There is a British television show on Netflix called, “The Repair Shop”. filmed at
an open air museum, in an old thatched roof barn from the late 17th or 18th
century. Inside the barn is a regular cast of expert craftspeople and
specialists.
In series 2, episode 4, the specialist stuffed toy restorers, Amanda Middleditch and Julie Tachell are shocked when a 1930’s stuffed lamb is brought in by it’s owner. Made by a British toymaker called “Mary Thought” the toy restorers remarked that the stuffed animal was originally a beautiful quality piece of workmanship because the lamb had a multitude of intricate pieces. But their delight at seeing the stuffed animal’s head come out of the shopping bag was immediately turned to horror and dismay when the remains of the lamb was put on the work table. The body of the stuffed lamb was completely gone. Only the stomach panel remained attaching the head and the four legs of the once cherished child’s toy. Ann Bailey, the 74 year old owner of the lamb explained that the toy lamb had been given to her when she was one year old. She treasured the toy her whole life long. But a couple of decades ago, her Irish setter puppies had gotten a hold of the lamb and they had ripped the toy apart. –Ann seemed rather embarrassed that her dogs had destroyed the antique, and she did not seem hopeful at all as she left the stuffed animal with the soft toy specialists.
The two seamstresses very carefully started to disassemble the lamb stitch by stitch. By carefully measuring the still remaining stomach panel, the two women back figured the approximate dimensions of the back and sides of the lamb parts that were missing and they designed a custom pattern that would integrate well with the remaining parts. Once they had everything pulled apart, they carefully and delicately washed and dried all of the antique pieces and then they created a felt backing for all of the pieces, old and new, and did a test fit to make sure that everything would fit together. The final step was to sew together the lamb integrating the old pieces of cleaned fabric with a new fabric that they had found that matched exceptionally well. A new wire frame was added to give the lamb the structure to be able to stand up and they carefully stuffed the toy so that it would be firm and plump but still soft enough to be hugged. The two craftswomen finished off their restoration by replacing the yellow buttercup that used to be in the lamb’s mouth and by putting a beautiful new blue ribbon around the creamy white lamb’s neck.
When Ann Bailey came back to retrieve her lamb she had great hopes for what she would find, but she was not prepared to see her lamb completely restored with a classic blue ribbon around it’s neck. “It’s amazing! It almost looks real!” She cried. And she reached out and grabbed and hugged her old childhood lamb hard, rubbing the lambs face against her cheek. Her smile lit up her face and for a moment you could see the little girl that she once was, peeking through in the joy in her eyes and her smile. As the two master craftswomen detailed all of their careful repairs to the owner, she admired every detail of her old lamb friend. One of the last scenes of Ann Bailey is of her leaving the antique barn with her completely restored lamb under her arm. Wearing a pretty spring green dress and white sweater, the grandmother actually skips a few steps with her lamb in her hands, lost in the memories of how she used to play with her cherished childhood friend. Her treasured and cherished stuffed lamb that had been ripped apart had been born again into a new life.
Many of us are like that antique stuffed lamb. We are covered with grime and the dirt from our frail lives and all of the mistakes that we have made in the past. We show the wear of our years and some of us have had our souls ripped apart by the dogs of trouble that have hounded us. But that is not the end of our story. We are not some antique that sits forgotten in a corner. We are the beloved children of God and if we will allow it, God is waiting for our permission to take us apart completely to wash us and to repair us and to put us back together again. May that God who loves us fill us all with joy, hope, love and peace and may we skip like a child again with the filling of the Holy Spirit. So be it. Amen.
Article published in the Rockford Squire Newspaper 2/14/2022
