Book Review – Make Your Own Teddy Bears

Teddy Bear fanciers, make your own and enjoy every loving stitch as well as the delightful finished product! This easy-to-follow, single-volume guide is the only book you need to create a charming one-of-a-kind collection of everybody’s favorite stuffed toy.
Expert bear maker Doris King provides complete instructions and patterns for making both jointed and unjointed bears, plus full-size, ready-to-use patterns for a variety of outfits: suit, shirt, slacks, shorts, tank top, dress, bonnet, pinafore, pajamas, jogging suit — even a chef’s apron. What’s more, the bears and their wardrobe can be made on a sewing machine.
Create traditional Teddies out of mohair or alpaca, use the modern synthetic furs available in a variety of colors and textures, or make attractive, inexpensive bears from corduroy, calico, gingham, chintz, or patchwork. Varying the type of fabric and the size and type of eyes will give each of your bears a distinctive personality. You can purchase this book here.

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I am just smitten with this felt gingerbread house bag. This would make such a sweet special Christmas accessory for a kid. It’s a free pattern at Benzie Design, designed by Gracie from Hello Gracie Makes. It’s packed with adorable gingerbread house details, like swirls and stripes and scallops adoring the doors and windows.

And while all those details might seem like this would be a complicated pattern, it’s actually not. The bag itself is made from felt, which makes finishes edges unnecessary. (All of those scalloped edges are just cut from felt, no edge finishing required.) The strap is super simple, made from rope with knotted ends. And all those details are made with some basic hand embroidery stitches. Sparkle felt makes it extra cute.

The striped scallop roof is actually the top flap of the bag. A magnetic snap makes it a secure closure. The rope straps are attached through felt loops at the side of the bag.

They rate this project as an intermediate level, and it should take about 6 hours to make start to finish. That’s doable for a Saturday project or a couple of evenings. Full color photos step you through the entire process.

The project includes a shopping list for all of your supplies. They’ve got a shop so you can order all of them from Benzie if you like and get exactly the supplies used in the project. I noticed it includes a pair of scallop shears, which makes cutting all the scalloped edges for the roof and around the door a breeze.

Finished dimensions of the little felt gingerbread bag are approximately 6 ½” wide x 7 ½” tall. That’s the perfect size to hold a small book, a small toy, or a notepad and some cute pens.

Go to Benzie Design to get the tutorial and free pattern for the felt gingerbread house bag.

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