Welcome to South African Bears

The first bear Lynette ever made was a Dianne Sturgess designed "little fellow" named Byron. "I bought the kit for Byron at the Teddy Bear shop in the Fourways Mall" Lynette recalls. After the little bear was born, Lynette named him Bruno.

Lynette started making bears in 1996 after sharing a room

with a hug of teddy bears during a stay in the United States. Little did she know then that these teddies she fell in love with would have such a profound effect on her life. Lynette's initial intentions were to start her own collection by adopting a few bears and perhaps making a bear or two herself . . . two hundred bears later and still Lynette has no intention of stopping.

Lynette lives in Kempton Park, Gauteng with husband Mike and their two four-legged K9 kids. Lynette explains wittily "'His dog' (referring to Mike's dog), a stupid Staffie with absolutely no culture whatsoever, and 'my dog' . . . a beautiful black and white Bull Terrier with all the culture, charm and good looks anyone could imagine". Her two-legged children, 3 boys, have all flown the coop already. Lynette goes on to say, " Besides doting on my dog, I enjoy making teddies. Unfortunately this is still more of a hobby - when time allows - as I work full time as a secretary."

Lynette loves happy bears and therefore, not surprisingly, most of her bears have smiling faces. Other prominent features of her bears are their big feet and wobble-joints. Lynette also feels that although her bears' facial features have changed considerably from her earlier work, that they still have a distinctive 'look' to them that has her name on it.

Lynette's bears come in a range of different sizes, but she enjoys making bears between 15cm and 26cm the most. Lynette remarks that she often finds herself buying fur and then leaving it in the cupboard for months before she knows what she wants to do with it. She prefers working with sparse mohair, but adds that it should have a good backing fabric. When it comes to dyeing the fur she is a bit weary, "I tried to dye some fur once, but it turned out a scary bright orange" she explains. "I rather buy the fur ready dyed" Lynette admits. Lynette keeps a strict record of all her bears' photographs, names and dates of birth. Each bear comes complete with a nametag on which its date of birth is noted.

Husband Mike and the boys have also come into the act a bit, although they wouldn't admit it themselves. "When I'm around, Mike always pretends that the bears are a pain as they have taken over the house and all my spare time. However, when I'm not around, he's very proud of my achievements and has even sold a number of bears to colleagues at work. Sometimes he even cuts out disks for the joints. My children, being boys, like to pretend that teddies are 'sissy stuff', although they have been seen proudly sitting at a market with my bears while I'm off doing something else." Lynette tells.

Lynette's first bears turned out rather strangely at times. "I think some of them look more like the Pink Panther" she laughs. Over the years though, she has come to realise the importance of paying attention to detail and as a result the Pink Panthers have all but disappeared. As an example she adds that tacking pattern pieces together using a whipstitch prior to stitching the pieces together can make a huge difference to the final product.

"I wish I was like my bears they are all so cute, never stressed and always happy and ready for a hug. Generally, bears just happen. When I start out, I have a vague plan the bear, however, knows who he or she is I don't have too much say, even when it comes to naming them" Lynette says.

"I have some very nice bears that I have collected over the years. My bear collection consists of about 20 adopted bears and the rest is made up of my earlier bear-making endeavours. I love miniatures, but find it very difficult to get them exactly right sewing in the paw pads is a work of art in itself. I really admire mini-bear artists." Lynette says. Jill Baxter, Barbara Ann Bears and Kelly Dean are some of Lynette's favourite bear artists, but she admits that there are many brilliant bear artists whose bears and workmanship she admires. "Personally, I think today's bears are much better looking than past bears. They have so much more character". Lynette goes on to say that she feels that South Africa has some of the best bear artists in the world. "I'm amazed at the talent out there" she exclaims.

Lynette remembers a lesson well learnt when she finished a bear named Sedgwick. "I was awfully proud of him and showed him to a fellow bear-maker who looked at him in horror. She told me that the nose gusset was incorrect as the stitches were showing and suggested I pulled it out and redo it. My feelings were very hurt, but I realised that she was right so I did as I was told. Sedgwick now resides on a shelf of honour to remind me that 'right first time' is always best." In Lynette's opinion Sedgwick is her greatest achievement to date.

Finally a word of advice from Lynette to beginner bear-makers, "Be very careful there is NO known cure for arctophilia".

- Ilze Linssen -

Christie (red paws) and Rudie (blue paws) 23cm bear creations made from short thick matted mohair with upholstery fabric paws and footpads. Ltd. Ed. of 2 sets.