Darlinbears.com Free Pattern

CUDDLES

Supplies:

• 1/3 yard x 44/45 width synthetic fur
• Thread to match
• 1 bag of Poly Pellets
• 1 bag of Poly-fil
• Scrap of black felt
• 2 - 10mm safety eyes
• 2 - 35mm plastic doll joints
• 2 - 45mm plastic doll joints
• Embroidery floss (for nose)
• Tacky glue
• Ribbon 3" wide x 1 ¼ yard
• Button craft thread
• Hot glue

Tools:

• Marker or pen
• Straight pins
• Sharp scissors
• Funnel (for Poly Pellets)
• 3" or 4" doll needle
• Stuffing tool (wooden spoon handle works great)

DIRECTIONS

Cut bear pieces out and increase them by 200% on a copier. Lay pattern pieces out on the fur then pin in place. Using sharp scissors, cut the pieces out by making small snips to the nap without cutting through the fur (this will give you smoother seams with no hunks of fur missing).

Make marks on your fur pieces for placement of the eyes, ears, joints and areas to leave open for stuffing.

Sew pieces together leaving open the areas marked for stuffing and joint placement. Turn your pieces right side out.  Punch a small hole and place shank part of the 45mm joints into and out through the marked area of both legs. MAKE SURE YOU ARE MAKING A LEFT AND RIGHT LEG. Now do the same with the arms using the 35mm joints.

BODY

Stuff the toes firm with Poly-fil then use your funnel to add some pellets, then more stuffing, alternating these materials until leg is desired firmness. For a more soft and cuddly bear you will use more pellets. Make sure the top of the leg (hip) is stuffed with filler to form a good shape. Sew the openings together using a ladder stitch.

Repeat the same process with your arms.

For the body, place leg shanks through openings at the lower end of the body and lock in place with washers. Place arm shanks through upper openings of the body and lock in place. Make sure the curve of the arms (or fingers) are pointing in the same direction as the toes.

Through the neck opening push poly filler to the bottom of the body, add about 1 cup of poly pellets to that and alternate materials until desired firmness is reached. Using button craft thread make a running stitch around neck opening of body, gather to close completely and tie off. Tuck raw edges down into the body.

HEAD

Place the eyes on their marks and lock them in place with the washers.

Stuff the head very, VERY hard especially the muzzle down to the neck except for about an inch. With button craft thread make a running stitch around the neck about ½ inch in from the raw edge. Pull thread to gather and close off completely, tuck raw edge into the head and tie off.

Trim fur to the nap where ears will be placed. Don't over trim, you can always take more off but it's tough to put it back on.

Whip stitch the openings of the ears shut to make a finished bottom edge. Trim the fur on the bottom of the ears to the nap. Using a small amount of tacky glue fix ears to the head then hold in place with pins (this is to hold the ears in place while you sew them down). Now cut the desired shape of the nose from your felt scrap. Trim a small amount of fur from the head where the nose will go. Tacky glue in place and set aside for about 2 hours. HOT GLUE IS NOT GOOD FOR THESE STEPS BECAUSE A NEEDLE WON'T PASS THROUGH IT.

FINISHING

Using hot glue, place about a quarter sized amount over the gathered area of the body. Press the head firmly over the hot glue and hold for about 2 minutes (until cooled). This will hold the head in place for you while you use a ladder stitch to sew the head to the body.

Now sew the ears to the head. Use the ladder stitch and sew around the parameter of the ears to anchor in place.

For the nose, using embroidery floss (divide into two-three strand pieces) stitch over entire felt template. Use a satin stitch keeping the tension as even and straight as possible. Every stitch counts to achieve a nice quality nose, so take your time with this step.

Tie the ribbon around it's neck, name it and you have a new friend.