With few exceptions, early teddy bears were made from natural materials: mohair plush fabric, excelsior stuffing, shoe button eyes, felt paws, and embroidered details. After experimentation, a joint system, giving bears a mobile head and limbs, was perfected, and a squeaker or growler mechanism become an essential requirement.

The fabric of fur of the teddy bears has ranged extraordinarily from the birth of the teddy bear. Some teddy bears were made of real fur, but with the introduction of the teddy bear, mohair plush, a cheaper imitation fabric, was invented. Soft, silky, and dirt-resistant, it is woven from the fleece of the angora goat.

The eyes have also varied greatly from the first teddy bears. Wooden shoe button eyes with metal loops on the back were sewn into the bear's face. Some British firms preferred black metal buttons. Miniature bears were given small glass bead eyes on wire shanks. Today with modern technology, many eyes are produced to look life-like. Yet the old fashion, button eye teddy bears still have the look that captured many generations.