Reusing and Recycling

So, I have always been a recycler. When I was younger it was mostly because my family was poor enough to have to shop at Goodwill before it was cool. Also, whenever my family went on trips to the outdoors—hiking etc., my dad would always take big black plastic bags to pick up other people's litter.

In bear making I use a lot of recycled materials and vintage fabrics that would probably end up in a landfill somewhere if they didn't get used. But I have decided to make a concentrated effort to reuse even more. Lately, I have been taking apart vintage stuffed animals (ones that are missing an ear or something, so I am not ripping apart a perfectly good stuffed animal) and reusing them. The partially done pink bear in the picture is an example. It was an old 50s pink poodle originally. It is very slow work invoving lots of seam ripping, trying not to breathe old stuffing and make to much of a mess, and then gently cleaning the usable fabric pieces. The downside of this is that you don't get very much fabric, maybe enough for two mini bears for all the work you put in. The upside is that you can get some super cool results. I love how this bear is turning out.