April Teddy Bear

Today was a last day of April month, pretty good month for me and Dima. I like April month, there is something special about it, but it always something special.
Today I made Teddy Bear by my hand and gave him a name, meet April!

Because I`m still learning how to do a teddy bears, so April is made from cotton fabric and sewn by hand.

Actually it is very easy to make a teddy bear, if you have any experience with sewing, making your own teddy bear will not take a lot of time, but you definitely will need a patience.

If you liked April Teddy Bear and would like to do it by your self, fell free to download patter (for free, no charge, my friends) and follow easy instructions.

How to sew a Teddy Bear.

First you need to print the pattern (size of A4) and cut out the pieces. Put your fabric face down on the table and transform pattern pieces on it. You should have two pieces of head (Detail N1), one piece of head gusset (Detail N2), four pieces of ears (Detail N3), two body pieces (Detail N4), two inner arms (Detail N5), two paw pads (Detail N6), two outer arms (Detail N7), four legs (Detail N8) and two food pads (Detail N9).

Match two head side pieces together and sew from the tip of the nose down to the neck opening. Match head gusset and sew from point A to points B. Match two body pieces and sew it together, but leave one inch on the top. Match and sew ears. Match one paw pad up to the corresponding inner arms and sew them. After that sew inner arm with correct outer arm (do double check before sewing) but leave one inch of arm (close to the neck) to turn and stuff. Match legs, be sure that each leg has one outer let and one inner leg. Pin and sew them with food pads, and as for arms, leave one inch.

Turn all pieces right side out, and stuff all details.

For making eyes you can use ordinary buttons or, if you have one, special glass eyes. Use long needle, long enough to sew through the head and fix the eyes on the position. With wide thread and long needle do only one stitch for one time. The end of your thread should be on the other side on bears head, coming from eye to the neck. Pull off all your ends and tie with a strong knot.

You can stitch nose and mouth in different ways, but for April I prefer to leave as it is.
To join body, head and limbs professional teddy makers use different accessories. But I, as a beginner, use the same technique, as I used for placing eyes. Join head and body and carefully sew them together. Take a wide thread a long needle and join arms and legs before closing open seams. When you arms and legs on their places, you can close the seams with accurate stitching.

Join the ears and you teddy bear is ready! Enjoy!

Next time I will do a step-by-step lesson with picture “How to make a Teddy Bear”, so stay tuned!