A Bear for Valentine's Day

I hand-sewed this little guy as a Valentine's Day gift for my girls. It's my first mohair teddy bear and probably won't be my last.

Many months ago, I purchased some mohair fabric from Intercal. But after considering it's price - and the fact that I didn't know where to begin - I just tucked it away while continuing to admire the work of a few of my favorite artists.

Then I saw this pattern by Sasha Pokrass and decided it would be perfect for trying my hand at making a bear (for a few reasons): 1) I wanted to use a tested pattern for my first bear; 2) I needed instructions on how to make a bear in the first place (cotter pins, washers, glass eyes?); and, 3) Although the bear in the pattern is mostly mohair (except his boots), I decided that I could use mohair just for the head. Perfect for learning in case I messed up!

For the body, I used boiled wool from a maternity coat that I wore over the years while pregnant with all three girls. I've been trying to decide what to make out of it for quite a long time. This project seemed ideal. I lined it with red Kona cotton and the little guy is quite sturdy.


He needs a ruffled collar like the original pattern. I just haven't decided what fabric/lace to use. In the meantime, he's borrowing a scarf from a little dog :).


And yes (I'm sure a few of you are cringing looking at my bear :) ), when my hand gets steadier, I know I need to go back and work on his muzzle more. He definitely needs some grooming and a trim. I just keep having flashbacks to the first time I took tweezers to my eyebrows and ended up with one arched ridiculously high. Just one. It took weeks to correct and I looked so silly. So...I didn't want to overdo it on his nose and left him a bit scruffy for now.

Besides, that's a huge part of the joy in sewing for my children - they don't notice these things (right now) and love what I make them (again, for now!).