Bears in waistcoats

By Claire Garland

Click to view larger image

Bears in waistcoats
Peekaboo! These cute, cheeky bear necessities are simple enough for children to enjoy sewing, and they're also quick to make for craft fairs or stocking fillers. Create them in your favourite colours.

Click for templates (bear should be approximately 8-1/4 in/21 cm high)

Materials

• Felt: two 30 x 15 cm (12 x 6 in) pieces for body of each bear
• Felt scraps for muzzle and waistcoat
• Black seed beads for eyes
• Black embroidery silk for facial features
• Toy stuffing

Note: The seam allowance throughout is 3 mm (1/8 in).

Body

1. With right sides together, pin the front body to the back body. Stitch around the bear, leaving a gap at the side between the dots.
2. Trim about 2 mm (1/16 in) from the seam.
3. Stuff the bear, packing the stuffing into the ears, arms, and legs. Turn the seam allowance around the gap to the inside and slipstitch the gap to close it.

Face

1. Place the muzzle on the face and whipstitch the edges, leaving a small gap. Stuff lightly through the gap, and then complete the sewing around the muzzle.
2. With three strands of embroidery silk, satin stitch the nose and sew lines for the mouth. Take the needle and thread up through the back of the muzzle and bring it out at the position of one of the eyes. Sew on a bead securely. Repeat for the other eye.
3. To accentuate the shape of the bear's head, stitch around the outline of the head, through all layers, about 3 mm (1/8 in) from the edge and across the bottom of the face. Use a thread in the same colour as the felt, and a running stitch. Stitch another line across the base of the ears.

Waistcoat

1. Butt the side seam edges of the waistcoat against each other and whipstitch together. (If you wish, you could decorate the waistcoat with beads or felt motifs.)