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Monday, November 20, 2017

Stuffed chicken repair #1: A New Eye for Livia

For my sister.
Our father's 50-year-old stuffed chicken, Livia, had only one eye, her yellow felt comb was almost ripped off, and her feet were worn thin. Her heavy old stuffing was wadded, and she gave off a musty-dusty odor.

My preference is to restore and strengthen the toy's worn parts, (not replace them with new materials), allowing their history to show.

After giving Livia a bath and fresh stuffing, I was able to back her comb and feet with new red felt of real wool (not polyester), with top-stitching in red thread.  

I made a new eye to replace the missing one.

First photo, below, is Livia BEFORE; center & right are AFTER:

2 comments:

  1. Do you make your own felt? You can wash lambswool sweaters in the washing machine on hot, and in the dryer also hot, and they will turn into very thick felt. I may have some samples around here...

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  2. SPARKER: Yes, I've made my own felt--it was thick, as you say, too thick use on this chicken.
    (Samples welcome though).

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