A SEWING enthusiast has turned her hobby into a business selling homemade teddy bears.

Tracey Barber, from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, set up Bears Made By Me in June after pictures of her handcrafted teddies went down a storm on Facebook.

It started with orders from friends and family, but now word of her talent has spread and the grandmother-of-three is taking orders from across the UK.

When she is not making bears for customers, Mrs Barber, 44, a full time office manager with an estate agency, is making toys to donate to charity raffles and hospitals.

Not bad for someone who only took up stitching four months ago after joining a sewing club at Goldstitch Embroidery Studio and Sewing Cafe at Nettlesworth, near Chester-le-Street.

She said: “I just wanted to find a new hobby and had no idea it would transform my life. I love to see the look on someone’s face when they first see one of my bears and to know it has brought so much joy.”

One of Mrs Barber’s favourite commissions is Frankie, a bear she will donate to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.

For more information search for Bears Made By Me on Facebook