Miss E. Paddington
Paddington Bear’s birthday is October 13,1958. He was created by the British author Michael Bond (1926-2017) in a child’s book A Bear Called Paddington. The story of Paddington is a well-loved one, though the back story may not be as well known. Miss E. is a tribute to that story, and a gift made for a granddaughter’s first birthday.
Michael Bond grew up in Reading, a western suburb of London. When he was 12, the Kindertransport humanitarian effort began, run by British volunteers from 1938 to 1940. Parents in Nazi controlled Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia shipped their children to London, alone. The British government waived visa requirements for these unaccompanied minors, and allowed strangers to sponsor them. The little ones traveled by trains and ferry, wearing labels and clutching small suitcases as they arrived. The program saved over 1,000 children, many of them becoming orphans due to the Nazi pogroms in Europe. The Bonds opened their home in Reading to these refugees, and Michael Bond would have lived with these grief stricken children as he became a teen.
When he was 31, Bond picked up a stuffed bear toy in a gift store for Christmas for his wife, and almost immediately began writing his famous story. He wrote it in 10 days, and struggled a bit with Paddington’s home. Bond’s original choice was an African nation, but interestingly there are no bears native to the continent of Africa. Bond chose Peru because his Christmas gift bear resembled the Andean bear – a spectacled bear native to South America. Paddington is much beloved in England, his story having been adapted for television, films, the stage and endless toys and items.
I too loved Paddington when I was young. I had a British nanny as a very young child, and her parents would send our family gifts for Christmas over the years, mostly candy (smarties and flake bars!) and books. I inhaled Enid Blyton’s books, plowed through The Secret Garden, Narnia and The Little Princess. And, as a child who loved to sew, I purchased a sewing pattern to make a Paddington bear doll in 1977. And yes, I still have that pattern! I have no recollection how many I made, but I do recall shrinking the pattern (by hand as home copiers didn’t exist) and making a number of ‘mini’ bears as gifts for friends.
While mulling ideas for my granddaughter’s first birthday gift, I thrifted a hardback Paddington Bear book, a 1998 edition in celebration of Paddington’s 40th birthday. Inspiration struck! I dug out my pattern, and started plotting my creation.
As any number of my sewing friends can attest, the closing of Joann Fabric stores in 2024 created a significant hurdle for sourcing needed fabrics and notions. Joann’s went bankrupt because in 2010 a private equity firm, Leonard Green & Partners, took it over using a $1.6 billion dollar leverage buyout. This process netted the partners a huge amount of money, but left Joann’s with over one billion dollars of debt. The same partnership took over another beloved store for sewing diehards, The Container Store, running the same deal, and putting that business into bankruptcy as well. I digress but these deals make me angry, and have left me high and dry when I need supplies.
Left with no local store to hunt for ‘bear’ fabric, I went thrifting. My husband wondered why I couldn’t simply order online, but the need to feel fabrics is important, especially when making something for a baby. I snagged a long coat in a felted brown wool fabric, and without looking at it too closely, threw it in the laundry. Pulling it out of the wash, intending to throw it in the dryer, I looked more closely. There was no way I could chop up the coat – it is a fantastic Australian made felted wool trench piped in leather with leather facing on the collar and pockets. And the darn thing had the audacity to fit me. So now I have a fantastic Fall coat, but not a fabric for my Paddington.
Off to a local thrift store where I found a 1990s pink cashmere and wool size 14 blazer. No reason Paddington couldn’t be pink! I washed it a few times, both to soften it as well as to felt the wool. I decided the nose and paws should be leather not felt, and so cut up thrifted leather clothing. I embroidered they eyes (no buttons for a one year old), as well as a heart and initials. As I made the coat and jacket, I also changed a few things to make the gift baby-safe. I made everything in the ‘classic’ colors, sat Paddington down and took a photo. But I wasn’t inspired.
I decided Paddington needed a little sister, Miss E. Paddington, and pulled out more wool (thrifted) to create a youthful and more feminine outfit for my Paddington. The one you see is a second one made after gifting the baby her toy, similarly attired but no buttons on the hat. Unclear if little one enjoys her Paddington, but my Miss E. Paddington sits in my sewing room, reminding me of my beloved grandchildren, and that the world is full of wonderful, creative people who offer us all kindness when we most need it.
