Teddy Bear Restoration - Part 1

On the weekend I embarked on possibly the most daunting of craft projects. You see, Matty had two teddy bears from when he was little and he wanted Little Snicker to have them. I was fine with that, except for the fact that they were two of the most manky teddy bears I have ever laid eyes on.

I considered sending them to a hospital set up especially for old bears to help them 'recover', but then I decided that I could challenge myself and attempt to restore them on my own.

So, first off I unpicked a little bit of the seam from around the bear's neck (Little Blue Bears whole head nearly fell off as he'd obviously been repaired before). Next, I removed all of the stuffing from both Big Blue Bear and Little Blue Bear:

Then I filled up my laundry trough with hot water and a mild detergent and gave them a scrub with a soft bristled brush:

Here is a picture showing you just how manky Big Blue Bear's feet were (I've cleaned the one on the left).


Once scrubbed I ran some hot water over the bears to get rid of the detergent, then I squeezed them out. If you're trying this yourself, don't wring your bears out as apparently that will do damage.

Next, they took a little siesta to dry out:


Tomorrow I will be re-stuffing the bears and sewing their heads on. Thank goodness I haven't destroyed them yet!