Winnie Goes To College

A dear friend recently asked if she could send me her childhood lovie for repair. I remembered the bear, a 1960s Winnie the Pooh, because my friend had it with her at college. Of course I said I would fix it up, but when Winnie arrived, I was rather horrified. Winnie had not aged quite as well as we had in the ensuing years, having lost an eye and an ear, suffered some gaping holes and acquired a great deal of filth. To say nothing of the peculiar crunchy nature of the bear’s stuffing which was truly disturbing.

I met my friend back in 1982, when we both started at Vassar College, living in the same ancient dorm building. My friend had a single while I had a roommate, so we often ended up in her dorm room. Winnie was ensconced on her bed, and spent many nights being loved and tormented by our college friends. One friend took great glee in throwing Winnie high in the air – not a clue why, but I do recall repairing that friend’s Snoopy lovie, which had sprouted a hole in his neck. His air-tossing days were well behind him, so possibly Winnie became a substitute for her fun.

Winnie retired to California in my friend’s parents’ home many years ago. When the bear was discovered recently, packed away in a long forgotten box, my dear friend needed the comfort only Winnie could offer. Her parents are blessed with 3 daughters who tirelessly care for them in their home with additional hired care givers. But, as all of us will, my friend’s aging parents are struggling through the distressing process of dying. Some days are filled with smiles and others with tears. Given the shape Winnie was in, a sane person might simply have pitched the darn bear. But my friend turned to me for help.

For reasons I cannot fathom, the original stuffing for the bear had turned into a crunchy mess. I will share a photo as the stuff was disgusting. My husband questioned if it might be toxic, and I blithely dismissed the idea. Ooops. According to an AI reply to the question, it turns out: “many bears from the 1960s and 1970s were stuffed with polyurethane foam or chopped rubber sponges. As this material ages, it can degrade into a fine, sand-like dust that may contain carcinogenic substances and is an irritant to the respiratory system if inhaled. In a fire, this material is highly toxic and can give off lethal fumes.” Well, that ship has sailed so I will let my friend know she’s on the hook if my medical bills mount! I did promptly get out the vacuum and wipe my sewing tables down with a damp cloth.

Winnie then went for a deep spa treatment. In the kitchen sink with dish soap. The bear was so filthy, my husband was startled the next day -he thought it was a brown bear not an orange one. With the stuffing all gone and the bear open, I removed a prior patch on the neck and chest area, opened up the back seam, and began sewing the varying holes and damaged areas via the sewing machine (nose, face, arms, tummy). I sewed around the eye hole by hand, pulling the thread tight to snug-up the gaping hole.

Needing stuffing for his transformation, I went to the local thrift shop – no Joann’s Fabric Store sadly, and I am on strike from ordering off Amazon. After squeezing a variety of pillows, I bought one I liked, brought it home, opened it up and re-stuffed Winnie. I sealed the bear up and hunted for a black button to resemble the original eye, which is a rivet not a button. I wasn’t thrilled with the results – the bear looked like it was on Ozempic, and the eye protruded too much. I opened the bear back up, pulled out a long doll sewing needle, and yanked the button-eye deeper into the stuffing. Then I added significantly more stuffing to fill the bear out a tad better. When I shared the results with my friend, she joked that Winnie needed an ear transplant. I would not likely be able to match the fabric used for the original bear, but inspiration struck when I realized I could create a hat using my Paddington Bear pattern!

I borrowed Miss E. Paddington’s hat  and tried it on Winnie. Sadly it was too small. I then dug out the pattern pieces for the larger size Paddington (18” versus the 13” one I had made) and realized that hat would be too large. Now we’re in Goldilocks territory, needing one in between to be just right. Using the two patterns, laying a piece of tracing paper over and hand drafting a pattern created the size I needed. I chose a (thrifted) blue wool, cut and sewed the hat, plopped it on Winnie and realized it was too floppy. Cut out another in a contrasting red wool (also thrifted – you get the idea), sewed them together and decided the hat needed a bit of bling. Penguin button to the rescue!

Now, there are many of you out there who probably have no idea why my dear college friend and I have always toasted to penguins. I will set the scene. A gaggle of us college girls sit in our sweats in a dorm room, a 1900s building with wood floors, radiators and old pine furniture. In all likelihood we are eating popcorn. Our 1982 music (Thriller) is blaring while we play Trivial Pursuit. Yes, this was our version of exciting weekend plans, but Vassar was not known as a party school, nor much of a coed one at the time. The Trivial Pursuit question was posed:

How many times a year do penguins have sex?

Answer: once.

Well dang if they didn’t have us beat! Winnie sat nearby, watching us with amusement.