Vintage Ted Restoration Project #3

This gorgeous bear had a very stiff neck for a long time! When he was first examined, the head had been sewn to the body, which was puzzling because the rest of him was fully jointed. When the stitching was unpicked, the mystery was solved. Old jointed bears usually have cotter pin joints which are made of discs of cardboard or hardboard with a washer and a metal split pin. The fabric of the neck joint hadn’t been gathered up sufficiently tightly, so the disc had started to slip through. Rather than remake it, the head had simply been (neatly) sewn to the shoulders. Before remaking the joint it was necessary to add a reinforcing patch to make sure that the disc couldn’t slip through again. Once that was in place the joint was pinned securely and bear could move his head again!

The rest of the project was to adjust the woodwool stuffing in the limbs and body to give him a more balanced appearance and to add a growler into his tummy. He was given our usual customary gentle surface clean and was returned, with a fully working neck!

Please visit our Teddy Repair Service page for more details of how you can get your own precious teddy restored or mended by us.