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a 'Teacake' bear
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Why we're special
The science bit! Most of our bears incorporate
special features not to be found in other collectors bears. Browse the features
below to see just some of the reasons why our bears are head and shoulders above the rest.
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Design |
Tilly designs personally
every bear that we make. Experienced makers are able to look at a bear and
see that Tilly created it.
Then there are things that you can't see: things like
double-stitched hems, and every part is trimmed back to the stitch line to
ensure that everything fits together perfectly.
Every bear we make has the sewn-in label that
guarantees that you are getting a genuine Tillington bear. |
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Claws |
Claws are notoriously
difficult to make. That's why you don't see many bears with claws at bear
fairs. Some makers produce a bear with claws for
a competition entry, but the difficulty of making robust claws that don't
twist or break, and that look natural is daunting, so most people don't
attempt it at all.
Our claws don't
twist, don't detach and don't break (well, we've never managed it!). They are
available on our two largest ranges currently, in ivory or black.
Any larger size bears that you ask us to make for you can be with or without
claws. |
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Double neck joints |
Double-neck joints
consist of two disc joints set at an angle to each other.
By manipulating the joints relative to each other, the
bear can be posed on all fours, or sitting up like a conventional teddy. The
bears in the picture opposite are of similar design but made in different furs; they
show how versatile the choice of fabrics and the poses are.
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Twisty waists |
Few makers incorporate
this feature in their bears. Well, much quicker not to. You have all of that
bother designing extra pieces, the cost is increased a little because the waist joint is a
large one with a large bolt. Adding a twisty waist also adds to the time required
to make the bear. So why do we do it? Because
the bear can pose in lots of new and unusual ways. Come and see us at our
next show for a cool demonstration. Alternatively you can come and see us in
Duxford where you'll get a free cup of tea too. |
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Wrist joints |
Some of our larger bears
now feature wrist joints.
All bears with claws have wrist joints, which
increases the ways you can pose your bear.
As you can see from the picture, most of the time you
can't see the join! |
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Noses |
Some bear makers use
leather, plastic, or even Femo noses - this reduces the time to make a bear head
dramatically. All of our noses are embroidered
by hand. A typical Tillington Bear nose takes more than two hours to
embroider. You can't short-cut quality. |
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Nut and bolt joints |
Many bears have only
cotter-pin joints. These joints have the disadvantage that the tightness of
the joint cannot be controlled easily; in some cases they just cannot be
tightened sufficiently . With the exception of
wobble-head bears (obviously!) and wrist joints in smaller bears (where access to the joint
is very limited), all of our joints in bears bigger than 10cm
are nut and bolt type joints.
We don't need to tell you that larger bears have
larger bolts...
Our nut and bolt joints all have locking nuts with nylon
inserts (see the dark ring visible in the inset). Joints are tightened by just the right amount - and they won't
loosen with time. |
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Fabrics |
We use only the best
materials, generally dense German Schulte mohair in pile lengths up to 41mm, and alpaca. Paws are usually ultrasuede or cashmere, but sometimes are made from real leather.
Finding suitable fabrics is not always an easy task
for us as
fabrics of the quality we demand are few and far between. We source our
mohair internationally. |
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