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jissy Feb 18, 2011

My entire life I have loved bears! If I could sit and watch then up close I would! I adore them, any kind of bear, it doesn't matter! I had a collection as a child and have only kept a few from that collection. My favorite bear is a pot belly bear that Daekor manufactered and I still her. She sits on my rocking chair and no one is to disturb her as she watches over all of us!

I am thinking of making a bear, but not sure if I should try to sew one or crochet one. I have a sewing machine although it is foot powered! Yes I have to use my foot to make the wheel go! I love it tho!
I also crochet and I could try my hand at making one but I truly don't know what I should do.

I am a very busy mom of 4 kids (ds15,ds8,dd6,dd4) and really want to try my hand at this but not sure how time consuming it will be. Any ideas on something simple?
Has anyone made a crocheted bear before or a simple sewing pattern for a newbie?

Thank you!

desertmountainbear Feb 18, 2011

If you can follow a crochet pattern there are lots of places to find free patterns for bears.  Two of my favorites are  https://www.ravelry.com and http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/di … _bears.php  The second is where I would hit first. 

If you check the index here I believe you will find free patterns for sewn bears, and all the help here to get you going.  Teddy bears take as much time as you want to give them.  They are very patient waiting to "become"

Joanne

rowarrior Feb 18, 2011

Welcome to the site, looking forward to meeting your first bear however you choose to create it

jissy Feb 19, 2011

Thank you! I am a bit intimidated by making one in any fashion. Although my mother can sew she never taught us. I know how to put two peices together and press the peddle to make it go(it's manual!) but that's all I know. This should be interesting!

I really wanted to do my own pattern but I guess in time I will. For now I will try one I found and see how that goes. It's crochet since that is what I am most confortable with right now.

Tomorrow though we are going to a craft store so will be making sure supplies for the sewing machine are bought... ya know ...just in case!

Melisa Nichols Feb 20, 2011

Hello and welcome!  :hug:  I'm looking forward to seeing your bears.   

As a homeschooling mom with three children, I know how difficult it can be to find time for creating.  That's part of the reason why I hand sew all my bears - that way I can be with my family and still create. 

rkr4cds Feb 20, 2011

Welcome to you, Mammabear - one great thing about this forum is that you will find every one from the very first beginning teddy bear artists to the brand-spanking-new members like yourselves, and somewhere in here are the answers to every one of the questions you'll think of  - - - you need only ask and someone (and more than one) will point you in one of many directions for a solution!
Do pop in often!

jissy Feb 22, 2011

Hi everyone! I finished the body but I have to say that I will be making my own pattern. I really didn't like the "look" that this gave. I'm glad I'm diong it because it gives me a change to create my own. I am going to finish this one though because I'd really like to see what it looks like in order to create my own.

Here is a pic of what I have so far

I have no clue how to adjust the size. Please forgive me! If this is an issue on this board please let me know and I'll take it down. Thanks!

Oh i changed my user name from mamma to mommabear.

boohbears Feb 22, 2011

Thank you for showing us the body!  I can hardly wait to see the rest!  Good luck on your first crocheted bear!   
Hugs,
Janice

jissy Feb 22, 2011

Thank you, I'm very excited to finish this!

jissy Feb 23, 2011

The directions to this pattern(crochet) say to make the head but it doesn't say to close it up. I stupidlyl tried to sew it up then attach it and all I got was a wobbly head on the body! lol I laugh now but wasn't laughing last night.

I then took that out and made it like it said but now I have no idea how to get this head on the body? Do I really hand sew it on with thread or with the extra yarn I kept attached to it? (i keep about two feet of yarn extra on my projects just in case! )

This is a public pattern here is the link: http://www.allfreecrafts.com/crochet/teddy-bear.shtml

Here is a copy and paste for those who don't have time to go to the site..(if I am not supposed to do this I'm sorry just edit it if I am doing something wrong)

Head:

With MC, ch 2.
Rnds 1 - 5: Repeat rnds 1 - 5 of body.
Rnds 6 - 14: sc in ea sc around. (40 sc)
Rnd 15: (sc in next 4 sc, sc next 2 sc tog) around.
Rnds 16, 17: sc in ea sc around.
Rnd 18: (sc in next 2 sc, sc next 2 sc tog) around.
Stuff to within 1" of top before continuing.
Rnd 19: (sc in next sc, sc next 2 sc tog) around.
Finish stuffing. Sew head to body. (Head will be sewn on at about round 33 of body.)