Famous Last Words Stuffed Bears

. . . I am going to state again that I am done with stuffed animals

Apparently I can’t stop my granddaughter from asking for stuffed animals, and I can’t stop myself from making them instead of buying them already made. Bears this time.

I’m not posting the steps here, which aren’t many for this pattern of only two pieces: Simplicity 8044. You can make one of these in an afternoon, but then you need to stitch on some eyes and a nose. I made one of plush fleece with a felt nose and matte black button eyes, and the other of a print cotton with rounded button eyes and an embroidered nose. I added hearts, one machine-stitched on and the other a button, but what really dressed them up are those bow ties. Do you know what those are? Infant headbands. Personally, I wouldn’t put one on an infant, but they make great finishing touches on these bears.

I’m surprised how different each looks in different fabric. The plush fleece stretches and that affects the shape when stuffing; it also made it hard to embroider a nose—that’s why I did the felt nose. The patterned geometric cotton makes an interesting appearance, especially on the face, and being a woven cotton, kept its shape better.

Now I have to find a big box for mailing.