I rarely buy fabric these days.

But having run out of the scraps of vintage bear fabric (as used in the little bear below) that I picked up in a de-stash sale, and having such a limited supply of the fur fabric I’ve been using for dogs and bunnies, I thought I’d make an exception this week.I’m finding working with hairy, furry stuff a lot easier these days, now that I am accustomed to it’s quirks and peculiarities. You have to coax it gently – never too firmly or roughly – into the shapes you desire, and not allow your temper to become irked by it’s capricious nature. Split seam? Just sew it up with tiny, careful stitches. Fluff all over yourself? Get the lint roller or sticky tape out at the end of the project. Don’t get annoyed by it whatever you do, or you will find yourself breathing in fibres and sneezing all over your work.

Anyway, I have been on the lookout for some suitable hairy fabric for some time. Modern fur fabric is generally knitted, which means that it’s stretchy, as well as being synthetic. This has it’s place and it’s uses, but when it comes to making tiny things with it, the stretchy, knitted-ness of it is not a welcome feature. And the fur is either too long, or isn’t dense enough to look right on a tiny scale.

I had no idea when I got hold of that vintage bear fabric how lucky I was, until I came to try and buy more of it – and found out that it is made from mohair and retails for anything upwards of £70 per metre! Whoa now, that’s WAY out of my comfort zone! So the hunt for a more affordable alternative was on. Or rather it wasn’t – because I couldn’t find anything cheaper that was remotely similar.

That is until I happened to converse about it with Kate, from Tall Tales from Chiconia, who knows a thing or two about textiles. And once she’d identified what sort of fabric it was, I got a lucky break and chanced upon some mohair / alpaca / wool woven fabric that is doing the trick very nicely thank you.It’s actually coating material (for making coats with) – quite appropriate for making the furry coats of small creatures!

I thought it might be good for bear making, but it turns out to be less bear-like and more lurcher-esque…But I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

I drew myself a little lurcher as a guide (a guide dog?!) and we were off… I had recently taken a little self-indulgent trip around my favourite vintage emporium on the hunt for materials for making dog beds, and I happened also to have found some little metal bowls – chocolate moulds, possibly? – that made me think that my lurcher pup might be hungry…Brian pulls this exact same expression when it’s time for dinner. ♥