A block party of bears by Debora Hoffmann

Doesn�t Mohair Come from Moes?

New Avenue Crew teddy bears have it. Antique teddy bears have it. Stuffed animals from the famous German firm Steiff have it. But just what is mohair, and where does it come from? Soft, lustrous, and able to be dyed, mohair has a long history. The word mohair comes from the old Arabic word mukhayyar, which means choice cloth of bright goat hair. And that�s just where mohair comes from: the Angora goat (no relation to the Angora rabbit).

Long ago, people in Angora (part of Turkey) wove Angora goat fleece into silk-like cloth for sultans to wear. Europeans later discovered mohair, and the great demand launched the first mohair industry. Today, delicate Angora goats are bred successfully in only a few places, such as Texas, Turkey, South Africa, Kenya, Australia, New Zealand, and England. Because of its scarcity and its luxurious texture, Angora goat fleece has always been expensive. In l860 a goat might fetch nearly $l,500!

To make teddy bear �fur,� Angora goats are sheared, and the fleece is spun in much the same way as wool; it is combed, cleaned, teased, scoured, and twisted into long strands. The next step is weaving.

A machine weaves two pieces of fabric at the same time�one on top, one on the bottom. A wooden shuttle speeds across the weft (width) of the fabric as the warp (length) strands are moved up and down. This weaves and traps the strands of mohair into a cotton backing fabric. The strands are then cut, resulting in two pieces of undyed, unbrushed teddy bear fabric, also known as string mohair. The length of the fur is decided at the weaving stage by having the two pieces of cotton backing fabric closer or farther apart. The density of the mohair pile is also established at this time. A dense pile has many strands trapped per square inch, while a sparse pile has fewer strands and shows the cotton backing through the pile.

Next, the fabric is dyed and returned wet to the weavers. If the fur is to be straight, it is put on machines that brush the pile to make it soft, crop it to the desired length, and spread a coating on the underside of the backing fabric. This coating gives the material stability during cutting and sewing, and also helps glue in the mohair fibers.

Many textured finishes can be created at this stage, and special patterns are made with brushes and rollers. After that the fabric (still wet) is stretched and dried. Stretching the fabric to its proper shape leaves the little pinholes found along the selvedge edge of bolts of fabric. Distressed mohair (pile crushed in different directions) is made differently. Each manufacturer has its own method, but one way is to tie the wet fabric tightly every 6 inches or so, and leave it in a pile for a few days, which crushes and distresses the fur in all directions. Then the ties are cut, the fabric is stretched to the correct width, and the crushed fur is heat-set in the oven.

And then, of course, the teddy bear artist takes over...

Most New Avenue Crew members are made with the finest mohair from the German firm Schulte, the mohair supplier to Steiff for nearly a century. Some of them are also made with luscious alpacas and fine mohairs from other firms. Debora thinks the Crew members should have the best "fur coats" available!