Mooresville woman creates, repairs toys for clients around the country

Teddy bears are one of life's creature comforts, and artist Sally Winey wants to make sure everyone has a fuzzy friend to love.

Winey got her start over 25 years ago in Pennsylvania when her kids were small.

"They would draw pictures of animals and I would take the picture and turn it into a creation," she said. "It was before bear artists were popular, and I really liked doing it. Eventually, I opened a small business and it grew larger than I ever imagined. I had a workshop and traveled all over the world."
Her family helped her in the rapidly growing business, as did a staff of talented seamstresses, stuffers and painters. Then she got a deal that changed her business forever.

"I got a deal designing for a major bear manufacturer," she said. "I've made bears for Annette Funicello, Demi Moore has my line and I spent four years on the Discovery Channel, doing specials on designing and making bears."

The artist was also featured in 'Teddy Bear' magazine, hired by Planet Plush to design a line of sold-out bears and did craft shows where her popular rainbow airbrushed bears were snapped up in minutes.

Unfortunately, Winey's good luck was about to run out. After winning awards for her bears and becoming nationally recognized, a dispute with the manufacturing company that she worked for left her without her business and disillusioned.

"My husband followed his business here to Mooresville and I decided to start over," she said. "I still wanted to fulfill the need that everyone has for bears. They give unconditional love and what's better than that?"

Winey decided to make the focus of her new business repairing animals and making keepsakes for children and adults alike.

"I receive 10 to 25 bears a week from all over the United States to fix," she said. "Most of them come with letters and I get to read about the history of the little guy that's in my hands. Then I have to determine what the person wants through their story. Most of the time, they'll say they want a complete refurbishment, but I try to make it so they still look like the animal that they grew to love. I feel like I get to complete the Velveteen Rabbit story every day."

Depending on the bear, she spends anywhere from an hour to a few days getting the animal perfect for its owner. Winey keeps a collection of bears and animals on hand to draw parts from. The cost is $60 to start, and could go up depending on the size of the animal and the degree of damage.

"If it's a local repair and it's for a child, I'll usually discount the cost for minor things like a missing eye, but over the Internet, I have a blanket price," she said.

In addition to making repairs, she makes keepsake animals out of almost any material for about $45 to $65, depending on what the bear is to be created from.

"I've used T-shirts, towels, wedding dresses, anything that people want to send me," she said. "They make great presents."

Winey is very involved with Dove House and hopes to keep selling her bears to raise money for the organization.

"I've been with them since I moved here and it's how I got to know people in the area," she said. "The organization does great things and I'm happy to do anything I can."

She also may open another store in the future, although she says she doesn't want the life she had before.

"I would love a small store, for the bears and to teach kids how to make and sew them," she mused. "I would never want to be as large as I was again, but I still love what I do. It's been an awesome ride. Life happens and there's been some real ups and downs, but I've picked myself up by the bootstraps and we're on the other side. It's never too late to start again."

To learn more, call (704) 658-1175 or e-mail sally@sallywineybears.com.