Custom Order #15

To see the Work In Progress photos for this teddy

please scroll down to the preceding post.

To see more photos and details of this completed teddy

please click here

I created this teddy for Theresa from her family heirloom mink jacket ...

but she has not responded to any of my emails

so I just mailed her a note

hopefully she will respond because this little teddy is just adorable.

To everyone on my Custom Teddy Work Schedule:

I have a lot of people on my Custom Teddy Work Schedule and making each teddy is very time consuming so it will take a long time to get to each order (which is why I stopped accepting deliveries of the mink garments until I have time to actually work on your order). Please continue to be patient ... and if you move or change your email please let me know, especially if I already have your mink garment. 

Work in Progress ... Custom Order #15

Custom Order for Theresa M.

from her taupe brown mink stole

one teddy ... no preference on pattern style

the mink is a pretty color

I was able to lay out the pattern on the bottom edge of the stole

I typically use the stole's lining for the paw pads ... but

oh no!

the fabric is dry rotted and just fell apart when I started to cut it !!!

So now I'm worried that the same thing will happen the the mink pelt ...

cutting ... carefully cutting ... 

so far so good ...

But I'm still not trusting the mink pelt

so I give it a good strong PULL !

And I'm delighted to say that it is NOT shreading

BUT I could feel, as I was cutting out the pattern pieces, that some areas of the mink pelt are stronger than others ...

So that means that I am going to have to HAND sew 

each and every pattern piece.

This will take longer but this gives the teddy a better chance to holding together once I start stuffing it.

Since I can't use the stole's lining for the paw pads

I decided to use some of my ultrasuede instead.

The pattern pieces are all cut out

next step: trim the sewing line around each and every pattern piece.

Sewing each piece by hand.

Finished sewing.

Turned and stuffed the head and delighted to see that the pelts are strong enough that they did not split ... 

Now to finish the rest of the teddy.

These a a couple of my mink stoles. One is brown and the other is beige.

Theresa had requested a teddy-dog set but did not have another color mink to send me to represent a Mahogany Golden Retriever. While there are dyed red minks there aren't any naturally red minks. I don't have a red mink but this brown looks a little reddish brown to me.  Since I had agreed to the teddy-dog set before I decided to limit my custom orders to teddies only, I thought it would only be fair that I offer to make a dog from one of my minks. So it is up to Theresa if she wants me to make a dog from one of my minks to be a companion to her teddy. She can choose either a beige dog or a brown dog.

I laid her teddy across both of my minks to show how the colors matched up.