Make Your Own Teddy

Take a sneak peek inside "The Bear Facts"!

PART I - How to Make a Teddy Bear

Introduction

Aren't teddy bears wonderful? Almost everyone can remember a special teddy from their childhood. These cuddly friends give a small child a companion to sleep with and talk to. But a lot of people don't outgrow teddy bears when they leave childhood!

Today's adults enjoy teddy bears in a number of ways. For one thing, small stuffed bears dressed and personalized to represent different occupations or favorite sports teams make popular gifts. In fact, there are stores and party kits for children (or others!) to stuff and dress a pre-sewn bear in whatever fashion they wish.

Many people enjoy antiques and historic memoribilia, so collecting vintage teddy bears is a popular hobby. Since vintage bears can be hard to find, expensive, and in poor condition, other people opt to craft their own from authentic vintage-style materials, such as woven mohair and alpaca fur. These materials are often made to look aged and distressed.

Finally, there are a growing number of teddy bear artists simply creating cute, funny, or interesting bears just for the fun of it!

So take a minute or two to think of your own purposes in crafting your own teddy bear.

There are really unlimited options when it comes to creating your own bear. They can be made from all sorts of materials and from many styles of pattern.

When you make your very own, first bear, it can be a bit overwhelming. However, if you take it step-by-step and read through the chapters you will find it is not all that hard. And once you have made your first bear, it becomes more fun as you become more confident with your skills. So be patient with yourself.

There is never one, single, correct way of doing things. Many artists have their own, different techniques and methods. Once you have learnt the basics you can use your own preferred method of craft. Apart from some basics, there are no fixed rules.

Choosing Your Type of Teddy Bear

1.1 Safe Bears for Small Children

Are you wishing to craft a bear for a special child in your life? If so, safety will be of utmost concern to you. Here are some tips to making your bear child-safe:

1. Do not use buttons or antique-style shoe buttons for the eyes or nose. These are very easy for a child to pull off, becoming a choking hazard. Safe choices for bear features include plastic safety eyes and noses that include a locking nut inside the bear, or simply embroidering the face.

2. Avoid long ribbons or ties when dressing and decorating the bear, because these can come loose and become a strangling hazard when the child is sleeping.

3. For a very small child, you might choose to make a non-jointed bear. If you use joints, the plastic type are designed to be child-safe. Many craftspeople like to use antique-style hardware including wooden discs and metal pins. If these come loose, they are unsafe for little children.

Your choice of joint won't show anyway, so why not opt for safety in all your bears? Of course, the choice is yours.

1.2. Vintage-Style Jointed Bears

For collecting or decorating the country-style home, nothing can beat an old-fashioned jointed teddy bear. In this ebook, we will look at crafting a jointed bear in step-by-step detail. For best authenticity, you may want to use real mohair fur fabric. The downside is that real mohair costs over $100 a yard (meter) (USD).

On the other hand, you will only need about a third of a yard to make a 16-inch (40 cm.) bear. (Some suppliers do not sell pieces smaller than a half yard, while others sell specially cut quarter yards. The bear we are going to make takes more than a quarter yard.)

If this is your first bear, and you don't want to risk a lot of money, there are some nice fake fur materials available that have the vintage look and cost much less. Only you will really know the difference.

1.3. Non-Jointed Bears

Most commercial teddy bears are not jointed and are still cute and lovable. These might seem to be quite a bit simpler to make since you don't have to fiddle with the joints. Long ago, creative parents would use a button and a button-hole to create a makeshift joint for their homespun toys. Of course, today we wouldn't consider this safe for tots, but button joints are charming for decorative country bears.

Legs and arms can have a bit of move-ability if they have a seam where they join the body. In this way a non-jointed bear can either sit on a shelf or lie on a bed.

In reality, the joints (especially the safety kind) are not that hard to use, and they make a straight forward way of attaching the limbs to the body. This makes jointed bears really just about as easy to make as non-jointed (and maybe easier, in some cases!)

1.4. Other Teddy Bear Styles and Ideas

One of the simplest ways to craft a teddy bear is to make a simple pillow style toy. The facial features and paw pads are appliqued onto the body material, which is simply sewn around and stuffed. These make nice bedtime companions.

Or maybe you're into recycling and living green. A great idea that many environmentally aware craftspeople are doing now is to reclaim fabric from thrift shop clothing. For instance, a velour skirt or shirt can provide enough material for a small cuddly teddy bear. You may find an old fur coat that you could cut apart and use for material.

This bear was crafted from fabric reclaimed from
the lining of a torn leather coat - total cost, 25 cents!

A particular style of stuffed toy that is popular in some circles is the "Waldorf" style doll or bear. These toys are designed to supplement a special type of early childhood education that emphasizes peacefulness, connection with nature, and creativity. For this type of teddy bear, you would want to use natural material, such as wool felt or cotton velour. The faces of Waldorf toys are very simple so that the child can imagine different emotions and expressions as they play.
But enough introduction! On to the teddy bears!

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PART II - Step-By-Step Sewing Instructions for Sewing a Jointed Bear

In the following example we will make Mugsy, a jointed teddy bear made from brown distressed fur.
Klondike is made from the same pattern as Mugsy, except he has a two part muzzle. You can't tell it from his design, but the two part muzzle can be used to make a bear in two colors.

Mugsy and Klondike require 1/2 yard of fur fabric each and a small piece of paw pad material. Mugsy's finished height is about 15 inches (38 cm.) and Klondike is a tiny bit taller. The height of a bear can vary a bit depending on how you attach the joints and other details

Begin by printing off the pattern you are going to use. If you print it from your computer onto cardstock, you will already have a stiff template to trace around. If you can't use cardstock, you can always print the pattern onto regular paper, and then make cardboard pattern pieces for templates. If you make separate cardboard templates, make sure you transfer all the markings, such as dots for joint placement and the arrow indicating appropriate grain line.

TIP: Make a separate pattern piece for all parts. Then you can lay them all on the fabric for experimenting with the most efficient lay-out.

When you have your template ready, lay it out on the non-fuzzy side of your fur fabric. Experiment to see how you can arrange the pattern so that you can get the most pieces from the least fabric so you can have more leftover fabric for future projects. Don't forget that almost all of the pieces have to be cut in pairs, and that the second member of each pair has to be cut with the pattern piece turned over, or "reversed."

When you have determined the best arrangement, trace around the pattern pieces with a contrasting felt tip pen. These will be your cutting lines. If you are using a light colored fur, you can trim most of this away so that it will never bleed or show.

Experiment with placement of the pattern pieces so you have the least amount of waste

When your pattern is all drawn out and you are sure you have room for all the pieces on the fabric, it is time to cut the pieces out. Use the tip of very sharp scissors, taking tiny snips through the base fabric, avoiding cutting any of the fur.

For Mugsy, you will end up with:

2 bodies (1 reversed)
2 side heads (1 reversed)
1 head gusset
2 outer arms (1 reversed)
2 inner arms (1 reversed)
4 legs (2 reversed)
4 ears
2 foot pads

For Klondike, you will end up with:

2 bodies (1 reversed)
2 side heads of color A (1 reversed)
1 head gusset of color B
2 muzzles of color B (1 reversed)
2 outer arms (1 reversed)
2 inner arms (1 reversed)
4 legs (2 reversed)
4 ears
2 foot pads

Fray check all pieces on the backing very lightly before you cut by running a small amount along each line.

Step 2 - Assemble the head

Begin constructing the bear by pinning together the two sides of the head along the chin line. (Hint: Turn your pins so that the heads are toward the outside of the pattern pieces, and you will be less likely to scratch yourself on the points.)

...(continued)

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