Frank Webster Bears – Teddy Bear, History, Information
Frank Webster is a teddy bear artist from Loughborough, England and produces bears under the name Charnwood Bears and is one of the few male teddy bear artists. After eleven years of restoring and repairing bears he decided to make bears himself, passing the restoration part of the business over to his wife Sue, who writes about bears for the British teddy bear magazine, Teddy Bear Times. Due to the popularity of the bears, he started making bears full time starting in 1993. Typical Frank Webster bears are usually limited editions, made of mohair and usually come undressed.
One bear is “Precious”, made of one inch curly mohair with suedette pads.
Nicola Perkins Bears – Teddy Bear, History, Information
Nicola Perkins is a teddy bear artist from Crewe, England and has been making bears under the name Tree Top Bears since 1992. She specializes in making miniature dressed bears, with her mother designing and sewing all the outfits and accessories from teddy muffs and fur coats to tiny gollies and rabbits. She makes one of a kind bears and limited editions. Typical Nicola Perkins bears are made of upholstery fabric from the United States, have Ultra suede pads, onyx eyes, cotton clothes with silk, lace, ribbon and fine cord accessories.
She won the 1994 British Bear Artist Award for her “In the Fur” group of miniature bears.
Cherie Friendship Bears – Teddy Bear, History, Information
Cherie Friendship is a teddy bear artist from Markham, Canada and makes bears under the name Friendship Teddy Bear Factory. She started making bears in 1992 after she bought her first bear for $300 from a teddy bear store in Unionville. Her husband convinced her there was a market for teddy bears and soon after she began making them. Her first bears were made from commercial patterns. She now has made over 200 bears, many of them limited editions.
Typical Cherie Friendship bears are fully jointed, made of distressed mohair to give the bears a vintage look and come with a small Canadian flag pin in the ear and a label on the foot.
Lesley Mallet Bears – Fred Teddy Bear, History, Information
Lesley Mallet, a teddy bear artist from Richmond Hill, Canada, is very adapt at sewing, picking up those skills from her mother, a professional seamstress. In 1978, she started making craft toys while awaiting the birth of her first child and donating the products to friends, children and charities. She also started collecting bears amassing over 320 of them. In 1992, she started Fred Bears and now makes around 100 bears a year which can be bought at shows and stores in Canada, England and the United States. She also runs teddy bear workshops on how to make bears. She makes each bear herself starting with designing the pattern to brushing out the seams on the completed bear.
Typical Lesley Mallet teddy bears have long legs, cuddly bodies and a few accessories. One such bear is “Barnaby” undressed with just a few accessories, long limbs, body stuffed with pellets, German plush and glass eyes.
Frances Harper Bears – Teddy Bear, History, Information
Frances Harper is a teddy bear artist from New Hampshire and produces bears under the name Apple of my Eye. She is a former floral designer who started in 1990 after she bought a Vogue pattern to make a teddy bear for a friend. At the urging of her friend, who loved the bear, she started to make more of them. She has made over 500 bears. Her designs resemble antique teddy bears with mohair used for the body and glass for the eyes, with usually very serious looks as facial expressions.
One of Frances Harper’s well known teddy bears is “Christopher”, who is a fully jointed bear made of distressed mohair, hand blown glass eyes, wool felt pads and stuffed with excelsior.
Mary Holdstad Bears – Teddy Bear, History, Information
Mary Holdstad is a teddy bear artist from Washington. As a young girl she would draw paper dolls and sew clothes for her Barbie doll with her older sister. One day she bought a book on how to make teddy bears and has been making them ever since. She has a passion for cats and combined with her passion for making bears, created “Katie’s new Kitten,” in 1984, a cat and bear combination which earned her international acclaim. Mary Holdstad teddy bears are made of high quality mohair and often come with cats. She has won many awards for her teddy bears over the years.
Susan Redstreake Geary Bears – New Mexico Paws Teddy Bear, History, Information
Susan Redstreake Geary has been making and designing her own bears since around 1990 under the name New Mexico Paws. She started her business in New Mexico but now makes teddy bears in Baltimore, Maryland. She has produced and designed original, award winning art quilts for many of America’s top quilt magazines. She specializes in character bears that often come with props or pets. She produces over 250 bears a year, all by herself.
Susan has been nominated for many prestigious teddy bear awards including the Golden Teddy Award and won the American National Teddy Roosevelt Bear Contest. She also writes articles for a number of teddy bear magazines.
One teddy bear line Susan produced is “Camelot Remembered – A tribute to Jackie Kennedy”. It featured a teddy bear named “Jackie”, which came with a 1960′s blue hat and coat, a campaign button on the lapel and a music box inside the bear that plays the tune Camelot.
Lexie Haworth Bears – Teddy Bear, History, Information
Lexie Haworth began producing bears in 1992 under the name, The Bears of Haworth Cottage, out of her home in Nowra, Australia. Her interest in making teddy bears began after she bought a 1905 Steiff at a local bric-a-brac auction. She bought a commercial pattern and some acrylic fur and after a few hours, made her first bear. After that, she started making her own teddy bear patterns and makes bears primarily using mohair. The bears are sewn by machine and finished by hand. Most Lexie Haworth bears are undressed, with a traditional style, trying to recreate the Steiff look.
Heather Brooks Bears – Bearly Collectable Teddy Bear, History, Information
Heather Brooks is an award winning teddy bear artist from Mittagong, Australia and creates bears under the name Bearly Collectable. She started making traditional style bears in 1986 with about half of them dressed in clothes she makes herself. Most teddy bears are limited editions of ten or one of a kinds. Her favorite designs include baby and toddler groups.
One of Heather Brooks more popular Bearly Collectable bears is “Winston” a traditional style teddy bear made of mohair and glass eyes.
Briony Nottage Bears – Brook Bri Teddy Bear, History, Information
Briony Nottage is a teddy bear artist from Adelaide, Australia and produces bears under the name Brook Bri Bears or House of Brook Bri. Her first bear was made of lambswool and produces bears using other materials such as mohair, sheepskin and sterling silver. She’s best known for her Barramundi bears. Teddy bears made of fish skin that have become pretty popular in Australia.
