Inverness woman turns treasured garments into memory bears

An Inverness woman is helping to bring comfort to families across the north as she turns their treasured garments into cherished mementoes.

Andrea Robertson is the proud owner of Cherished Memories by Andrea, creating memory bears for all occasions.

Working as a pupil support worker at Millburn Academy, the 49-year-old devotes her spare time to creating precious keepsakes.

From memory bears and rabbits to cushion covers and engravings, Andrea can transform any garment into a sacred relic.

Speaking to The Press and Journal, she spoke of her love for arts and crafts and how this had evolved into a thriving business.

Andrea sitting at her sewing machine with her white bear with a patch work quilt. — Andrea has been making memory bears since the Covid pandemic. Image: Sandy McCook/ DC Thomson.

Her experience with memory bears began during the Covid pandemic, with the death of a close family friend prompted her to try something new.

Andrea said: “I started during lockdown making heirloom rabbits and had clothes that went with them. I kept coming across memory bears and that was my end game. I thought that’s what I want to be doing, teach myself how to be able to do that and be able to make these for people.

“A close family friend died and that’s when I made my first one.

“I made a bear and a cushion, and it just carried on from there.”

Woman holds onto brothers jacket for over 20 years

One of her most memorable creations involved a jacket treasured by her friend and colleague.

For more than two decades, her friend held onto a jacket in memory of her late brother but was unsure of what to do with it.

Today, the jacket has become a signature feature in the family’s home thanks to Andrea’s craftsmanship.

A bear, lovehearts created from yellow and brown material from a jacket. — Andrea used her friends treasured jacket – one belonging to her brother – to create a host of treasured memories. Image: Andrea Robertson.

A cushion and loce heart made from jacket material. — Andrea says she broke several needles attempting to create her friend’s prized jacket into a treasured memory. Image: Andrea Robertson.

Andrea added: “One woman, she’s a colleague and a friend, her brother died over 20 years ago and she held onto this jacket forever and ever and she didn’t know what she was going to do with it.

“Once I started this she said, ‘You’re definitely going to do something with this jacket for me’.

“I used every scrap of that material. I don’t know how many needles I broke because it was such a thick jacket and between cushions, bears and love hearts, keyrings, the jacket is just everywhere. She’s got it in her car and her family’s houses, here there and everywhere.

“It’s lovely that the jacket is no longer just stored in a cupboard out the way. It’s become something else for everybody and the family to remember.”

To date, Andrea has made countless creations, sharing the results on her Facebook page.

She says she feels privileged to be entrusted with turning people’s treasured items into lasting memories.

Memory bear wearing a dress sitting on a glass table outdoors with grass and a brown fence in the background. — Andrea says it is a “privilege” to be able to create memory bears from fabric treasured by families and individuals. Image: Sandy McCook/ Dc Thomson.

“I am loving what I am doing now, the people that I meet and the stories that I hear,” she said.

“I feel quite privileged to be able to do this and for people to put their trust in me with their belongings.

“When people ask me, I feel quite emotional. They are entrusting me to make it. Some of these garments are the last few garments they have of a loved one and there is nothing else. I take such great care with anything that people give to me and do the best that I can.

“It is nice to see their faces and how much it means to them.”

The making of a memory bear

The Inverness creator says perfecting her memory bears was no easy feat.

She admits “there were a lot of mistakes along the way” before she discovered her winning formula.

Andrea can create a memory bear over the course of one evening.

In creating her unique bears, she starts by cutting out the pieces she needs from the garments customers provide her with.

Brown and White bear made to look like it was wearing the dressing gown it was made from. — Andrea used a dressing gown to create her memory bear. Image: Andrea Robertson.

Brown and white memory bear with a yellow badge on the back. — Andrea said she was excited to see how her dressing gown memory bear looked upon completion. Image: Andrea Robertson.

Once completed, she cuts out the same size pieces using interfacing, a fabric which is ironed onto the garment to stabilise the fabric.

From there she uses her sewing machine to put it all together.

Andrea admits it is “time-consuming.”

However, she says seeing her creations come together is the icing on the cake.

She said: “I think they all are special. When I get an order to make a bear out of, say a fabric I have not done before, I’m always get quite excited to see the end result, to see how it turns out.

“I had a dressing gown there. It was like a del boy dressing gown with the badge on it.

“I was quite excited to see how that was going to turn out, putting the big fluffy collar round its neck and the belt around its waist; I loved how it turned out.”