Teddy Bear Security Blanket

My friend’s son just turned one year old this week, and for his birthday I made him a crocheted security blanket to keep him company when he sleeps, a little teddy bear with a pilot hat and goggles.

I used a pattern I found online to make the blanket, but the bear is my own creation. I am sharing the tutorial on this post in case you are interested in making your own little bear pilot.

Let’s start with the blanket. I picked a pattern created by The Stitchin Mommy, called Crochet Lovey Bunny. This is a pattern to make a cute bunny security blanket, but since I had a teddy bear in mind I only used it for the base. The blanket is a simple granny square that is very easy to make, and looks very pretty. I skipped the last 2 rounds of the blanket because I didn’t want mine to be that wide.

To make the bear, you will need a 2.75mm hook if you want to end up with the same dimensions as mine. I also recommend to use the same kind of yarn for both blanket and bear.  Let’s start with the head:

Bear’s Head:
Make a magic ring
rnd 1: 6 sc in center of the ring (6)
rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12)
rnd 3: [1 sc, inc] x6 (18)
rnd 4: [2 sc, inc] x6 (24)
rnd 5: [3 sc, inc] x6 (30)
rnd 6: [4 sc, inc] x6 (36)
rnd 7: [5 sc, inc] x6 (42)
rnd 8: [6 sc, inc] x6 (48)
rnd 9 to 18: sc in each st around (48)
rnd 10: [6 sc, dec] x6 (42)
rnd 11: [5 sc, dec] x6 (36)
rnd 12: [4 sc, dec] x6 (30)
rnd 13: [3 sc, dec] x6 (24)
Start stuffing and continue as you go
rnd 14: [2 sc, dec] x6 (18)
rnd 15: [1 sc, dec] x6 (12)
rnd 16: dec each st around (6)
Fasten off, embroider loose thread into the stitches to close the hole.

The nose:
Make a magic ring
rnd 1: 6 sc in center of the ring (6)
rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12)
rnd 3: [1 sc, inc] x6 (18)
rnd 4: [2 sc, inc] x6 (24)
rnd 5 to 6: sc in each st around (24)
Fasten off and leave a long tail to sew the nose to the head. Stuff the nose a little bit while sewing. Embroider the snout with dark brown yarn

The Hat:
Make a magic ring
rnd 1: 6 sc in center of the ring (6)
rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12)
rnd 3: [1 sc, inc] x6 (18)
rnd 4: [2 sc, inc] x6 (24)
rnd 5: [3 sc, inc] x6 (30)
rnd 6: [4 sc, inc] x6 (36)
rnd 7: [5 sc, inc] x6 (42)
rnd 8: [6 sc, inc] x6 (48)
rnd 9 to 10: sc in each st around (48)
At this point you will work in rows instead of rounds
row 1: 26 sc, turn (26)
row 2 to 7: ch1, sc in each st around (26)
At the end of row 7 continue to crochet sc all the way around the hat. Continue with the same thread to work on one of the sides:
ch 1, 4 sc, turn, make 6 rows of sc, fasten off.
Attach your yarn on the other side and repeat the same process starting with ch 1.

Ears (make 2):
Make a magic ring
rnd 1: 6 sc in center of the ring (6)
rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12)
rnd 3: [1 sc, inc] x6 (18)
rnd 4 to 5: sc in each st around (18)
Fasten off, and leave a long tail for sewing.

Arms (make 2):
Make a magic ring
rnd 1: 6 sc in center of the ring (6)
rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12)
rnd 3: [1 sc, inc] x6 (18)
rnd 4: [2 sc, inc] x6 (24)
rnd 5 to 6: sc in each st around (24)
rnd 7: [2 sc, dec] x6 (18)
rnd 8: sc in each st around (18)
rnd 9: [1 sc, dec] x6 (12)
rnd 10 to 14: sc in each st around (12)
rnd 15: dec, 10 sc (11)
rnd 16 to 18: sc in each st around (11)
rnd 19: dec, 9 sc (10)
rnd 20 to 22: sc in each st around (10)
Fasten off, leave a long tail for sewing. Stuff the arm only half way through.

Goggles:
You will need brown and cream felt, and a glue gun. Cut two oval shapes in the brown felt, fold them and cut a hole in the middle. Cut two smaller oval shapes with cream felt and glue them on the brown felt. Cut a small rectangle with brown felt and glue it between the goggles. Cut a band with brown felt,long enough to go around the head, and glue it on both sides of the goggles.

Assembly:
Sew the hat to the head, then sew the ears on the top sides of the head. Glue the goggles to the hat, make sure that the band goes around the ears before proceeding. Sew the arms under each sides of the head.

You can sew the head to the blanket, but I prefer to glue it first for more sturdiness, then embroider with a piece of yarn thread for extra strength. I used a glue gun for that purpose, I think it works better than fabric glue.

About the scarf: I just made a chain of 4 stitches, then hdc every row until I was happy with the length.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask me in the comments section.

Happy crocheting!

Valentine’s Day teddy bear

The year has just started and we are already half way through the month of January. I have so many projects, time slip through faster than I can crochet! One of my resolutions this year is to post more patterns on my blog, and since Valentine’s day is not too far away, I decided to start with this cute teddy bear you can make for your love or loved ones. (You can wrap it in a bag with candies or chocolates… Yum!)

– Note: this plush is worked in continuous spiral without joining the rounds. The final size of this teddy bear is 4 inch tall.

Materials:
– Brown yarn (I used Red Heart Super Saver – Cafe color)
– 2.75mm hook
– 6mm safety eyes, black
– Felt, red and copper brown
– Embroidery thread, brown
– Ribbon of your choice
– Fiberfill for stuffing
– Yarn needle
– Pins
– stitch marker (to mark the end of your row)
– Glue gun, or fabric glue

Abbreviations:
rnd = round
sc = single crochet
inc = increase
dec = decrease
st – stitch

PATTERN
Head:
Rnd 1: make a chain with 2 stitches, 5 sc in second stitch from chain (5)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (10)
Rnd 3: [1 sc, inc] 5 times (15)
Rnd 4: [2 sc, inc] 5 times (20)
Rnd 5 to 9 : sc in each st around (20)
– Insert the safety eyes, between row 7 and 8, about 5 st apart.
Rnd 10: [2 sc, dec] 5 times (15)
Rnd 11: [1 sc, dec] 5 times (10)
– Fasten off, and stuff firmly with fiberfill.

Body:
Rnd 1: make a chain with 2 stitches, 5 sc in second stitch from chain (5)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (10)
Rnd 3: [1 sc, inc] 5 times (15)
Rnd 4: [2 sc, inc] 5 times (20)
Rnd 5 to 7: sc in each st around (20)
Rnd 8: [2 sc, dec] 5 times (15)
Rnd 9 to 11: sc in each st around (15)
Rnd 12: [1 sc, dec] 5 times (10)
Rnd 13: sc in each st around (10)
– Fasten off, and leave a long tail for sewing. Stuff firmly with fiberfill.

Arms: (make 2)
Rnd 1: make a chain with 2 stitches, 5 sc in second stitch from chain (5)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (10)
Rnd 3: sc in each st around (10)
Rnd 4: [3 sc, dec] 2 times (8)
Rnd 5 to 6: sc in each st around (8)
Rnd 7: [2 sc, dec] 2 times (6)
– Fasten off, and leave a long tail for sewing. Stuff half way through with fiberfill.

Legs: (make 2)
Rnd 1: make a chain with 2 stitches, 5 sc in second stitch from chain (5)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (10)
Rnd 3 to 4: sc in each st around (10)
Rnd 5: [3 sc, dec] 2 times (8)
– Fasten off, and leave a long tail for sewing. Stuff firmly with fiberfill.

Ears: (make 2)
Rnd 1: make a chain with 2 stitches, 5 sc in second stitch from chain (5)
Rnd 2: [1 sc, inc] 2 times, 1 sc (7)
Rnd 3: sc in each st around (7)
– Fasten off, and leave a long tail for sewing. Do not stuff.

Assembling:
Sew the body to the head, using the remaining thread from the body. Use the stitches of both parts to embroider them together. Sew the arms to the each side of the body, and ears to top sides of the head. For more details, you can check my tutorial How to Sew Parts Together.

For the legs, make sure you do not sew them to close to the bottom, or your bear will fall backward and won’t stand on his legs. I used pins first to make sure the legs are in the right position.

Nose:
Cut an oval in a piece of copper color felt, large enough to fit between the eyes. Embroider a noise with brown embroidery thread, then glue on the face.

Heart:
Cut a heart shape in a piece of red felt, glue to the front of the body.
Tip: To make both side the same shape, cut a rectangle first, fold in two, and cut one side of the heart starting at the fold.

Cut a piece of ribbon and wrap it around the neck, make a bow.

Your little Valentine’s Day bear is done! I hope you enjoyed this pattern, and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask in the comments section.

Happy crocheting!

Cute Monkey Pattern by Michelle – StitchLove

This morning I had a conversation with a lady who told me that she wouldn’t be able to crochet like I do. Well, I told her, we all have a talent, it’s just a question of finding what it is, then start developing it. For me it was the wonderful free patterns I found online. They taught me the techniques I needed to become better, until I was finally able to take off and create my own patterns.

Today I want to introduce you to a really cute pattern I used in those days to make a monkey. It’s from Michelle, who has a blog called StitchLove. She creates some really cute free patterns, and I especially love her little monkey amigurumi. At the time I made this, this is a few years ago, I still hadn’t figured out that there was a wrong side, and a right side, so of course, I made it on the wrong side! Still, it turned out really cute!

This pattern is easy to follow for a beginner, easy to read, so I really recommend it to anybody who is new to crochet plushes. Believe me, when I made this, I barely knew how to read a pattern! I used a different set of eyes, and you can have a lot of fun playing around with it: use a different color, different face, make a heart etc… (I also made a pink one for valentine’s day)

Here is where you can find the pattern, it’s free, and it’s the coolest little monkey around: Amigurumi Monkey Pattern – by Michelle/StitchLove

Happy crocheting!