Adorable Stuffed Bear Using Upcycled Fabric

This stuffed bear project came about as a result of a major cleaning project. We’re in the middle of a complete overhaul of each kid’s room, and the amount of STUFF that has left our house as a result is astounding. Clothes in good condition have been donated, but I was left with a pile of well-worn, mismatched pajamas (mostly shirts, oddly enough) that I couldn’t bring myself to part with.

For many years, it was tradition to stock up on Walmart character pajamas on Black Friday, and the kids would get so excited about them. I have such fond memories of cuddling with them before bed in these very jammies.

After a few days of thinking about it, I decided to make a stuffed bear. All of the shirts have a character print of some kind on the front, but I thought the solid colors on the back sides would make perfect bear material. I had the most green, so that became the main color.

When I set out to find a pattern, I had a pretty clear vision of what I wanted. I wanted something with some dimension that would be super cuddly. It couldn’t be TOO difficult, because I am not an expert seamstress by any means. Bonus points for a FREE pattern, which is exactly what this pattern is!

The pattern came from HowJoyful. Joy warns you that it is not a pattern for beginners, and I would have to agree with that. I ended up ripping out more stitches than I care to admit, but I stuck with it and figured it out. I learned a lot along the way!

This project ended up costing me less than $3. I had the fabric, of course. I also had a full bag of stuffing (which I used the entirety of), needles, and thread. If you have a printer to print the pattern, something to trace the pattern onto the fabric, straight pins, and some fabric shears, you’re in good shape. I used a black pajama shirt to work with, so I used a piece of that for the nose. You could use a piece of felt as in the original tutorial instead, though. The only thing I had to buy was the eyes. I actually have a box of plastic eyes in different sizes, but none were big enough. These are 18mm and came from Michaels. JoAnn’s has 20mm eyes, and I kind of wish I’d bought those instead.

I sewed the bear completely by hand, but there were parts I wish I’d done with my sewing machine. Some parts just need to be sewn by hand, but there’s plenty you could do with a machine.

This bear turned out a lot bigger than I was expecting. She does say in the tutorial that it’s 16 inches tall, but I still didn’t process that until I started putting the pieces together. Unless you scale the pattern down in size, this is definitely not a one-baby-sleeper project.

I used the paper pattern and did not attach it to cardboard. I was only planning on making the one bear, so I wasn’t worried about sturdiness. Now that I feel a lot more confident about this project, I think I probably could make more bears. But honestly, the thought of cutting out all of those pieces again out of cardboard is not appealing! That’s just because I really, really do not enjoy cutting things out by hand.

A few more notes about the process…

Only because it’s what I had on hand, I used a Sharpie to trace the pattern pieces onto the fabric. I really need to get some fabric chalk, but a Sharpie works in a pinch. At least with the fabric I used. 

I was able to cut most of my big bear pieces out of a pair of pajama pants, and so I cut out two at once. This made the cutting a lot quicker, but it also meant that I only had the pattern traced on half of the pieces. I could have gone back and traced it on the other half, but I made do without having to do that.

The tutorial does assume you’ve had some experience making stuffed animals, and even though I have, there were parts I had to figure out on my own. Though I have made some stuffed animals, the majority of the sewing I’ve done has been less dimensional, so a lot more straightforward. (Think pillows and straight lines.) The letters on the pattern pieces were hugely helpful for figuring out how they fit together. Definitely pay attention to those!

To sew the head on, I had to learn how to sew an invisible (aka ladder) stitch. This tutorial (particularly the video) helped me immensely.

The ribbon was a last-minute addition. This is 1.5” satin ribbon that I found at Michaels, and I LOVE it. 

Somehow I feel like the shape of my bear’s head is a little different than the original. I’m not sure how that happened. I don’t mind… it’s just interesting.

Also, I ended up sewing the nose after I’d stuffed the head, and I kind of wish I’d sewed it on sooner. It didn’t end up quite the same shape as it started out.

But whatever…

Is this not an adorable bear?! I’m in love with the shape and the cuddliness and just all of it! The pajama texture makes me SO happy. 

Even the dog is a fan.

I can’t help but think of all the possibilities. I was pretty determined to make only one bear, but now I’m starting to get excited about maybe making another one. 

Happy crafting!