Teddy bears are treasured by many during childhood but can often end up left in the attic, charity shop shelf or bin.
But for toy restorer Christine Witham, there is something so endearing about a bear’s face that she can’t leave them discarded.
If you walk into her home, you’ll see her corridors lined with a considerable number of bears she’s taken in.
Last year, for example, she bought a bear from a junk shop that had its legs entirely severed from its body because she “didn’t think anyone else would want him”.
However, Christine does not just restore toys for her own enjoyment – she also helps other people restore their much-loved bears and makes her own that she sells at the Harbour Gallery.
The 74-year-old from St Brelade welcomed Express inside her home to show us the behind-the-scenes of her restoration business.
Sitting on the edge of her sofa – in a room that is both living room and workshop because of the little space left due to the bears – Christine explained how it all began with one question.
When she was working as an art therapist for sight impairment charity Eyecan, a volunteer asked Christine if she knew anyone who could fix a teddy bear.
They asked, “I don’t suppose you know anyone who could mend this?” while holding up an old “poor” bear that she’d “travelled the world with”, she recalled.
“I took her bear away and mended it and brought it back in,” said Christine. “When people saw what I’d done, I got given another bear – and it went on like that.”
Because of her background in textiles, she explained how she realised it fit her skillset “hand in glove”.
“Why it hadn’t occurred to me before I do not know,” she said.
As there isn’t a guidebook on the art of teddy bear restoring, Christine explained that she has had to do a lot of research to learn “about all sorts of bears”.
The wear and tear from a “lifetime of cuddles”
Since the very first bear, Christine has helped restore or repair “over a hundred”.
It’s a careful process, she explained, because the bears often have sentimental value to the owners.
Sometimes repairs are as simple as making little changes, like one little bear who came to her “after a lifetime of cuddles” who just needed a paws and nose job.
However, in other cases, the original teddy can be beyond repair, like one bunny she was tasked with – but she didn’t give up, and placed it inside a new skin so it could still be held.
It’s common for her to be given bears that have had their fair share of wear and tear over the years.
Recalling one case that made her chuckle, she said: “These ladies one Christmas brought in their bears.
“They’d lived on a farm when they were little. These bears had been dragged through all the farmyard.
“They were really in a bit of a state, but they both ended up looking lovely – and they were so delighted.”
Christine explained that she’s worked on bears in the past that have been attacked by pets like dogs.
“That happens so often,” she said. “And the puppies always go for the faces so it’s always the nose.”
It can sometimes be a “challenge”
In some cases, particularly for older bears, the restoration can be a delicate process that Christine compared to surgery.
An example of this was a “little old bear” who was “so frail when he arrived in the box” that his owner “called it a coffin”.
Despite this, she carefully helped bring him back to life by making him new ears, replacing all his joints and paw pads, and adding padding where needed.
And when she was done, she said the owner said she “wished she had more bears” to give Christine to restore, because of how wonderful a job she’d done.
It’s no simple task repairing a bear. Christine has had customers bring her bears after others have failed to repair them.
This includes Rupert Bear, introduced to her as “Zoro”, that had had a black mask sewn onto its face by a dressmaker who attempted to repair it.
“I carefully pieced together his poor face using scraps of old mohair. It took me ages,” said Christine.
“I replaced paw pads and repaired all other wear and tear. I also repaired his homemade outfit and gave him a badge for bravery.”
Giving bears back their voice
While lifting up one bear that she said had a “particular smell” after being left in a garage for a long time, it made a sound.
It came from a “growler” inside of the bear, which Christine explained is supposed to give a “growl” sound – although she admitted it did sound a bit like a sheep.
They are found in some bears to give them a voice. She placed one in a bear named “Tinkerbell” that she restored.
“I found his old growler broken but easily mended so now he is a very noisy bear with both bells in his ears and a growler,” she said.