Fleece Teddy Bear
Our fleece teddy bears are quick and inexpensive to make. They are perfect for gift giving. For years my family and friends have been getting together and making these teddy bears for children at the local hospital at Christmas time.
*I find it helpful to trace the bear pattern onto a piece of craft foam or sturdy cardboard.
Materials:
- Small amount of fleece*
- Stuffing (Fiberfill)
- Ribbon or scrap fabric in contrast color for scarves/ties
- Sewing machine
- Needle and thread
- Common pins
- Fabric paint - You can use any colors you wish. Sometime I use black. Other times I use green and blue for the eyes and black for the nose and mouth.
*If making a large number of bears, you can make 30 bears out of 1 1/2 yards of 60" wide fleece.
- Lay your fleece out on your work surface and fold it in half lengthwise lining up the two salvage edges. If using the standard 60" wide fleece, you will be able to get five bears across the width of the fabric. You may have to stagger the bears by tracing one right side up and the next one upside down.
- **Trace the bear pattern onto the fleece. It is VERY IMPORTANT that your bear(s) are cut so that they stretch width-wise. (Fleece stretches width wise not length wise so lay the bear pattern so that his arms are perpendicular to the salvage edges.)
- Pin the two layers of fleece together inside the bear shape you traced. Rough cut the bears apart - by this I mean to just separate each bear onto it's own piece of fabric but don't cut around the shape of the bear yet. They are easier to sew if there is extra fabric around each bear.
- Starting just under one of the bear's arm stitch around the bear ON the traced line. Leave an opening that is about 1 1/2" on the outside of one of the legs.
- Remove the pins and cut out the bear by cutting approximately 1/4" away from the stitching line. Clip the crotch. Right side out your bear.
- Stuff your bear adding some extra stuffing to the middle of the face area for the snout. Add some extra stuffing to the belly too. Since the fleece stretches, when you add the extra stuffing for the snout and belly they should stick out further than the rest of the bear.
- Hand stitch the opening closed.
- Using fabric paint (in a squeeze bottle) draw a face onto your bear as follows: draw an upside down triangle in the middle of the snout. This is his nose. Draw a straight line down from the nose and curve it to the left as if making the letter J. Make a curved line to the right to complete the mouth. Make two dots above the nose as eyes.
- Using pinking sheers, cut out a piece of fabric and tie it around the neck as a scarf. You could also use a strip of fleece or a piece of ribbon to tie around the neck.
Optional: If using light colored fleece, you can brush some blush onto the cheeks before painting on the face.
You will need Acrobat Reader to view the pattern as it is a PDF. 
