Lynn and Phil Gatto started making bears together 14 years ago when they moved to Perkinsville, Vermont. For fourteen years before that Lynn made the bears herself. She learned the craft because she always wanted a vintage bear but decided to try designing and making her own rather than paying for an antique.
Phil now does the cutting, turning, and jointing of all the bears, while Lynn does all the designing, sewing, stuffing, and dressing. In addition to being chosen for the Directory of Traditional American Crafts for the past several years, their work has also been juried into Prims magazine and displayed in Teddy Bear and Friends and Teddy Bear Review. They have sold their bears at shows throughout the United States and in Germany, England, Belgium, and Holland.
All of the bears are made of new mohair or vintage carriage robes from the 1920s or ’30s. Lynn has changed the look and feel of the bears through the years, always trying to improve them until she makes "the perfect one."
The entry deadline for the 2023 Directory of
Traditional American Crafts has passed. We are now processing entries and submitting
them to our jurors. We will contract entrants after the jurors have made ther decisions.
BACKGROUND
