Tiger with the memories
Tiger is one of those stuffed animals that holds lots of memories. I know that's almost all of the ones I see! But in Tiger's case, he represented the memory of a person too. His current person wrote:
I'm writing because I'm looking to restore my recently deceased mother's childhood stuffed animal. I've attached pictures of the tiger I'd like restored. There are some repairs needed but I would also like the fur to be replaced. The stuffing inside is also very hard. My mother got Tiger in either the 50s or 60s.
Here are a few of the diagnosis photos she sent:
I recognized Tiger's style right away. I'd had a previous patient similar to him a few years back. So I suggested lining his belly area (so he could keep as much of his stripes as possible, and recovering the rest (so he could be furry again and get new stripes there). He also got a spa (to replace the foam stuffing that had hardened). And his family opted to keep him one eyed (it was part of his charm) but to give him a removable pirate patch.
Here he is in his bubble bath:
And here's his heart being made and installed with a bit of his original stuffing:
And here he is, all better! The visually astute among you may notice you can see a bit more lining through his belly than one might have thought from his diagnosis photos. The reason is that he actually had foam holding some of those orange areas together, not fabric!
His person's reaction? He looks amazing!
He flew home to Massachusetts and his family wrote:
Tiger has arrived home. Thank you so much for all your help. My brother, dad, and I are so pleased with the work you did restoring my mother's stuffed animal from your childhood. Coincidentally he arrived just in time for Mother's Day, the first one without my mum, and I am so grateful for the work that you did.
