Really old teddy bear

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Welcome to The Grumble.

There are a pair of Really Old Teddy Bears at our house (belonged to my father and his brother) that are standing on a bookshelf in an Acrylic display box on a nice wood base. I think Showcase/Gemini built the box and I built the base, but they can do both.

I used a doll support from a hobby or doll store to support each.

I'll see if I have a photo somewhere.

On a side-note, I used to beat the **** out of those bears when I was a kid. Then my mother took them to Antique Roadshow or something similar and was told they were among the earliest teddy bears and quite valuable. They'd be a lot MORE valuable if some idiot kid hadn't beat the **** out of them.

That's why they're in a display case now.
 
Ignoring Ron’s boast about Teddy Bear abuse, if you’re trying to attach the fluffy buddy to backing, try punching small holes through the backing and either loop a matching color thread or monofilament (fishing line) around three places of the bear.

Probably one around the neck and one each around the “thigh” at the … well, you know (he said blushing) … sort of around the “crotch” area. That should keep the critter from flopping around too much. Once you have the bear secure, you can tape the thread or monofilament to the back.

If you plan to do similar mounting in the future, you might want to investigate a product called EZ-Tach. You still have to puncture the hole, but securing the objects are a lot easier.
 
Thanks Ron and Bill,
I do have an ez tach but do not want to punch holes in said bear. It was my first thought. I will try the thread part. Still deciding on mat and frame. It came in today.
 
I wouldn't use monofilament; it will (eventually) cut thru the fabric. Use like thread to like thread.

Oh yea, Welcome to the G!

[ 08-02-2006, 04:22 PM: Message edited by: Rogatory ]
 
Carol,

If you are using EZ-Tach, the holes would only need to be punched through the backing (never the bear). Unless you have a outrageously large Teddy Bear, I’ll bet the longest nylon “thread” would be long enough to loop from the back, around his/her neck, and return through the hole in the backing.

Disclaimer: No bear should be harmed during the mounting of this project!

Oh, yeah, welcome to the Grumble … yada, yada, yada.
 
If these are Steiff bears, they can be ridiculously valuable, even if treated roughly by Ron or some other kid. Do not do anything that would puncture or abrade the bears in any way, and be sure whatever covering you use is UV-filtering. Ron's display method described above sounds sensible.
:cool: Rick
It amazes me how these things are valued on Antiques Roadshow. Even ones that look like they've been through the tortures of hades are often worth many many thousands of dollars. This puzzles me, since they're all basically similar looking. It's not like they were ever one-off creations made by some master craftsman.
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For mounting things like this I normally use a 28 gauge stainless steel wire you can get at any hardware store. It is fine enough to put in the eye of a medium size neadle. Punch hole in mount bd. and run wire through, around object and back out another hole twisting tight on back. The SS wire will in no wayt harm the bear and is a lot stronger than tread or anything else. It is fine enough that it will not be seen and you can tell the customer it is mounted with steal. It sounds impressive!!!!
 
Titanium micro wire comes to mind. Soft supple and won't break or tear the **** out of the bear.

As you may not have guessed.. I have framed a few.

The doll supports are nice... nice and abusive to tender wooly bears... keep them on the china dolls like they were meant.

As for the loops over the bear... look to NASCAR. You can't beat a Three-Point restraining system.

Cross over the chest from shoulder to appossing ribcage both ways. Next, instead of a "seatbelt" do leg belts and lay the restraint in the creases between the body and the legs. This will leave the arms to wave, legs to flop, and head to nod and bobbel.
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but then, that's just another baer's opinion. :D
 
Baer,
Where do get the titanium micro wire? I get most of my supplies from United. My local source does not carry it. They suggested a fishing place, would you.
 
Carol,

Welcome to the Grumble. You brought a thought provoking question with you and that is a very nice way to start out the proceedings.

Where do get the titanium micro wire?

That question entered my mind as well along with the actual need to track down some kind of rather exotic material when there are so many useful mounting materials that are commonly available to the average framer.

I feel sure that Baer will fill us all in on the source and cost of such a wire. I haven't a clue as to what it is or its primary use or where you can buy this wire. I guess Baer thought we all already used that type of wire or he would have been happy to post the necessary information.

Again, welcome and enjoy the wealth of framing information here on this forum and in the archives.

Framerguy
 
Thank you Tom, that was just the opening I was looking for.

Titanium Micro Wire is a wire that is pulled to 1/10 the size of a human hair (probably Red head for those guys in the audiance).

It is available through certain industrial houses that whack you hard if you are ordering $500 or less. So I just buy it from my Magic shop supplier... and we never tell... maybe later...

The reason I brought this up is Stabilitex, and Talis.

Stabilitex get thrown around here like it was toilet paper and available at every 7-11. But it isn't. It's currently only availabel through Talis. With a minimum order that is a deal breaker for many small jobs...

So you are forced to order quantities and warehouse them for that time when you need them.

Now there are some, like Jim Miller who seem to be doing up a shadow box project every other day and must be going through hundreds of yards a year....

And I only started this tirad because we ordered a few years ago the minimum 5yds about 4 years ago. We have about 4 yards left.... in white.

Now I need about 1 square foot of cream.

And next week I'm going to figure out how to make my own dang Stabilitex for Titanium Micro Wire from the 1,000' I have left of that.

Carol, I appologize that I used your thread for my rant. Honestly, because of weight of the bear, you can probably get away with a double strand of color matching cotton coat thread.
 
How is the bear going to be positioned? It might be nice to build a ledge out of mat board to support the rear of the bear as if it is sitting. I would then stitch around the neck and pits to hold him up right. Don't forget to fluff the fur back out to hide the thread.
 
Wasn't that Barney something??? I'm gonna write Lord whatever as being the conservator for that would be the job from heaven!

Along the lines of Jini's and Ron's support suggestions, you might also consider a kind of sinkmount. You may be able to buy Ethafoam from a local plastic supplier, or one can be made from stacked foam boards. A concavity is cut to allow the bear to nestle in 1/3 or so of the way in, covered with poleyester quilt batting and then washed fabric.

Then the restraining threads (or even better 1/8" or so twill tape, ribbon etc. what ever color matches and ideally can be washed)can be threaded over bear at strategic points and stitched, pinned, attachezed or whatever attached to the sinkmount.

Good Luck!

Rebecca
 
Rebecca! I love the thought of the teddy bear sitting, instead of hanging in space! Not only does it sound more pleasing to the eye, but it also sounds like it would be sfer for an old teddy bears stitching. (Less gravity pulling on it's threads if it's sitting.)

Also, if the bear is sitting, you could put a picture of it's owner in the bears paws.
 
I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. The owner of the teddy bear has decided he only wants the owner of the gallery to frame the bear. So I am out of any decisions.

Have a good weekend.
 
Now that this problem is solved, did you see the news story the other day about the security guard dog that went buzurk and tore up hundreds of teddy bears in the musuem? Over $900,000 damage. Many on loan, one Steiff formerly owned by Elvis! Yikes.
 
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