As a child Lynette never owned her own teddy bear, but that did not stop her from venturing into the wonderful world of teddy bear making when looking for something to keep her busy after selling her long running sewing machine agency/patchwork and quilting business.
Lynette’s very first bear was made from English long pile mohair. “Not the easiest fabric to start off with” Lynette laughs, “I used plastic joints for the limbs, since at the time I hadn’t heard of any other type of jointing methods, yet somehow I managed to create what I thought was the most outstanding teddy bear in the world.” The little bear Lynette created that day was promptly named ‘Steroid’ after her sickly dog that was on steroids at the time. ”Steroid still lives with me today and has a special place amongst all my prize winning bears”, Lynette says proudly.
- Lynette Kennedy (left) with a collector -
Today, more that 8 years since the birth of Steroid, Lynette is still making and creating wonderful little bears. Lynette regularly travels to the far away east and west ends of the world, selling and displaying her award winning teddy bears to the international teddy bear community. Fred-I-Bears can regularly be seen at shows in Europe, England, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. “At the moment I am travelling around the world just to keep me out of mischief” Lynette laughs. In South Africa, Lynette and her Fred-I-Bears can always be found at the teddy bear show held every year on the 1st of May at the Buitenverwachting Wine Farm in Cape Town.
Lynette describes her bears as tending to be more traditional with waxed noses and airbrushed facial features. She prefers using quality Schulte mohair fabrics, but has recently started experimenting with a fabric made from silk which she imports from Japan. “If anyone else is interested in playing with this new fabric, they can purchase it from me via my website” Lynette adds. Apart from working with mohair and the recently discovered silk fabric from Japan, Lynette also finds that she is slowly mastering the techniques of needle felting. “I am finding needle felting an interesting way to add special features to my bears and love creating needle felted muzzles.”
- Needle felded polar bear -
Lynette recalls a few highlights of her career, “It was a privilege and honour to be able to attend a bear show in the United Nations Building in Austria as well as the Vienna opera house. I am also proud to have helped raise funds for the Animals Asia Foundation by donating a few of my bears to their charity auction. Another huge highlight was giving bear making classes at the Taiwanese Teddy Bear International Show (held in Taipei) and also being a judge at the show’s bear competition for the past three years. Not forgetting that each time a Fred-I-Bear is adopted is a huge highlight for me.”
Apart from being the designer and creator of many adorable Fred-I-Bears, Lynette is also an avid teddy bear collector. “The bears I’ve collected have been an inspiration to me in my own making” Lynette says. She collects artist bears, both vintage and new Steiff teddy bears as well as Swarovski crystal teddy bears.
In conclusion Lynette has the following bits of advice to share with novice bear makers, “Support your local shops, magazines and shows. Never rush a project. Remember that the first step to a good bear is when you lay out the pattern on the fabric. If you rush this process the end result will never be a 100%.”
- Pink mohair bunny -
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