OT: Can you help repair a stuffed animal? Long post

[jlogemann17]

My daughter has a small stuffed animal that she has had since she was 2- that came from special friends in Japan. She has slept with it for 8 years, often wadded up in her hand, and as you can imagine it is nearly falling apart.

All the "fuzziness" has long been worn off, and his white fabric has turned brown. But now the fabric is actually wearing completely out. There are places that only a few threads are holding together- like the threads going long ways are there, but the cross- threads aren't. I'm sure I'm not using the proper terminology, but hopefully you know what I mean.

Today in tears she asked me to put him in her "special box" before he completely falls apart. She clearly doesn't want him in the special box, she wants to keep him, but is afraid she will wake up one morning and his head will have fallen off. So the $24,000 question--- does anyone know if anything can be done to fix this dog? I have darned (actually darned, not just sew up a hole, I know that difference at least) a sock before and thougt of trying that- the dog will probably look worse, but be stronger. But before I tried anything, I thought I'd ask my panel of mommy-experts. Thanks!

Jo

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ December 20, 2005 10:13 PM: Message edited by: mykidsloveAG ]</font>

[bgeurtz]

There are some awesome stuffed animals on the market today. Beanie Babies makes some that are almost irresistable. Maybe if you had a really cute memory box, she could put her old stuffie in and you could go on a special shopping trip just for that "ONE special Stuffie", that she got to pick out. Good Luck! [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img]

[heidiabigail]

I wouldn't do that . . .
It isn't the same to replace a stuffed animal completely. Repair is better. Could you sew another piece of cloth over the parts that exist? That way the real stuffed animal is still there on the inside. I have heard of a stuffed animal hospital that repairs stuffed animals, you might want to look into that. You have to pay of course. I am not sure what it is called. You could google it I suppose. Good Luck!! I sympathize!

[gmommy04]

http://www.hannabrucebears.com/hbbhosp.html

Just found this with a google--have no idea about it!

Karla

[irishjennyfer79]

I had a similar problem with my baby blanket (yes my "puppy blanket...I have no shame in admitting it [img]redface.gif[/img] )....my blanket was dragged everywhere for years and I always held one corner...which wore out...also my sister's puppy chewed a few holes in it when we were younger...I finally got the chance to fix her.

I went to the fabric store and bought the edging you use for baby blankets (it comes in various colors)...or you can buy "patches" at the fabric store. I used the edging to make little patches...to cover the holes (and the rest to cover the frayed edge)...I also used a darning type stitch to hold it on....

The same idea might work for her stuffed animal...check out the fabric store for either the edging (where you can cut the edge and it won't fray...they have a lot of colors...one might closely match) or the patches....your only other option if to atempt to recreate the stuffed animal by creating a pattern to match (I've done that once with my childhood apron my mom made that ripped)

Hope this helped a little

Jenny =)

[GreyMyst]

Depending on what's left you might be able to cover most of the body with a "patch" disguised as clothing. If you put it in a tuxedo or something, you could basically cover everything but the head and hands.

If there wasn't enough left intact for that, you could also get a large unstuffed build-a-bear and put the old stuffed animal inside (depending on how big it is). Build a bears can be bought with nothing in thier tummy and instead of stuffing it normally, you could put animal into it like it was a "bear suit" The old stuffed animal would be safely enclosed inside the new one, safe from damage, but would still "be" there

What kind of stuffed animal is it? Is it possible to get one exactly like it new (or used on Japanese eBay) to help fix the old one, a "donor" animal?

If you don't know the brand, a picture of it and any tags and I could help try and figure it out. I don't know alot amout Japanese toys, but I could probably search.

If you can find one just like it, repair or enclousure becomes an option, without significantly changing "who" the animal is.

My son has his Oso and I know I am going to be in this situation in a few years. He's already dragged her across the country twice and her hair is shall we say, "less than manageable" and she's thin in spots.

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ December 21, 2005 04:19 AM: Message edited by: GreyMyst ]</font>

[jlogemann17]

Thanks for your help everyone! I'm going to ask my daughter what she thinks would be best- maybe fabric patches. In my favor- the animal is a dalmation- maybe we could add a few more spots, with a fabric, maybe even make him multi-colored spots. The new "spots" would take over at least half his body though, so we'll see how she feels about that. The animal is very small- the whole body fits in her semi-closed hand, and the damage is in at least 3 sections of his body.

I like the clothes idea, too- I hadn't thought of that one. It would be the one to leave the animal most intact and in it's original condition, especially if the clothes were removable.

I knew I could count on you all to give me some great ideas! I will offer her several of your solutions, and let her pick the one that she thinks is right.

THANK YOU!!!!!!
Jo

ETA: I checked the "Teddy Bear Hospital" website, and although it doesn't give exact prices, it says a deposit of $65 is required for surgery- which this dog would need. I'm thinking that's a little too steep, unless I have NO other acceptable solution to my daughter. I think I'd pay anything after the tears that were shed last night [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img]

Thanks again!
Jo

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ December 21, 2005 08:08 AM: Message edited by: mykidsloveAG ]</font>