was almost ready to wear a sign saying it was fake fur instead of defending myself every minute. Anyway a little boy came up and said "Is that a real coat?" I honestly answered "Yes, it is a real coat" and giggled. That made me feel better long enough to sell the coat. I really liked its warmth and softness, but couldn't take the hate. So that was the last "real coat" I ever had . unless you count wool as real too :) Hope the bears are loved.

Those are great bears!! I have a fur jacket and coat -- this is something for my bucket list.

Your teddy bears are adorable!!! How difficult was the fur to work with? I'd like to do this, but I've never made a stuffed toy and starting with a fur one is rather daunting!

They are so cute and I know the ggkids will cherish them. Thanks for sharing.

They're adorable!

They are adorable!!! What a wonderful way to use up her old furs. I have no idea what my mom did with her mink coats...I'll have to ask her.

Beautiful! What a wonderful and appropriate repurposing of the fur. I would even love to have a (repurposed)mink teddy bear.