Bearing All - Ashway Bears
by Rebecca Wells
Despite making bears for the past 12 years, it was only in 2003 that Jane Ames decided to start producing them exclusively and give up what she called her "full time-part time job". Now, marketing her collectible Ashway Bears has turned what was a hobby into a full time business.
"Bears have always been a passion of mine, starting to collect them during my twenties," she says. "But I actually began making soft toys for my friends when I was about nine years old. They were about one and a half inches tall and I called them 'gonks'! As I got older, I became interested in bears and started to make them from kits; it all started from there."
Jane recalls that it was her mother who suggested to her, at a craft fair, that she should try making bears from mohair. "There was a stall selling bear supplies and patterns, which was an unusual find then. Mum asked me whether or not I thought I could design a bear using mohair and I thought, well why not?" And there began Jane's craft career in earnest, with her foremost offering: a miniature mohair bear.
Like most people who are getting started in the craft business, Jane started small and worked upwards. Her first bears were made for family and friends, as well as for a host of godchildren. It was when her friend Jill, who has since become Jane's business partner, suggested
that she should produce them commercially, that Jane decided to give it a go. "It's become a full time job but it's flexible so I can fit other things into my day," Jane says, "But I also have two children to look after and somewhere along the line, I am supposed to do some housework!"
The bears themselves are a joy to behold, with their expressive faces and plump bellies. They are made for a collectible market rather than as toys, being manufactured from traditional materials such as mohair, hardboard joints and glass eyes, which are a particular help in making each bear develop a persona of its own. Consequently, Jane has issued her bears with names, which have effectively become the four different patterns she works to. "I remember looking at one of my bears once and thinking you're a 'Boris'; his name reflected his face entirely! The next bear was a browny-red mohair, reminding me of a fox.
I thought he looked like a 'Todd' at first, but that didn't work with the alliteration with 'bear', so he's become 'Basil'!"
The other two patterns are 'Bruin' and 'Buffy', the latter being the miniature bears that Jane so painstakingly stitches. Although she concentrates on these four patterns, the bears from one design can appear quite different, because her supplier's stock of any one colour of mohair is relatively transient. "When I buy my mohair, I measure off as many bear patterns that will fit and use that as my limited edition. Sometimes it's eight, sometimes it's twelve; it really varies. The prices of my bears range from £15 up to £110, which I think is very reasonable considering every stitch is done by hand; I'm not a fan of sewing machines and much prefer sewing everything myself."
Jane believes that one of the hardest things to establish, when starting in the business, was finding the right market. She estimates that she could make 300 bears a year, so long as she was guaranteed the buyers.
"I don't think I could entertain the idea however, of employing someone to help me," Jane says. "To be honest, if I ever did, I wouldn't feel the same about my bears. When I am at craft fairs and a customer likes what they see, it is a really good feeling.
I'm protective about my work because so much hard work goes into it."
And Jane isn't exaggerating. During her last fair, she cut out fourteen patterns and within ten days, all fourteen bears had been born. "I can do Buffy, the miniature pattern, in under three hours and once made three of him in a day. That's being extremely focused though, and not allowing anything (or anyone) else to distract you!" Jane laughs. "But on the other hand, I have just finished a commission for an eighteen inch panda, which has taken months to come into being. He was a totally new design and needed a great deal of thought to ensure he was perfect."
Work can be a messy business as mohair is an untamed material that needs to be regularly vacuumed before it manages to work its way into the carpet. Jane chooses to work at home, in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, in the warmth of her lounge. She keeps an ample supply of strong coloured thread with her at all times and claims to go through needles with frightening regularity! 'I source my needles from America as they are really difficult to get hold of here but I manage to buy everything else relatively easily. I get all my mohair from Oakley, the only UK distributor of mohair produced by Schulte of Germany, but the glass eyes and hardboard joints are all ordered by mail. I like using glass eyes because they look more like the real thing and help to bring out the personality of the bear. They are also easier to work with and sit better in the face than safety eyes do. I also prefer to use cotter joints rather than safety joints, and suede for the bears' paws instead of felt."
Jane's Ashway Bears are exhibited in the flesh at fairs all over the Midlands and southern England, in combination with Rococo Cards, crafted by Jill Burwood, Jane's business partner. "Doing fairs with someone else is very useful. Apart from the obvious fact, that we share the cost of the stall, we also encourage each other. It is great to have someone to bounce new ideas off and to help you sell your product."
Jane's words of advice for any budding craftsman trying to break into a market is to stay true to your product and maintain faith. "Trial and error play a large part in this business," Jane says. "But you must have confidence in your product and always give it the value it deserves."
Jane Ames
tel: 01604 889 150
