Blog

The Making of The SnipPets The biggest impact on The Bear Mill was when I created the SnipPets.  They made a huge difference to life in Mills Beary Village.  It all started one day when I had been sweeping the floor in the sewing room.  After I had completed the task, I ended up with a huge pile of fabric scraps.  Thinking it would be a waste to throw them away I put them in a large box in the corner of the sewing room.    This action coincided with another event in the same week.  I had been in the basement of the mill organizing the shelves getting it ready for a coat of paint.  I became aware of a glow in the back corner of the room that seemed to be fading in and out.  Walking over to the source of the light I saw the wooden trunk.  It appeared to be very old and looked as though it had been there for a long time.  I pulled open the lid and was blinded for a brief moment from the bright light coming from within the trunk.  It disappeared as soon as I opened the lid.  When I peered in all I saw were rows of neatly placed bobbins of thread. In all the years I had been coming down to this basement, this was the first time I had ever seen this trunk let alone the bobbins. I reached in and took one out and felt a tingle down my arm.  I studied this thread which had a wonderful silvery shimmer and decided I would try to use it next time I was at the sewing machine.  Before closing the lid, I took out a second and put them both in my apron pocket.   The rest of the week was busy and I didn’t give much thought to the box in the sewing room or the bobbins of thread in my apron, until Saturday evening.  I had just finished my dinner and was about to go for a stroll down the lane by my cottage but decided instead I would take another look at the fabrics I had saved to see if something could be done with them.   I walked over to the mill and pulled out the fabrics from the box and placed on the cutting table.  This is a table where all of the fabrics get cut before sewing and making our animals.   The colors were so bright and happy I just started to cut all shapes and sizes.  Sitting there with a pile of soon to be arms, legs heads and bodies.  I threaded the machine with the bobbin of thread I found in the old trunk.  If I did not know any better, I would say the sewing machine let out a sigh as though very contented and purred all the time I was sewing. I really did not have a plan as to what I would make so I just started to put together some new designs.  Since there was not enough fabric of any one color to complete a design, I mixed and matched the fabrics.  Before I knew it, I had six new unstuffed plushies sitting by the sewing machine waiting to go to the filling machine.   I was very excited to fill these little guys but it was getting late and I decided to wait until the next day to finish the project.  I turned off the lights and locked up the sewing room.  On the way back to the cottage I glanced back at the sewing room window and saw a light which had not been there before.   I had a restless night’s sleep dreaming about memories of when I was born.   I did not understand the dream until later that day.    when it came to me as I filled the new designs with stuffing, and each one of them came to life was exactly how I had come into the world.  I remember the day very clearly now I also remember who created me. You see the thread I had stitched with yesterday is the same thread that had been used to stitch me many years ago.  For some reason the thread had been put in the basement and forgotten over the years.  It seemed time for me to find it again, or did I?  When I went back to the basement the next time, to take another look at the trunk I was hoping to find a name inscribed on it or other markings.  It was no longer there.   I named the new designs I had created The SnipPets family. They were not perfect with their odd eyes and different colored body parts all made from scraps of material. It is my belief that not all things in the world today are created equal so we learn to accept that we do not all look the same and still we all have our place in the world to live love and be loved.  The most important thing in life is what is in your heart that counts.   It is here where our story begins.     To buy your very own SnipPets click here