Townsman, 1991-11, Page 12Patti Ilendriks puts the final touches
on her Juliet, while Romeo patiently
waits.
store in Stratford, the idea for which
was actually generated by actor Kevin
Costner's revival of the movie Robin
Hood. "That was the first idea, to cap-
italize on the popularity of the movie,
but I couldn't think of any way to
make it attractive so I came up with
the idea of Romeo and Juliet. That
and the fact that I love anything with
an Elizabethan flavour."
Not surprising, located in rural
Huron county as she is, the most pop-
ular PM Bear, Patti says, is the farmer
bear, which comes complete with
corn, straw hat and coveralls.
Patti's designs come with all the
extras that make them who they are
and finding the accessories for them
is part of the fun, she says, adding that
it often takes a little experimentation
to come up with the right look. Patti
recently created a pair of snowshoes
with her father's bandsaw, but says
she will likely have to use a wood -
burning kit to finish the detail on
them. "Nothing is too challenging if
you are willing to give it a try," she
says. "The accessories can be limiting,
however." The most difficult obstacle,
Patti was confronted with was while
making a PM Bear NHL hockey play-
er. Unable to buy a team crest for the
bear, Patti had to hand draw the logo,
which proved to be an exacting piece
of work. "But I learned from that,"
she says. "Each time I do a new bear
it establishes the pattern to use when I
make the ones that follow." It doesn't
take long either, she says, to learn the
tricks of the trade. "I found out quick-
ly that glue guns work wonders."
Except for the clothing, which is
done by machine, PM Bears are
hand -sewn as Patti feels she has better
control over the quality of the stitch
work. Each bear takes two or three
days to complete. Their creator begins
by cutting each piece from a pattern,
original, adapted or standard, and then
sewing them into place. When that is
completed Patti decides on the gender
and occupation of the creation. The
joints in the neck, legs and arms of the
bears are moveable and they can sit or
stand. A registration number on the
back guarantees the bears are stuffed
with polyester fill, not sawdust and
nails, to meet the safety standards.
The average price of a PM Bear is
between $50 and $60, higher or lower
depending of course on fine detail.
Teddy bears, like plates or
porcelain dolls, are fast becoming
popular collector items, so not surpris-
ingly, the majority of Patti's cus-
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