It seems my old-style bears are always inspired by fabric and Gulliver is no exception. He is made of a wonderful vintage long-pile upholstery velvet, which I recently bought on eBay (thanks Jody). It is not bleached, but is still in the original color, with a lovely creamy backing.
Gulliver has a head gusset with a centre seam, onyx bead eyes, waxed nose, and clipped muzzle. I needle-sculpt the eye area of my old-fashioned bears extensively to give them that old Steiff look with the eyes looking directly forwards, but still set-in.
Gulliver's paws and footpads are made of dark brown ultrasuede, which I treated afterwards with a sealant to give them a slightly worn, leathery look. He has embroidered claws on paws and feet.
I decided not to distress Gulliver too much, so have just added gentle shading to areas that would have received wear over the years. I decided to use cotter-pin joints for all his joints, as I feel the disks help to achieve the antique bear look. He is firmly stuffed with polyfil, with treated steel pellets in his tummy for a big-bear feeling. He stands beautifully on his own.
Gulliver has been one of those bears where I just can't seem to stop embellishing and adding accessories!
FIRST I gave him an old-fashioned waistcoat made of mottled dark grey felt, and added two little faux bone buttons. They are really sewn on! (I used ultra-thin smoke-colored invisible thread.) As I like clothes to be removable (I hate hiding all that lovely fur for ever), I devised a way of invisibly closing the waistcoat with Velcro. It can be worn closed, open, or not at all!
THEN I started thinking that he needs something to sustain him, and what better tonic than a cup of tea? (This from an inveterate tea-drinker...) I made the little teapot and cup and saucer from polymer clay mixed to resemble stoneware (thanks Sue Heaser) and "glazed" in a rich brown.
AFTER making all this stuff, I decided that he will also need something in which to keep all of his possessions, and changed a little hexagonal box into an antique with a faux verdigris effect. It is lined with wine-red upholstery velvet and is just the right size for Gulliver to be displayed on, too.
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