What you need to know
COMBINE YOUR LOVE OF KNITTING WITH A FUN SEWING PROJECT TO CREATE SACHIYO ISHII’S TRADITIONAL FELT TEDDY BEAR
Whether you already love sewing or you’re completely new to the craft, this classic teddy bear project is the ideal way to combine different types of making into one wonderful creation. In this pattern, you’ll be sewing our basic Bedford Bear from sheets of soft felt. Once he’s finished you can move onto the next part of the project and knit his cute outfit, so he’s ready for adventures.
What do I need?
Felt: two A4 sheets in Light Brown; one 15cm square sheet in Dark Brown
Yarn: 4ply, shade Dark Brown, small amount
Safety toy stuffing
Safety toy eyes: 8mm, one pair
Sewing needle and thread
Tapestry needle
Pins
Sewing machine (optional)
Sizing
25cm tall
Top Knit Tips
“This project is nice and simple, so you can choose to sew Bedford by hand or if you prefer, by machine. Either way, try to keep your stitches even throughout and don’t forget to tie off your seams securely.” LKT DESIGNER, Sachiyo Ishii
“Don’t forget to add a 5mm seam allowance around each of your template pieces before cutting them out – this ensures that when you leave an allowance during sewing, your teddy will still be made to the correct size.” LKT Knitting Expert, Neti Love
HOW TO WORK LADDER STITCH
This project uses ladder stitch to create invisibly stitched joins. To work, hold the two edges of the seam together with right sides facing. Bring the needle through to the right side of the fabric at the start of the seam. Move the needle across to the opposite edge to make a stitch, parallel to the first. Bring the needle back across and through the edge, just below the point where you began. Repeat to create a ‘ladder’ of stitches across the join. Tug the thread gently to close the seam. Secure the ends when finished.
HOW TO TRANSFER A TEMPLATE
There’s many ways to transfer a paper template to felt for sewing, but the easiest is to photocopy or print out your templates onto plain paper, cut them out, then place them onto your felt sheets and draw around them. Use a special water- or air-erasable fabric pen to make your markings, which can be easily removed once your teddy is all sewn up.
Don't forget to save your PDFs to your computer or tablet device as soon as it has been downloaded.