Domo Japanese Mascot Needs New Life

Domo (どーも くん Dōmo-kun^?) is the official mascot of Japan's public broadcaster NHK.

This Domo was found at a garage sale and his owner wanted him cleaned and restuffed!  He sounded very crunchy - filled with styrofoamchips.  The new owner hated the crunchy sound or feel of him, but there was something about him that this owner just loved.

   

The inside of Domo...hum not sure what it was.

 

Wow looks like soap chips.  Amazing companies put in kids stuff toys!

 

Poor Domo turned inside out, but we removed all the crunchy stuff.  

 

All cleaned and re-stuffed with fiberfill.  Looking good Domo.

 

 

"Sunny the Bear" In a Bank Caper 1975

This little guy came to us from California.  Hello the Sunny State. 

Well Sunny the Bear has an interesting story.  He was a free give away bear for the Crocker National Bank in California if you opened a new account.  This was probably the first time a bank gave anything for free!   People were coming in by the car loads to get a Sunny Bear.  Yes there were a lot of angry people who didn't get their bears because there were not enough in California.  The bank ordered more and transported these bears all over the state. (Beaver County Times: "Sunny The Bear" in a Bank Caper: Los Angeles)

Sunny Bear's face looked moth eaten and his nose was almost off.  He was stuffed with the doctor's favorite stuffing - FOAM CHIPS!  What a mess.  After a good clean, his face was removed to create a pattern.  Little scary looking.

Crocker Bank Tag

He really needs a nose job!

 

These are the pieces of the inset muzzle.  They had been sewn and re-sewn numerous times!  Fortunately the one on the left was almost complete, so we could make a pattern.  Now try to put it back together.  It wasn't easy.

  

After several attempts at putting the face together, it finally worked.  I had to use my son's bear to help match up the pieces.

I look soooo much better

Here are the two of them together.  Similar but with minor differences.  Both of them were given away as a bank promotion in the 70's.

"Flea Market 2014" Lefty. One Armed Bear

This guy was found in a flea market for $10.00, but he was missing his left arm, both eyes, his paw pads needed replacements, and his ears need reattachment.

The socks were to keep the excelsior from escaping.  Lefty's legs were in better shape than what we anticipated.  What a relief.  

  

View of his ear.  I feel his pain...I had a similar boo-boo when I was a small child.  

Close up of his limbs.  Not too bad.

 

Done at last - new arm, new eyes, new paw & foot pads and ears secured!  For the new arm, the Bear Doctor used new mohair and distressed it by pulling out the fibers and filed the arm with a metal file.  Lefty no more..Just "Cutie Pie" for this little guy.  

Winking Beary Bear

Beary Bear belongs to a 7 year old girl, who really wanted her bear to look a little happier.  The poor thing was floppy and lost an eye.  The little girl's mom said she looked sad or maybe she was just winking.

After a good cleaning...some stuffing added and new eyes, Beary Bear look more like a cute little bear.  When the little girl came to pick her Beary Bear up...she walked right in and went straight to her treasured bear.  She was speechless.  Her little friend has been restored! 

Down Under Koala Meets Killer Dog

This Koala, originally from Australia, now living in Vancouver, had a run in with a dog.  The dog pulled off the Koala's eyes and paw pads.  Pure talent.  Fortunately he didn't eat them - guess they weren't tasty.  

 Dogs are the number one destroyers when it comes to stuffies.  Keep your precious stuffies away from your four legged family member.  They just don't care whether it is yours or theirs. 

My eyes and paws...ripped off by a DOG!

  

"I can see again!"  Not an easy fix but the Teddy Bear Doc did it.  She even added some more black paint to my nose.  Wow...I'm not hanging out with the dog anymore...I'm staying up high in the trees where I belong. 

Monkey Business

Neat monkey!  We think he is about 60 years old.  This old man has a felt face, hands, and feet.  The body is made out of mohair and he is stuffed with excelsior.  

The only repairs made, were replacement of the felt hands and feet.  Including reattaching the metal wires that can pose the monkey's hands and feet.  

This is another repair from a dog attack.  Luckily the dog only ate the hands and feet. 

  

 

   The metal wires sticking out of the felt feet.  It wasn't easy to reattach the hands and feet with the metal wires in the correct place.

The Doctor finished the repair.  Not an easy repair but it was completed with the metal wires placed in the correct place.  

 Close up of the hands and feet.  

 

Sad Little Brown Bear

Little Brown Bear came to us looking really sad - missing one eye, torn nose, lots of missing fur, dirty, and just a little flat.

  

Wow!  Sad Little Brown Bear is sad no more.  New eyes and nose, cleaned and re-stuffed, and the fur was fixed.  He doesn't look like the same bear.  

Little Miss Pinky Bear

This little Miss Pinky Bear came to us from Vancouver Island.  Not too far but she did have to take a ferry to get to the hospital.

Just love the colour pink!  If you look at the top of her leg you can really see the difference in colour; so  usual in an older bear.  Too bad it has faded so much.      

 

Missy really needed some major mending - broken leg, ruptured belly, paw pads worn, eyes that needed to be attached, and surface cleaning..

Back view...Check out her necklace.

Close up view of this beautiful bear.  I love her embroidered nose.   Very different style from other bears we have worked with. 

Finally all back together and ready to dance - new pad pads, leg attached, belly sewn up and a new growler added so I can roar.

Look at my intricate paw pads...the details on this bear is quite amazing.  We copied the embroidery on all of the paw pads.  Even the foot pads had details. 

All finished and she is ready to go home.  My favorite is her very stylish pop beads!  The 60's lives on with this little Miss Pinky Bear.  I love the 60's!!!!   

Fur Bears Made Out of Old Fur Coats

After many years of clients asking if we could make their mom's fur coat into a bear, we decided to make them again.  Why do you ask?  The Bear Doctor retired from her old business and I told her that I would cut, sew, and stuff them.

Our first commission was from three siblings who wanted their mothers mink and beaver coats transformed into three bears. 

Stripping and cutting the coats....Ahhhhhhhh what a mess.  I killed the vacuum twice from cleaning up the cut fur from the floor.  Never use a vacuum to clean up fur bits.  It just doesn't work very well.

Three bears

Sewing the pieces together.  When you make more than one bear don't forget which piece goes to which bear!  Also during the sewing process I broke about 20 sewing machine needles sewing up the two beaver bears.  Very thick fur and leather, but it makes such beautiful bears.

For all of the bears paw pads we used some of the lining from one of the coats.  The leather was too though so we oped to use glass noses instead of embroidering them in.  Even putting the eyes in was not easy.  

Beaver

Mink

Beaver

Osh Kosh Baby Bear

This Osh Kosh baby came with his own baby blanket and some specific orders for the repairs.  The extremely thread bare bear needed a new body and clothes.  The clothes had to be made out of the similar waffle type fabric.

  

  

After much hunting in fabric and thrift stores for the exact fabric, we found a child's blue pants made from similar fabric and some white fabric that we had in our stash.   The white shirt was made with a bumpy fabric using the original light blue binding on the sleeves.  The Osh Kosh label and buttons were removed from the original outfit and appliqued onto the new pants.

  

Mervyn's Store Playful Pals, White Bear with Pink Floral Paws

Mervyn's Bear was well loved and played with, but needed some TLC.  The Mom wanted her bear cleaned, some more stuffing added and to replace the paw pads and the inside of the ears with a floral print.  This Playful Pal use to have a floral print on her paws and inside of her ears.  At one point in this bears life someone replaced Teddy's paw pads with plaid print and it too was showing signs of wear. 

Another view of the old look

All cleaned up and more stuffing added.  We found floral fabric, which once was a vintage sheet, that matched the colour of her nose.

Winnipeg Teddy Bear - Fireman Surprise!!!

Last month I fixed a doll for the same owner of this bear.  The doll belonged to her mother and she wanted the doll re-strunged so it could sit.  

She was so impressed with our work that the mommy wanted her little teddy bear fixed, but she only wanted the minimal because none of her family wanted the bear.  She wanted the Bear Doctor to replace the eyes, re-stuff one arm, give him nose job, and stuff the neck so his head wouldn't flop around.  

She has had this bear since she was a young child.  He was well played with and her mother mended and re-stuffed the teddy bear and even made a little hat and pants for him.  Unfortunately, the mommy took the pants with her so we didn't get a photo with him in it, but the hat was sewn on.  We just received pictures of me in my clothes sitting on my antique chair.  Please take a look at me!

The Doc noticed a strange bump and several hole in the one leg.  She just couldn't send the teddy home with holes and a strange bump.  So...She opened him up and found scraps of fabric in his leg.  

MAY BE GRAPHIC FOR SOME VIEWERS.... SO CLOSE YOUR EYES AND SCROLL DOWN BELOW

Just full of all sorts of scraps.

We even found a Custom Tailor Label inside the leg.  Strange??!!

These were his glass eyes.  Very usually eyes.  They were glued into the bears head; usually they have wire loops at the ends and are strung through the head of the bear.   I guess he wouldn't pass the Toy Manufacturing criteria.  Hum

I'm just a doll now!  I have a new nose and mouth, eyes, top cleaned and best of all my leg was re-stuffed with fiberfill.

When we showed the mommy the what was inside the bear...she almost cried.  The label was from her father who was a fireman in Winnipeg.  Her mother must have used it along with the other fabric to stuff the teddies leg.  Wonder what else is in this bear?   

Here I am fully dressed.  Don't I look smart!

  

Love sitting in my antique chair.