This has been one of the worst weeks EVER!!
I got a call from my son saying that my grand daughter, Jasmine, was inconsolable because Nugget, the family dog, had got Ted.

Now Nugget is very lovalbe, but isn't the brightest dog. He has been after Ted for some time and this time he got him and killed him.
When I arrived to pick up Ted I found him in a dolls bed, with friends on either side, to comfort him, and a mosquito screen to keep the flys out.

When I got him out of bed I found that there wasn't that much of him left.

So I thought the best thing to do was use some fur fabric to put him back together again. I got rid of the old stuffing, which was yukky, and restuffed his foot, made him a new arm and body, re-stitched his eyes and took him back to the owner. I thought I had done a rather good job seeing what I had to start with. I even put a patch on the hole in his arm.

BUT NO!!
Jasmine made a run for the bathroom and just collapsed into tears and despair. The problem?
She wanted him HOW HE WAS.
She hated the eyes, where was his original stuffing from his foot? That wasn't the right foot and as for that fur, that wasn't Ted.
So, I said that I would try again but as I was going away for a day or so she would have to wait.
When I thought about her reaction I realised that the past few years have been really hard for this little girl. They sold the family home and arrange to build a new one straight away. It was only going to be about 6 weeks till they would be able to move in. But, COVID hit and everything stopped. All their possessions went into a container and they moved out to my daughter-in-laws parent's property. And then COVID restrictions just went on and on. What should have been a few weeks turned into years.
Finally they got their house finished and they opened the container only to find that black mould had destroyed everything. After they moved to their new home everything was different. For Jasmine the only constant through all this was Ted and this wasn't Ted.
When I returned to collect him I found she had done a drawing of the things she wanted me to do, she is 10 years old. She had researched all the materials on the Spotlight website and come up with one she thought would suit.

In the mean while I had spent over $100 on petrol driving to shops to find other fabrics and I live a long way from the shops. The smallest quantity you can buy is 20cm and when the fabric costs $30 pm that soon adds up.
The fabric she choose didn't suit, so, I drew her another drawing of what I could do and included 3 fabric swatches for her to choose from. A plain knit and two soft Minkie like fabrics.
She choose the plain knit.
So, then I had to start again and had to unpick the "unpickable."

I started with the head. New ear and patch, eyes unpicked. Then I sewed what was left of the original fabric over the new to get the shape back and put the star on the new ear, as requested.

I sorted through the rubbish and found the old stuffing for his foot and remade this. (I sanitised the stuffing first.)

The original body was so ripped. There were holes and other places just waiting to rip. Firstly I reinforced all the ripped sections by backing it with new fabric. Then I placed what was left over more new fabric and partly machined and hand stitched it into place.
So this is the new Ted.

I like the one I first made better, but then, He isn't my security toy.

He does look more like the old Ted and that is what she wanted. It is her birthday today so I hope this version will do the job.

We will have to see when I give it to her tonight!
As to all my other stitching, well I can't even remember what I was doing!!
POSTSCRIPT
He was perfect!!