Patch, the Chibi Bear Boy

It all started with a cute brown button I found in the abyss of my craft supply box… The minute I saw I thought it would look great on a Teddy Bear. I took my sketch pad and started drawing a chibi character wearing a bear costume all thanks to that inspiration.

The next step was to turn this drawing into a doll. The challenge is always to make it as accurate as I can even though it’s not always possible to find the same color schemes. Here is my doll and the original drawing:

The colors ended up being a bit darker because I couldn’t find a yarn of the same color tone but I am still happy with the result, it turned out really cute.

The button that started it all

I used Red Heart Super Saver and a 2.75mm crochet hook. I said it before but I like using smaller crochet hooks to make the stitches tighter. The hair was made with felt that I just cut and glued to the head after the hat was done.

His name is Patch and I don’t think I need to give an explanation to that. The head is very big so I put a wire though is neck and body to keep it stable.

Now he is going to join my growing collection of chibi dolls. I already have my mind set on my next project, a chibi version of the bride of Frankenstein and for that, I have to go back to my sketch pad and pencils. Drawing is so much fun!

1950 Vintage Bear

Not long ago my neighbor knocked on my door to show me a toy she had cherished since she was a baby. She knows I like to crochet stuffed animals and she thought I would be interested to see what her grandma made for her when she was born, a crocheted stuffed bear from 1950. Since I had never seen one before I was delighted to see it.

Her grandma was a native american from the Chataw tribe in Oklahoma. She was very skilled in crafts and liked to make things for her family. Crochet was one of her talents and when Candy was born she decided to make her this little bear. There was no such patterns available at the time so she had to improvise all of it. I am very impressed with the result, it is unique and so cute!

I can’t believe she kept that bear in such good shape for so many years. It doesn’t any tears or scratches, it looks like it was made yesterday! I was very interested in the technique she used so I took some close up pictures to show how it was made.

She crocheted half circles that she slip stitch together for both the head, ears and body. I have never tried this method before but I really like the result.

The arms are not crocheted in spirals but slip stitch at the end of each round. They are not stuffed at the shoulders, she kept them flat to sew them to the seam of the body. I couldn’t tell what she used for stuffing but it felt like cotton.

She used pink yarn she crocheted in spiral and sewed to the arms. I would like to try to crochet arms this way and see how it turns out. Her method is different than the one used for Amigurumi but I really like it.

You can tell that a love of love was put into her craft and I understand why Candy took good care of it, it’s a very special gift made from the heart. I am very glad she shared it with me, and I want to thank her for allowing me to take pictures and post them on my blog.

I hope you enjoyed this little story as much as I did. I find it very inspiring!

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!

Teddy Bear

I love teddy bears, I made several of them from different patterns I found online, but this is the first one I make on my own. I think it turned out really cute.