How to make a teddy bear

1. Materials & tools

Materials (standard size)

• Main fabric (fleece, felt or corduroy) — about 60 × 50 cm (24 × 20 in)
• Toy stuffing — about 200 g (7 oz)
• Embroidery floss (black or brown) — for the eyes and nose
• Optional: ribbon for the neck

Tools

• Sewing machine (or needle and thread)
• Fabric marker or pencil
• Ruler and scissors
• Iron
• Pins or clips

2. Make the pattern (auto-generated in Katagami)

With the Katagami pattern tool, you just enter the finished size and it drafts a seam-allowance-included pattern, tiled to print at actual size on Letter or A4.

1. Open the tool
   Open the pattern tool and choose “Accessories” → “Teddy bear” from the tabs at the top.
2. Enter the size
   Enter the overall height, head size and ear size. Presets cover small, standard and large.
3. Set the seam allowance
   Use the slider at the bottom (beginners: 1.0–1.5 cm / about 3/8–5/8 in).
4. Print
   Press “Print (actual size)”, then in the print dialog set Scale = 100% and turn “Fit to page” OFF. Check the 50 mm calibration box on the first guide sheet with a ruler.

3. Cutting the fabric

1. Trace the pattern
   Trace the body (on the fold) and the ears. On napped fabric, trace from the wrong side and keep the pile running the same way on every piece.
2. Cut
   Cut two bodies and four ears.
3. Cutting fleece
   Lift the upper layer slightly and cut the backing rather than the pile — far less mess.

4. Sewing

4-1. Make the ears

1. Sew two ear pieces right sides together, leaving the base open. Make two.
2. Clip the curve and turn.
3. Leave them unstuffed — flat ears look more like a bear than stuffed ones.

4-2. Sew the body with the ears caught in

1. Lay the ears on the right side of one body piece at the head, loops pointing inward, and baste them in the seam allowance.
2. Lay the second body on top, right sides together, and sew around leaving a 10 cm (4 in) gap — the side under the arm turns most easily.
3. Clip into every inward curve: the neck, the underarms and between the legs. Skip these and the shape never appears.

4-3. Turn and stuff

1. Turn through the gap, easing the paws out with a chopstick or the handle of a point turner.
2. Stuff in small pieces, working paws first, then head, then body. You cannot reach the paws once the body is full.
3. Stuff the head firmly and the body more softly — it sits better that way.

4-4. Close and embroider the face

1. Close the gap with ladder stitch.
2. Embroider the eyes and nose. Set the eyes lower and closer together than instinct suggests — that is what makes a face look sweet rather than staring.
3. Pin markers in first and look from a distance before committing.

✏️ If this is for a small child, embroider the eyes and nose. Plastic safety eyes and buttons come off eventually, and anything that comes off can be swallowed. Embroidery cannot, and it washes.

5. Tips & variations

• Stuffing changes everything: packed hard it becomes a firm character; loosely filled it becomes something to cuddle.
• Make it washable: washable fabric and stuffing. The more loved it is, the more this matters.
• A ribbon at the neck: ten seconds, and it turns it into a present.