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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Public safety officials ask state to investigate Grant County sheriff ... Gun background-check bill clears Oregon House, heads to Senate ... Washington man jailed after fatal crash in Ashland ... Public safety officials ask state to investigate Grant County sheriff ... Gun background-check bill clears Oregon House, heads to Senate ... Washington man jailed after fatal crash in Ashland ... COTTAGE INDUSTRY Wimer resident's Bellybutton Bears made from loved ones' keepsakes Comment By Tammy Asnicar for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Tammy Asnicar for the Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 22, 2016 at 12:01 AM By Tammy Asnicar for the Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 22, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Social News Denise Fields loves bears of any shape, size or style. Fabric or fur, they are “forever friends,” the Wimer resident says. She still has her childhood “friends” Panda and Teddy, both about 64 years old, and her father’s 1918 teddy bear Goldie. “They are old and worn, tattered and torn,” she says. “They are not going to be reconditioned or restored, because they earned every smudge and stain through many years as the companions and friends of children.” Fields' soft spot for bears and sentiment led to Bellybutton Memory Bears, a business in which she's been making cuddly keepsakes since 1992. Fields says she has sewn since she was 5. “That’s almost 65 years . . . almost,” she says. Even though she never liked sewing stuffed animals, in 1990, she decided to sew a large stuffed teddy bear for her first grandchild, complete with movable arms and legs. She says she used the “ol’ button and string method” to create the shoulder and hip joints. She showed the bear to her co-workers at Evans Valley Elementary School, and it was an immediate hit. Someone asked her to make a second one as a keepsake using remnants of western shirts that person’s boys had worn when they were 5 and 6 years old. That request sparked Fields' imagination. She thought “themed bears, bears with special meaning” might be an idea. The bears’ body would be made of remnants of garments or blankets that were reminiscent of a loved one or a special memory — “better than having it hang in a closet or stuffed in a cedar chest,” she says. The bears’ wardrobe and accessories she would fashion from keepsakes, photographs or “any fabric appropriate” for the occasion or the person being honored. She created her own website, and her family of “Bellybutton Bears” grew from there, she says. Bellybutton Memory Bears are more treasured heirlooms than toys. Fields adds special touches that preserve a memory — generally a vest made of fabric from a loved one’s garment — then stitches a favorite quote or verse or transfers photos onto the fabric. Other bears commemorate weddings, anniversaries, graduations, birthdays or a new baby. Her latest order is for two bears: one made from a new dad’s baby blanket to welcome his new son, and another for the new grandma made from her 62-year-old baby blanket. “The majority of bears, however, are created in memory of loved ones gone,” Fields says. “Sometimes, they’re to celebrate a new grandchild, but more often than not they are ordered in memory of a baby who never made it home from the hospital, a child who succumbed to cancer or a parent or grandparent who has passed on. “It’s a way of saving happy memories when tragic things happen,” she says. Fields says that the notion of a “memory bear” became even more precious and therapeutic in 2009, when she and her husband lost their eldest son, Ted. “That summer, our teenage grandsons helped make bears from their dad's clothing,” she says. The bear is wearing denim — remnants from her son’s jeans — and a vest made from his shirt. Family photographs are printed on the fabric lining the ears and on the outside of a pocket. Showing the bear to a photographer, Fields nuzzles the bear’s face and nestles it in her arms as if to hold her son again as tears well up in her eyes. “I understand the empty spot that a bear might fill in a family’s life,” she says. “It’s not unusual for customers to cry when they receive their bear.” Fields isn’t sure how she decided on the name “Bellybutton Bears.” “About the fourth or fifth customer asked me what my bears were called,” she says. “I had just thought of them as ‘Bear’ . . . I guess I like the alliteration.” Ever since, she has made sure that every bear has one — a belly button, that is — even if it is hidden under layers of material. Fields says she’s met people from all over the world, and had requests for all sorts of bears. An order from Ireland called for decking the bear out in soccer jerseys. Another bear was donned in a Speedo because the son being memorialized was “big on swimming.” One unusual order came from a sister who had lost her brother in a motorcycle accident. She wanted the bear made from the leathers her brother wore at the time of his death, so the bear is wearing a leather vest and chaps on his denim body. A favorite is one her mother-in-law ordered. The bear’s body is navy blue and gold fashioned from her father-in-law’s Navy jacket, and embroidered with the location and dates he served (Yokohama, 1959-1960), Japanese calligraphy and the names of his three children. “There are interesting things and interesting challenges with each order,” Fields says. Bears start at $20 to $75, depending on size, with some embellishments extra. To learn more about Bellybutton Memory Bears, or to check out the series of books that Fields has written about the legend and adventures of the Bellybutton Bears, visit www.bellybuttonbears.com . Reach Grants Pass freelance writer Tammy Asnicar at [email protected]. By Tammy Asnicar for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Tammy Asnicar for the Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 22, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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