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I make traditional teddy bears. Shall I make an autism themed one to auction for charity?

LimaMikeSquared

Hi everyone!

I have ASD and one of my interests is sewing - particularly making traditional jointed teddy bears. Since I struggle in full time office work I am turning my ASD interest into something positive and have started a teddy bear making studio (self employed) on the side with the hope that if it gets big enough I can drop hours at work and do this instead. My bears are collecting items rather than toys due to manufacture and parts.

I was thinking about doing an autism themed bear and auctioning him for autism charities. It would be 100% (minus any commissions fees from the sales website) profit to charity. Probably split between the NAS and an autism charity close to where I live.

For me I struggle with noise and I like deep pressure for calming, so I was thinking of headphone and a miniature weighted blanket (properly weighted). Does anyone have ideas for other accessories? If I have too many ideas I can do a few different bears. 

Is this something people would be interested in? I have a few bears on my facebook page (Julie's Bear Studio) if anyone wants to take a look and see the sorts of things I have made :)

Julie

Parents

  • Your bears are really gorgeous! I love the way you give them names and make them all so individual. The idea of a few different autism themed bears is fantastic. The accessory I would like would be a patchwork blanket with different colours and textures like velvet, satin, fake fur and wool.

    My own teddy bear was given away to another child by my grandmother when I was 9 years old - I was devastated! I bought myself a little mohair teddy when I was 50. My husband is lucky enough to have his original 59 year old teddy bear. He is getting a bit fragile now but he is gorgeous!

  • in reply to Sunflower

    Thank you for your comment :) They are all their own little personalities, every one is different to sew. 

    How awful to have your bear given to someone else! I hope they at least loved and cherished him. I am glad you found a new bear soul to love. 

    It is lovely your husband still has his bear. If he is in need of some TLC there are some very good people who specialise in repairs and restoration - it is a skill set in its own right. 

    I can envisage having a series of autism bears each with a unique blanket! 

    I have also thought about doing a tortoise with a similar idea on the shell to use up all the little offcuts that are too small for a bear. 

  • in reply to LimaMikeSquared

    Thank you! My husband's bear has a loose arm so I will look into getting him repaired. I have seen some bears and old toys being restored on a TV show - amazing skills. 

    The tortoises are a great idea (I had three real tortoises as a child). I also had a really lovely fabric toy tortoise as a teenager which I had completely forgotten about until just now! 

  • in reply to Sunflower

    I think I have some business cards or details of some good repair companies that I found at a teddy bear convention. Give me a shout on PM if you need them

  • in reply to Sunflower

    I love tortoises to. I have an Indian Star. If hubby and I get to buy a house big enoughI’d like to rescue a big sulcata. But they need so much space and it’s not realistic while renting. 

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