I Quit My Bank Manager Job... To Make Teddy Bears

Heather Lyell (61) has designed bears for several of the world’s leading teddy manufacturers and also makes bespoke soft toys

- As Told To Julie Jacobson

My career has been like a domino effect really. I was a bank manager with ASB. I started with them straight out of school and was there for 17 years, expecting to be there until I died. Never did I dream then – and this was 30 plus years ago – that my life would go down the path it has!

But I saw this bear, this little furry fellow in a shop window, pleading for me to take him home. It snowballed from there. I originally started out collecting soft toys, then decided I’d like to try making a bear.

The first one was pretty terrible. I didn’t have any stuffing, so I used a pair of [husband] Roy’s pants. I tried to cut them up into small shreds but it didn’t work that well – it was like lumpy, poorly mixed concrete, but you’ve got to start somewhere! I’ve still got him, but he’s hidden away out of sight. He looks nothing like the ones we make now.