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November 25, 2011 by: Melanie

Brown Bear, Brown Bear Pillow Tutorial

In case you missed my guest post over at Sugar Bee Crafts last week, here’s a super easy cute bear gift you can make in no time! For those of you not shopping this weekend, maybe you’ll want to whip one of these up!

My favorite thing in the world is when I can make a gift for someone else to enjoy. It’s slightly addictive! So how about making a personalized Brown Bear, Brown Bear Pillow for the little one in your life?

Supply List:

1 yard of fabric– I recommend Sherpa, Faux Fur, or Fleece. Joann’s had a ton of fleece remnants left over from their big fleece sale, so I used fleece. Alternate idea: Use one color fabric for the top, and a cute plaid fabric or other color for the underside of the bear.

Coordinating Thread


Scissors


Fiberfill Stuffing- at least a bag and a half

Embroidery Floss for eyes/nose OR Buttons

Paper to make your pattern


Step One

Begin by cutting out your pattern. The finished pillow should be an 18″ square.

The Body:

Using a large piece of paper, draw a square that is 19″ on all four sides. This allows for the 18″ square pillow and a 1/2″ seam allowance on each side.

Draw feet on each corner of the square. Or you can cheat like me! I drew out the feet and then taped them onto the body.This helped me get four uniform feet since I’m not so hot at drawing. Cut out the body pattern.

The Face:

Take another piece of paper and draw a large circle or oval- whatever you want your face shape to be. Be sure to add ears on each side. Cut out the face pattern.

Find the center of the face. Draw a dot as a pattern marking for the nose. Draw two more dots as a pattern markings for the eyes. Use a ruler if you need to measure to make sure the eyes having the correct spacing. You can see in my picture where I was off on one eye, so I marked it out with the “X” and drew another eye.

Step Two:

Cut the pattern pieces out on your fleece. Cut two fleece pieces for the body and two fleece pieces for the face. Transfer the nose and eyes pattern markings to the right side of one of the face fleece pieces.

Step Three:

Finish the eyes and nose. You may do this one of two ways.

Option One: If you are making this gift for a small child or toddler who still puts objects in their mouths, I would embroider the eyes and nose. However, I tried this and it was a total flop! My embroidery skills are more than rusty, and I don’t have an embroidery machine. My pillow is not for a infant, anyway, so I chose option two.

Option Two: Chose three buttons- two for the eyes and one for the nose. Sew the buttons on over the pattern markings for the eyes and nose.

Step Four: OPTIONAL

Personalize your bear! I didn’t get to do this step because I’m not sure who I’m gifting my Fleecy Bear to yet. If my daughter spots it, the bear won’t make it out of the house. He’ll be added to her “buddy collection”. But if you are making yours for a particular someone, take this time to embroider or cross-stitch the child’s name somewhere on the side or end of the bear- anywhere you want! After all, one of the advantages to making homemade gifts is the ability to personalize!

Step Five:

Place the two face pieces right sides together and pin.

Sew around the sides of the face from the middle of one side to the middle of the other. This will leave most of the bottom of the face open on the bottom. This may seem like a large area to leave open, but trust me- there is a purpose!

Clip the corners and curves around the edge. This will allow the curved seams to lay flatter when turning. 

Turn the face inside out. I then wanted to add an extra dimension to the ears. Using a piece of fabric chalk, I drew a semi-circle on each ear. I just free-handed them and tried to make them match. I left enough room around each semi-circle to place a small amount of stuffing in each ear.

I then ran a stitch around each semi-circle. Use a damp cloth to remove the tailor’s chalk.

Step Six:

Attach the head to the bear body. I felt like the sewing machine would secure the head to the body better than I could by hand, so I made sure to make this possible by attaching the head before sewing up the body and stuffing. Read this part carefully and refer to the pictures for visual explanation.

Take one piece of the body fabric and chose the end that you want to be the face. Place the head right side up. Find the middle of the length (in between the feet). Measure up about an inch. Mark this spot.

Now take your bear head piece. Make sure that the eyes/nose are facing up. Take the topmost portion of the head (you’re working with the part of the head that you left open in step five) and fold it up. Pin it to the rest of the head  get it out of the way. From the bottom of the head, measure about one inch up in the center. Keeping your finger on this spot, pin the head to the “mark” that you made on the body piece.

Pin around the head so that it is immobile on the body piece. Make sure that the head piece is remaining open. See the above picture.

Now, draw a large semi-circle on the inside of the head. You should be drawing on the inside portion of the head fleece piece- the part that will be covered once you stuff the head. (Ignore my black threads that somehow found their way into the picture). It doesn’t have to be perfect- just try to make it as even and as large as you can.

Stitch around this semi-circle. To reinforce this stitch, run another seam on the inside of the semi-circle.

I know this part is a little confusing- hopefully, the pictures help. To try to sum it up, in this step you should have attached the head to the outside of the body. The seam you used to attach the head should be on the inside of the face portion. The seam should not be less then one inch from the edge of the body piece (This is to make sure you have enough room for the seam that attaches the two body pieces).

Step Seven:

Now we need to sew up the rest of the Fleecy Bear pillow. Before you do this, make sure that you fold up all of the loose head portion and pin it out of the way with a large pin (poor bear!!).

Step Eight:

Place fleece body pieces right sides together and pin. Using a 1/2″ seam allowance, sew the body pieces together. Leave at least a four inch area open on the side for turning.

After sewing a straight stitch around the body, I also reinforced it by stitching a zigzag seam close to the straight stitch. Call me paranoid, but I wanted to make sure the seam would stand up to the rough and tumble action of a kiddo.

Clip the corners and curves. Clip off any excess fabric trim.

Turn bear body inside out. Use a dowel rod to make sure the feet are completely turned out. Remove the pins from the head.


Step Eight:

Stuff the bear body, stuffing the feet first and then the remainder of the body until the body is full but not lumpy. It helps if you fluff and separate the fiberfill before inserting it into the bear. Slipstitch the body opening closed. If you are unfamiliar with slip stitching, you can watch a video {Here}.

Step Nine:

Stuff the bear’s head. Push stuffing into the ears with a dowel rod. Slip stitch the opening closed. If you think that the head is still too “floppy”, tack on a few stitches around the head to secure it in place (this will depend on how well and how far up you were able to secure the head in step 6).

DONE!!  So cute!!


Tie a bow around him, or pair him with a copy of “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” for a cute gift!

While the instructions may be a bit lengthy, I promise it’s super easy. I made the pattern and cut out the pattern pieces in one night after my daughter went to bed. I then finished the bear the next day during her nap time. I hope you get a chance to try this out for a holiday gift! I’d love to see pictures and/or hear from you if you do!!

And, by the way, as evidence by the completed pictures, my daughter did find Fleecy Bear and has claimed him for her own. So beware if you’re trying to make these as gifts for other kids in your family- they may not make it out of the house!

Linking to these great parties!

What We Did This Weekend- Ruffle Scarf Gifts from Simply Step Back
What We Did This Weekend- Felt Christmas Tree from Empty Bobbin

Comments

  1. Binge Crafter says

    November 25, 2011 at 12:46 pm

    Very cute! A homemade alternative to the overpriced pillows in stores. 🙂 TFS!
    Angela
    bingecrafter.blogspot.com

    Reply
  2. Lori says

    November 25, 2011 at 1:34 pm

    Absolutely darling – great tutorial!

    Reply
  3. Tammy says

    November 25, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    This is just darling!!

    Reply
  4. Jenny@daysofchalkandchocolate says

    November 26, 2011 at 12:03 am

    That is too cute! You could make it in white and then add the book “Snow Bears” to it for a gift! How fun!

    Reply
  5. Amy says

    November 26, 2011 at 7:24 pm

    ADORABLE, Melanie!! Awesome job! Would you share?

    http://oneartmama.blogspot.com/2011/11/shine-on-fridays-3-and-some-fabulous.html

    Reply
  6. Jenn says

    November 26, 2011 at 8:27 pm

    A homemade pillow pet? What an AMAZING idea! You should come and enter my Vanilla Bean Paste giveaway http://eatcakefordinner.blogspot.com/2011/11/vanilla-bean-paste-giveaway.html

    Reply
  7. Shiloh says

    November 29, 2011 at 1:05 am

    I LOVE this. I’m going to have to make one for my daughter I think. Thank you so much for the pattern etc.:)

    Reply
  8. Melody at chattychics.com says

    November 29, 2011 at 6:41 pm

    Very cute! Thanks for sharing1

    Reply
  9. Lisa says

    November 30, 2011 at 2:01 pm

    Aww! This is really cute! I want to make one for my son!

    Reply
  10. Tenille says

    November 30, 2011 at 5:31 pm

    This is great. My boys would love this. Thanks for sharing. I would love it if you could link this up to our linky party going on right now.

    http://junkintheirtrunk.blogspot.com/2011/11/link-it-up-wednesday-5.html

    Reply
  11. bailey k. says

    November 30, 2011 at 8:40 pm

    oh wow, this is so cute. this would be a perfect gift for my niece…if only i knew how to sew!!

    i would love for you to come link up this or any other amazing project at my creativity party going on right now!

    letbirdzfly.blogspot.com

    thanks so much for sharing!

    Reply
  12. Nikki@EverythingUndertheMoon says

    November 30, 2011 at 9:14 pm

    This is adorable. My daughter would love this! New follower here. Would love for you to share this at my linky party going on right now 🙂 http://everything-underthemoon.blogspot.com/2011/11/guest-posting-at-midwestern-sewing-girl.html

    Have a great week!!

    Reply
  13. MC says

    November 30, 2011 at 9:28 pm

    So cute! With a doggie or kitty head, this would also make an adorable pet bed.

    Reply
  14. Katie @ The Crafty Blog Stalker says

    December 1, 2011 at 2:43 pm

    This is so stinkin’ cute! You did a fabulous job. I would love love for you to link up at Blog Stalking Thursday! http://thecraftyblogstalker.blogspot.com/2011/11/blog-stalking-thursday-17.html

    Reply
  15. Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy says

    December 2, 2011 at 10:37 pm

    Thanks for linking this up to my Tuesday Confessional Link Party. You’ve been featured! Don’t forget to stop by and grab a button.
    http://www.craftyconfessions.com/2011/12/tuesday-confessional-features-clever.html
    ~Macy

    Reply
  16. Kara says

    December 3, 2011 at 11:13 pm

    This is great! A fabulous tutorial that is easy to follow. Thanks for sharing at Shine on Friday. We hope you’ll join us again soon.

    Reply
  17. andie jaye says

    December 5, 2011 at 7:38 am

    this is such an amazing tutorial! and a darling result! thanks for linking them up to my tip-toe thru tuesday party last week! hope to see you again this week!

    Reply
  18. Trish@MomOnTimeout says

    December 7, 2011 at 8:15 pm

    What a fantastic tutorial! Brown Bear is my son’s favorite book right now so if I sewed – I’d be all over this! Thank you for sharing at Taking A Timeout Thursdays!

    Reply

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