The Merrythought way of making a Teddy Bear.

The Merrythought company makes bears to order and keeps a huge stock of material ready to cater to every possible taste.

On the upper level of the foundry, below the glass ceiling, stand row upon row of rolls of brightly-coloured fabric.

Merrythought has been making teddy bears for decades

Merrythought has every imaginable shade of brown - coffees, caramels, golds and chocolates. Each piece of fabric has a different feel: there is very soft angora and shaggy mohair, velvets and synthetic pile.

Once the material has been chosen, it is taken down to Leslie Hunnisett, who cuts out the arms, legs and heads.

Leslie uses what look like a series of giant cookie-cutters to cut each shape: ''This is probably the 218th ear I've cut out today," she laughs.

The parts then go to the machinists, who sew them together so the teddies can start to take shape.

Once that is mastered, the limbs are sent over to Pauline Davies who puts the eyes on.

Health and safety rules mean teddy bear eyes are no longer made of glass, but Pauline has drawers and drawers of painted, plastic eyes of all sizes to choose from.

The teddies are then sent over to Sharon Taylor, who operates the huge, noisy stuffing machine.

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Sharon places the limbs over a pipe and operates a pedal to fill each saggy limb with stuffing. 

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The result is baskets full of dismembered teddies with stuffing protruding out of their limbs. Luckily, they do not stay that way for long. Abi Summers quickly puts joints in each of the limbs and sews them up.

The bears now begin to look more complete and they go to Penny Reeves, who sews on their noses and mouths. The snouts are made from a tougher fabric and getting the needle through - and in the right place - can be difficult.

No-one wants a grumpy-looking teddy bear, so making sure the stitch falls in the right place is vital. "You sew down the middle first, then do one on the outside, then the other side and you keep building it up," says Penny.

Before the bears can be packaged up, they need to be groomed by Wendy Edwards. Penny trims away excess material from the eyes and brushes each teddy's fur ''so you can see the eyes and the smile".

With a flourish a ribbon is tied around the teddies neck and the Teddy is finished.

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Reference  BBC news