Ever want to make plush toys? I have for many years. Being an anime fan of the mid to late nineties and a girl, I wanted ALL THE PLUSHIES. My favorite anime, you may or may not know, is Sailor Moon and one day I will make the whole crew! That will be some feat seeing as I want to make the villians as well. But before I tackle that, I thought I would start off with something a little more basic.
The humble teddy bear.
This pattern is by Joy Kelley. The pattern and tutorial is on her blog HowJoyful. I warn you, if you are not very skilled in sewing or not adventurous, maybe sit this one out. (Read my blog post by all means! Heck, check out her's too! But maybe don't attempt something that may be too advanced for you. Of course... I didn't follow this advice, so it is up to you to decide whether you think you can attempt it or not.)
I have made two of these bears and I do intend to make more. My first was a large pink felt bear whose seams don't quite match. I went with her exact pattern and seam allowance. This gave me a bear WAY larger than I bargained for. I don't know what happened, but if you are looking for a bear that is larger than your typical bear, then have at it!
My second attempt was using this same pattern, however, I reprinted the pattern at 75% and added seam allowance as instructed. This bear is a more standard teddy size. He is made of two different flannel fabrics. This makes for a soft and cuddly bear.
The pieces in this pattern line up very nicely, just be sure to mark all of your notches as specified on the pattern. She also talks about sewing the whole front and back sides before sewing the arms and legs together. I feel that the arms and legs should be sewn together before they are sewn to the body. This should make it line up better.
Of course, there is the point where I am just a humble house wife and mother who knows very little about technical sewing... so maybe being more experienced in this department would have given me that clue before I even started.
I want to make more of these bears. My next attempt will be of the 75% pattern without the added seam allowance. Perhaps this time I will actually make a face for the poor dear. As it is, neither bear has a face, but Isaac is just happy he has a bear, so I don't know if I will attempt it with this hypothetical bear or not. Only time will tell. I had a thought to make a bear out of his old onesies he can't fit into, we shall see if I can pull it off or not.
If this is your first time reading one of my blog posts, please, stay! Read up on my misadventures in crafting! Hopefully I have given you some kind of joy as you travel through my past projects. Maybe I haven't been thorough enough for you. Tell me! Right here, or through Facebook. I am always looking to improve and I can't do that until I know what needs to change.
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