As I opened a cupboard door in my studio last week a plastic bag fell out and growled.

What?

I had to investigate. The bag was full of fur fabric and when I tipped out the contents, another plastic bag was wrapped inside the fur together with a page of instructions. The smaller bag held a pair of safety eyes, five plastic joints and a growler! It was a kit to make a bear and looking at the date on the pattern, I’d bought it in 1994.

And forgotten about it.

Well, what better time to begin? I traced the pieces onto freezer paper - quite a lengthy process - and laid them out according to the pattern, taking extra care to check the direction of the pile on each piece.

I found my smallest, sharpest pair of scissors to cut carefully around each piece, remembering to cut through the backing fabric and not through the fur itself. I’ve never made a bear like this before, but have learned from the bears I’ve judged over the years and remembered the pitfalls!

I followed the instructions to the letter, starting by sewing the ears together using my sewing machine and turning them right way out to check the seams were ok. I worked my way through the first section, joining the basic pieces together and getting ready to move on to constructing the bear himself. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly it went and with the exception of sewing the foot pads to the legs, this was not difficult sewing.

Last evening, whilst watching TV I sewed on the ears, fixed the eyes in place with the safety washers behind them and stuffed the head firmly and fitted the neck joint. His nose needs a bit of embroidery so is fixed in place with a couple of pins for the time being.

I thought I’d be able to finish him off today and spent this afternoon stuffing his limbs and fitting the joints ready to put him together. His little furry legs are very cute, aren’t they?

But sadly, that’s where I had to leave him for now, because when I went to find the washers to fix his arms and legs in place, the bag was empty. Whether they were there when the kit was new, who knows? I suspect they were not, for everything else was in the package and it would be strange for four identical washers to go missing, wouldn’t it? So, there’s a slightly creepy sight on my worktable tonight, with a dismembered bear waiting for Amazon to deliver…

Hopefully, he will make an appearance here soon!