The Making of "Super Bear"!

Several years ago, I made a toy/blanket for my little cousin's son.  I made it, gave it to him, and quite honestly didn't think much about it after that.  I am a parent.  I know how stuffed animals seem to multiply overnight.  I am also guilty of getting rid of some without the kids even noticing.  I kind of figured that the bear I made had served it's purpose and vanished.  This did not bother me at all, I know how it is.  In fact, I had completely forgotten about it.  

So, you can imagine my surprise and shock when my cousin asked me if there was any way I could make a second Super Bear, this time for her daughter because she is always trying to take her brother's and he wasn't giving it up!

Super bear?

What is a super bear?  I don't remember making a bear, super or other wise?  Remember, several years had passed....   My cousin managed to refresh my memory and explained that her son calls it his Super Bear.  

You mean he still has that?

Yes!  He plays with it all the time.  He sleeps with it.  He loves it!

You have no idea how happy this made me!

How can one say no to that???  So I got to work.  I found a bear to sacrifice for the project at the thrift store and ran it through the washing machine. It has to wash well or it is useless for this project in my opinion.  The bear washed great, so I went to my fabric stash to pick out suitable fleece and I found a pretty burgundy and some light pink.  Perfect for a little girl!!

I cut the fleece into squares.  I didn't measure this  I just folded one corner up until it looked like a good size.  I made both pieces the same size.

Then came the hard part.  Cutting the bear in half.  That first cut can be difficult.  Mentally, not physically.  Sacrificing a bear like this is not for the faint of heart. You want to cut it a bit lower than it's armpits to give you some material to sew into the blanket.  Remove the stuffing from the part that will be sewn up in the blanket to avoid excess bulk.
I also gave him a bit of a haircut around his eyes, the fur was blocking his sight.  I also wasn't a fan of the scratchy bow, so I removed that too.

Then cut one corner off the fleece about the width of the bear.

Then sew around, right sides together, from the edge of the corner you just cut, alllllllllll the way around to the other corner edge you just cut.  You will have an opening where you cut that corner off.  Trim, if you need to, and turn the blanket right-side-out.
Next you are going to fold the raw edges under and place your bear in the hole and pin him in place.

Then you topstitch all the way around the blanket, neatening up the edges and sewing the bear in place all at the same time.  Make sure you take those pins out!

That's it.  Super Bear is now finished!  Now all that is left is to give him to you little cousin (or some other lucky child).

Thanks for looking!

:)

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