Teddy Bears (Love to Sew)

September 2014

Teddies to use as ornaments, teddies for presents, teddies to collect...there are sixteen lovable bears in here to make to suit all tastes.

I am not normally a teddy fan but the bears in here have a look of traditional collectables that is hard to resist. Too many modern versions have flat squashed faces and over-large heads but these look more like the real thing. They have proper cotter pin joints and sculptured heads; a pleasure to make for a keen toy maker. If you are a beginner at this sort of thing this is not the best place to start, but anybody with a bit of toy making know-how (or at least sewing knowledge) ought to be able to have a go. There is a list of materials and what they are all for, as well as what equipment you need plus a pocket at the back that holds the patterns. The projects start immediately with the basic bear; this has photographed stages with captions, plus an unusual and very handy guide to what pattern pieces you need showing their shapes. I applaud the list of materials which says exactly how much you require even down to the weight of the stuffing. The bears after this are variations on the basic idea with a difficulty rating, height and a page sized photo of the finished item. Make bears of various sizes and colors, a panda, a paw shaped key ring, baby bears, pairs of bears and my favorite a polar bear. There are a few photographs of stages too if you have to do something different, and in all I was impressed. Heirloom bears can be the trickiest of soft toys to get right and I have seen other books that really made a meal of the subject, but the brief instructions here told you exactly what you needed to know without a lot of unnecessary preamble. A real practical primer in fact, which is what you want a book like this to be.

If you cannot find a good range of toy making materials locally try http://www.searchpress.com for a list of suppliers.

October 2014

Here are 17 soft, cuddly and adorable teddy bears to make and treasure. A basic techniques guide shows us all we need to know about sewing, mending and shapiong bears and are easy to follow, step-by-step instructions for each project plus pattern templates for every design.