“Hello I am interested in your services for repairing my daughter’s #1 love – her bunny.”
I’m sure many of you could empathize with that description of a stuffed animal! And the bunny was very well hugged indeed. Here is her diagnosis photo:
There were many options for her repairs… just repairing holes, lining her, recovering all or part of her, to clean or not to clean. Her family decided to recover her pink areas (with the most balding and holes) in new fabric but keep her white areas original, just stitching any injuries there. And she would get a full spa to spruce her up as well.
Here she is in her bubble bath (patients always have a bath first, if they will get one at all, because then all fur is matched to clean and fluffed fur):
Then it was time to choose fur. There were many shades of pink and lengths of fur. Her family was leaning toward a shorter furry fleece, closer in length to her white fur, but wasn’t sure. So I recovered one back panel in it and sent a photo for approval:
Approved! surgery would proceed. 🙂
Here’s here heart being made and installed with a bit of her original stuffing:
And here she is all better, feeling like a new rabbit, but still her original self. All her original pink was under new fur, and her original white was all visible:
Looks great! wrote her family. So U-Chan flew home to Minnesota ready for more hugs and adventures. 🙂
So Blue Teddy made it home and in her same email where she was so happy with arrival, his person wrote:
“Given the beautiful work on him, I am really hoping you will consider the same makeover /full recover on the white elephant. I will upload some pics of him shortly so that you can assess? I am wondering if we couldn’t find a similar fabric for him in natural cream.”
Here are the elephant’s diagnosis photos (including one of him next to the healthy Blue Teddy):
The elephant was getting fully recovered in a similar faux sheepskin, but with faux suede inner ears.
Now recovering was fairly straightforward, but ear reattachment, not so much. Should the suede part be in or out? Should the ears dangle or be closer to his head? Here are some of the option photos:
(yes, that’s my teddy bear, the mascot of my site, sticking his head into the last photo :-)).
Decision? Gray underneath, hanging down.
Finally, the White Elephant was healthy and ready to fly home:
Home cross country to MA he flew, where Blue Teddy was waiting. Here is their reunion photo:
Their person wrote:
“Just arrived this morning, none the worse for his long journey…….and looking GORGEOUS!!!!! You have done an outstanding job with these two….beautifully mended and without losing their old ‘personalities’…. I can’t believe I waited 30 years to have them seen to…..but frankly am only too happy that I did wait….. and found Realms of Gold…..
Blue Teddy is his person’s favorite bear. At 70 plus years old though, he was showing his age pretty severely. Here are a couple of his diagnosis photos:
Not only was he deflating, and having joint issues, but his fabric was disintegrating in place due to age and drying, and as you can see, he was no longer blue. While initially the plan was a spa, new joints, and wound repair, in person examination of his fabric proved he really needed all new fur, and his original fur was too fragile to clean so “the full works” recover it was. Finding blue lamb style fur (that funky texture he has), took a bit, but eventually we found a good match.
Here are his initial recover photos, with his facial features reembroidered, fully recovered, and joints repaired. Those are original eyes, just different lighting:
His nose needed some tweaking, and here it is in the final form:
“Well done!!!! He looks so huggable!” said his person.
Blue Teddy headed home, but already his person was thinking of sending his friend, White Elephant, for similar treatment.
BTW, when Blue Teddy arrived home, his person wrote:
“Delighted to say that Blue Teddy arrived home today in his splendid new suit…and he looks fantastic! What is particularly delightful is that you restored his face back to his original personality. I can’t believe how good he looks!!!!!!”
Tuxedo Sam’s person is one of you, dear readers! 🙂 They wrote to me earlier this year about Sam:
I was wondering if you had any availability to help me refurbish my best friend, Tuxedo Sam? He’s a Sanrio character that I became enamored with when I was like 13, and one of my best friends from high school (that I still talk to) ended up getting me a Tuxedo Sam plushie that I have slept with every single night for almost a decade. Naturally, he’s very worn-down with that kind of history, and the other day, his ice cream cone that is normally sewn onto his left flipper came undone. In addition, his fabric is VERY dirty, and his beak & tail that used to stick out are basically caved-in now.
Hereis one of his diagnosis photos, so you can see:
Sam (or Tuxedo or Tuxedo Sam) came in last month and got right in the spa. As a penguin, he had a grand old time in the bubble bath:
It’s hard to see there, but he really did get nice and clean! Next up, restuffing. To help his beak and tail stand out, he got slightly denser stuffing there, which was sewn in place inside. Then he got traditional stuffing elsewhere, and of course, a bit of original stuffing was preserved in a heart in his chest (this is also a preview of how clean he got!):
That’s a very special heart, because Tuxedo’s person had sent along their own childhood blanket for the fabric. 🙂
Next up, repairs. We were recovering the ribbon on Sam’s hat with new ribbon, and replacing the ribbon that stood out. And even though his bow got nice and clean, his person wanted a new one that didn’t split at the edges, and was a bit squarer. We upgraded both a bit, with gold edging on the ribbon and a velour bow. Here he is getting his chubbiness checked:
There was one small problem… his ice cream cone was on the wrong flipper! A quick flip, closing up his final seam, and he was ready to fly home:
Tuxedo Sam arrived home safely Saturday and his person wrote last night:
Hi Beth, OMG Thank you so so so much for all of your hard work on my baby boy!!! He looks ten years younger LOL. My parents and I got a kick out of the patient chart that he came with, specifically the discharge instructions about his weight gain from the stuffing diet LOL.. He looks so much younger and happier.
And they sent a photo of the happy former patient back home with his two Tuxedo Sam siblings:
This is a continuing entry in the irregular series of “Just a spa”. 🙂
This teddy bear had been washed in the past, when his person was a child, but even then he never looked brand new. And today, years later, Mr. Huggy (that’s his name) was definitely looking a bit worse for wear after all his hugs and adventures. Here are his diagnosis photos:
Fortunately, Mr. Huggy’s fur was in good shape. He had velcro on his hands (so he could hug) that was worn though. So his person and I agreed on a treatment plan of a gentle spa and velcro replacement. Here he is in his bubble bath (you can see he’s already brightening up):
Here’s his heart being made and installed with a bit of his original stuffing:
And here he is, all better! Clean, stuffed, fur fluffed, and with new velcro so he can hug again!
His person’s reaction when he flew home? “He’s absolutely perfect!”
As some of you who’ve been reading for some time know, in addition to stuffed animals, I also repair (and actually make) cloth dolls. This part of the hospital is rather specialized, mostly all cloth dolls, not ones with plastic parts or mobile eyes or hand knitted ones. My specialty is fabric (including faux fur, obviously), and that’s the equipment I have. But that does mean I get a lot of Raggedies. Raggedy Anns, Raggedy Annes (the name spelling really matters!) and Raggedy Andys. Today, I thought I’d share a story of a small handmade Raggedy Andy.
Andy had been loved for over twenty years when his person asked her mom to please get him fixed up. He had had a lot of adventures, and clearly some serious accidents! Here are his diagnosis photos:
And this is what he looked like as a young doll:
You can see that he’s lost his face, and his clothes. Even his sewn on shoes were wearing off. And he had more injuries to his limbs and torso. You can also see that Andy was custom made… his face and clothing were both different from commercial raggedies, as was his foot shape.
I couldn’t match his original jacket fabric, so I recommended his family choose a fabric they’d like and send that to the hospital with him. In addition to new clothes, and a new face, and other wound repair, he was going to get his shoes recovered and supplemental stuffing. Once he was in the hospital, we also agreed to recover the blue part of his hat (as it was quite worn, which is hard to see in the photos.
It took a bit of time, but soon, Andy was feeling more like himself. Here he is with his wounds repaired, new face, new pants, and new shoes:
You can see the torso and arm wounds were repaired, but the face is new. His pants button on, but his shoes (now velour) are sewn in place.
And here’s Andy all spiffy in his full new outfit, ready to fly home:
His family wrote when they saw the photos:
Oh my goodness this is fantastic!! He looks amazing. I cannot thank you enough!! I love his new face and his heart is still there. Thank you for salvaging all you could. His outfit is wonderful. Thank you Thank you!!
And when Andy made it home they said:
Andy arrived!! He looks amazing and just so incredible how he came back to life. I am so happy and cannot wait to surprise my daughter.
Amazing and just could cry. This is her most valued memory from childhood. Her Andy.
The other super sized patient I wanted to share with you from the recent large visitors to the hospital was a turtle. As some of you may know, either from older posts or close observation of some of the photos, I have two water turtles. They’re both female, both 25 years old, and they still lay eggs. 🙂 Anyway, so I have a soft spot for turtles, and there’s even a collection of stuffed animal turtles on top of my turtles’ tank. But none of those turtles match the size of the visitor to the hospital earlier this month!
Turtle actually had a pretty cool story. Here is what her person first wrote:
Hello To Whom It May Concern,
I am looking to get a childhood stuffed animal healed, I was pushed to donate it years ago when my family moved and by a twist of fate, recently ended up working at the institution it was donated to. It’s been a few years since the donation and in that time, kids have done a number on it. I have since gotten it back this past week after the people I donated it to no longer had need of it and would like to see it fixed up. It is an about three foot long and foot wide green sea turtle that needs to be cleaned up, have stuffing fixed up and replaced, and have new eyes put it.
Well, the first step, as always, was for me to see the turtle, and photos work well. Unfortunately, she was still in plastic to protect her (and her new home) from anything she might have caught in her years away, so there was an older photo of her, and then her bagged. :-\
It was enough to see her issues (lack of stuffing, blindness) and approximate size. We agreed a spa and new eyes would be the best treatment, and any small wounds not visible in the photos would get sewn up as well.
Fortunately, her person was only about an hour away, so he could bring her in person (for contactless drop off) because given her size, travel could have far exceeded treatment cost!
She started with unstuffing and a spa. No spa photos because when patients are that big, their spa photos just look like a pile of fabric, especially if there are no eyes as in Turtle’s case.
Once dry and partially restuffed, it was time to choose a style for her new eyes. Here were the three options:
Her person chose the last… a plastic eye with felt backing and lid. So her vision was restored and restuffing continued (it takes a LOT of stuffing for a patient her size). Here’s her heart with original stuffing going in:
And here are the first photos to judge chubbiness (so she had open seams so I could adjust):
Her person said she should be strong/dense enough to hold the weight of an adult human, so I added more stuffing, closed her up, and she was ready to go home. While she waited for her human to come get her, she made friends with one of my turtles:
You can really see how big she is here! My turtle is about 10″ long.
Turtle went home and is now happily ensconced back with her original family and friends:
Her person wrote “She’s better than I ever could have hoped!”
Morgan style dogs were around in the late 50s through the 70s (at least). They were very popular in the 60s. My mom has one that was brown from the 60s, and when I was little I had my own pink Morgan dog. There’s a photo somewhere of me sitting on it as a baby. So I have lots of references when a Morgan comes to the hospital, because both of those dogs are still around.
Frisbee’s person wrote several years ago asking for help. At the time, he was about 60 years old, which dated him to the 50s. Here’s his first diagnosis photo. His person was hoping to have him cleaned and rejuvenated:
The plan for Frisbee was a spa (color separation required), Fully recovering his brown areas), stitching up wounds and new eyes.
He started with a spa (no photo because he was a bit embarrassed that his muzzle wasn’t on for safety).
Next, we had to decide on his new fur for his brown bits. There were a couple of good options:
His person opted for the longer fur. Once recovered, he got restuffed with new, modern stuffing and a heart of his original stuffing included:
You can see why he’d lost weight by how compressed the old stuffing was.
Next were his eyes. Unfortunately, there weren’t good young Frisbee photos, and Morgan dog eyes vary a lot! First, I tried using his existing eye remnants as a reference:
Not quite right (although his new fur was a hit!)… he needed plastic pupils, and a different shape. So we went through many options:
That first photo (which was the last try) was the one! Finally, Frisbee’s vision was restored to 20/20 and he was ready to go home:
“Perfect!!!!” said his person!
Frisbee’s person actually drove up to pick him up. He’s been home over a year now, and is happily ensconced at home:
Have you ever seen muttsy dogs? I may have talked about some here. Most are a tannish color, about 15″ long, with faux suede pawpads. They look like they’re reaching their arms up to be hugged when they are young. They’re never really plump… they’re a skinnier breed. Well, today I thought I’d tell you the story of a Muttsy dog from Canada, with a bonus at the end of a giant Muttsy (the biggest I’ve seen at least) who went home last week.
First up, Joey the Muttsy from Canada. He was a pretty typical muttsy in size and shape, though no animal is typical in memory or history, and Joey was no exception there. Every animal holds the memories and stories of their person or people.
Here are Joey’s diagnosis photos:
As you can see, he had some significant balding on his back and pawpads, a bit of balding in front, and quite a bit of weight loss from stuffing compression due to age and hugs. His person is one of you dear readers, and she was starting to worry about him.
Now given the localization of his balding, some people opt for fur transplants just on bald spots. But Joey’s person felt, after 35 years, he deserved a full spa and a full new coat of fur, to make him sturdy and clean and plump and fluffy again. So that was the plan. We scheduled an appointment and he flew down from Canada.
The first step was the spa, so he of course had a bubble bath photo:
I think he kind of looks like he’s doing a doggie paddle here. 🙂
Once he was dry, it was time to choose his new fur. I wait till after the spa so you can see the fur in comparison to his own fur in a clean and as fluffy as possible condition. There were a couple of options:
His human opted for the slightly darker fur. I went ahead and started restuffing and recovering him. Of course he got a heart preserving a bit of his original stuffing. I like to think the hearts help them hold all the memories:
Now as I mentioned, Muttsy style dogs usually have a faux suede or faux leather (or sometimes real leather) footpad. Joey’s surviving footpads showed they weren’t real leather original, so these were the options for the soles of Joey’s feet:
His person went for the faux suede. Here he is, all better and once more reaching out his arms for hugs:
Joey flew home to Canada, and his person wrote:
He just got home! Looks fantastic, thank you so much for your careful work!
But I did promise a bonus at the end of Joey’s story. The largest Muttsy I’ve ever seen in the hospital.:-) This Muttsy is named Mutsie, and she is 28 inches long, 38″ including her tail, which is also stuffed!
You can see her here next to her warm blooded sibling, which gives you an idea of both her size, and the compression of her stuffing and flattening of her fur which were concerning her person:
She was in pretty good shape otherwise, so her person was looking for a spa for her. Here she is starting her bubble bath:
Of course she got a heart with some original stuffing when she got restuffed:
And here she is getting her chubbiness approved: clean, stuffed, fur fluffed but with an open seam to adjust as needed:
Her person said:
Yes she looks perfect! It’s so nice to see her all cleaned up and refreshed, thank you so much!
So I closed her up and she flew home to Arizona (in a much bigger box than she arrived in, because she was so much plumper and fluffier!).
A couple months ago I received an email from Mimming’s person in Singapore. Mimming is an almost 40 year old teddy bear, and she’s been very well loved… and hugged.
This is what Mimming looked like when she was young:
And this is what she looked like at the start of 2023:
As you can see, she lost a lot of weight and fur from hugs over the years. Her eyes have cataracts (you’ll see those better later), her nose is dangling due to muzzle shrinkage, and she has some pretty significant wounds she usually keeps under her shirt. But she’s still a very cuddly bear with an endearing expression.
Her person was hoping to get Mimming recovered in new fur, so she could be hugged and have adventures for at least 40 more years. A new nose and new eyes were under consideration, and we agreed starting with a spa (especially since her stuffing was so compressed, was probably in order. So… Mimming found a flight with her buddy Little Mimming to keep her company (you’ll see her later) and headed across the Pacific to CA. While Mimming is well travelled, this was a first solo Pacific flight, and so it was bit scary, hence the company. It actually took less than a week for her to arrive!
She started with her bubble bath, that way new fur would match her cleaned fur color.
You can see her cataracts, particularly in her right eye, and how loose and chipped her nose is here.
Next was deciding if she would get a new nose and eyes, or keep her originals. Turns out, there were many nose options. Smooth like nose, flocked/velvety, size differences:
Her person opted for a new, velvety, triangular nose. For her eyes, there was really only one option, new or not. I can usually get pretty good color matches, but Mimming’s eyes had also faded, so new eyes would be a touch brighter. Once eyes or a nose come out, they can’t go back in, and with recovering it’s best to remove them before recovering, so this was a decision that needed to be made before fur choice. Here’s the eye option next to her original eye:
Mimming’s person opted for two new eyes. We agreed to preserve her old eyes and nose in her heart with a bit of her stuffing. But first, she needed new fur. Here were some of the white fur options:
Mimming’s person went with the thick white faux fur, and surgery proceeded. For her brown patch, I had furs to match all of the white fur options, so we were all set there.
Here’s her heart being made and installed:
And here are the first photos of Mimming in all new fur. She still has open seams, so her chubbiness can be adjusted:
While she sits naturally like in her baby photos, she can also lay flat like she could when she arrived. Chubbiness approved, Mimming got dressed and went outside for a photo shoot. She was well traveled, but had never been to California, and she wanted some photos as souvenirs. Little Mimming joined her for the photo shoot (those were the first tulips of the season):
And those adorable knitted overalls? Those are Mimming’s regular travel clothes that she arrived in. Good thing that knit stretches. I particularly liked the little teddy bear buttons to hold the straps.
Mimming and Little Mimming flew home and again, it was a fast trip, just 5 days! Here they are safe and sound, albeit a little jet lagged, with their friends:
Her person wrote:
Thank you so much!! She looks amazing! We are so happy we got to spend the rest of our lifetime with her – another 40+ years!! Thank you Doctor Beth for taking great care of her. You’re such a blessing to all of us! Praying for your good health and good life. Stay happy and blessed!
