This is Olive Blazer, the bear with a past life. She comes with a bit of a story.
Olive's story begins many years ago when I ordered my husband a tweed blazer for Christmas. When the item arrived in the store the salesperson phoned our home and asked to speak with Olive Blazer. There was a confused pause at both ends of the phone until simultaneously both the salesperson and myself realized the woman's mistake. She was reading from the wrong line on the phone list. The ITEM was an olive coloured blazer. The person to speak to was the name next to it of course. The family has laughed over that one for years.
As far as I know this is the only item of clothing my husband has ever had that actually has a name.
With a family story like that behind it I just couldn't send this blazer off to a charity shop when it grew hopelessly out of style. No, Olive Blazer had to live on. I found a
sewing pattern that worked with the narrow pieces I had available once I deconstructed the jacket.
The wool blend tweed was used for the exterior of the bear. Portions of the shoulder pads created the contoured stuffing for the ears, and the lining and a button from the blazer were used for the collar of her little jacket. Olive's eyes were scrounged from the family heirloom
button jar.
The outside of her fancy tweed jacket is made of a remnant from our living room drapes and its lining is cut from a poly/cotton bathroom curtain. The embellishment on her jacket was done with scraps of felt, embroidery floss and a few beads I had in my stash. The only things I had to buy to bring Olive Blazer to life were the pattern and the stuffing.
They were also a frugal knit, using up many little oddments left over from knitting other, less wild, socks.
I did them toe-up, two at a time on one long circular so that I could get them to kind of, sort of, match.
The pattern is my usual standby hybrid, and the idea for the constant colour changing came from Heather Sebastian's "Blender Socks".
I had originally intended Shaggy to be a mascot in my weaving room, but lack of space and an aversion to clutter has convinced me to let Shaggy move on to a household where she might be more appreciated. I allowed the guild to put Shaggy on the auction block to raise funds for another year's operation. Shaggy is now taking a one way trip to Australia where she will be a gift for this lovely spinner's first grandchild.
Even the lure of a mermaid tail was not enough by itself.......
......I had to add in a wig, a shell bodice like the "pretty mermaids wear", pearls, and a crystal swan chariot. Now, NOW I think she feels it was worth the hassle.
The outside of her fancy tweed jacket is made of a remnant from our living room drapes and its lining is cut from a poly/cotton bathroom curtain. The embellishment on her jacket was done with scraps of felt, embroidery floss and a few beads I had in my stash. The only things I had to buy to bring Olive Blazer to life were the pattern and the stuffing.
Here's another photo to put the needle felted bear in more familiar surroundings so the size is a bit easier to visualize.
Teddy is less than 2 inches tall and yet is fully jointed. (I've got to do something about that left arm being longer. Funny how things like that only become apparent after you've taken pictures.)
And it stays on!
No matter what she's up to.
