My first original teddy bear

A friend of mine was having her second child. I'd already made her a blanket for her first child and since I'd rather make a baby blanket per family than baby (otherwise that's a lot of blankets), I thought a stuffed animal would be nice.

This was a friend I've known since childhood, so I went for something more special and designed the teddy bear myself.

Originally designed teddy bear

Main Info

• Size:
• Standing: 11.5" tall
• Sitting: 9" tall
• Time:
• Planning: 3.25 hours
• Crocheting: 11.75 hours
• Yarn: Lion Brand Yarns - Pound of Love
• Bluebell
• Honeybee yellow
• Pink
• Pastel blue
• Denim blue
• Lavender
• Turquoise
• Pastel Green
• Pattern: Below

Thoughts from the process

The perfectionist in me isn't entirely happy with this bear because it obviously didn't come out the way my idealized minds eye thought it would. But I do think it is a very good first attempt, considering I never designed any kind of stuffed animal before. It can only get cuter over time :)

My favorite parts of the bear, that I think came out really well, are the muzzle, eyes, and legs.

Isn't that an adorable little face :) To give credit where it is due, my husband entertained my constant questions to try and make it just right. The ears are also cute, though I think next time I'll make them bigger.

For the legs, I really liked the effect of doing two different colors, giving it some more character. In the case of the limbs I think I'd try to find a more secure way of attaching them next time. I sewed the limb opening together and then sewed that to the body, as you can see in the above picture for the yellow arm. I was aiming to make it have floppy limbs. I'm a little scared they'll get ripped off by a strong toddler. However this particular friend is also an avid knitter, so I'm confident she'll be able to fix it if something happens.

A last change I'd make if I do this again is to try adding a tail and a stomach applique.

As a last note, my planning time includes when I would crochet a piece of the bear, decide I don't like it, and then unravel it. This happened a lot, since I had an idea of what I wanted it to look like, but not a good sense of the scale.

Pattern

Crochet in the round for this pattern. Colors are whatever you choose to use.

Legs (2)

Row 1: Ch 2, 7 sc in second loop from hook (7)

Row 2: *2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (14)

Row 3: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (21)

Row 4: *Sc 2, 2sc in next sc, repeat from * around (28)

Row 5: *Sc 2 in back loops, DEC in back loops, repeat from * around (21)

Row 6-8: 21 sc

Row 9: *Sc 1, DEC, repeat from * around (14)

Row 10-12: 14 sc

Row 13: DEC around (7)

Fasten off, stuff, and sew shut. Leave long tail for more sewing

Arms (2)

Row 1: Ch 2, 6 sc in second loop from hook (6)

Row 2: *2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (12)

Row 3: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (18)

Row 4-16: 18 sc

Row 17: *Sc 1, DEC, repeat from * around (12)

Row 18: DEC around (6)

Fasten off, stuff, and sew shut. Leave long tail for more sewing

Body

Row 1: Ch 2, 6 sc in second loop from hook (6)

Row 2: *2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (12)

Row 3: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (18)

Row 4: *Sc 2, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (24)

Row 5: *Sc 3, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (30)

Row 6: *Sc 4, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (36)

Row 7: *Sc 5, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (42)

Row 8: *Sc 6, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (48)

Row 9-21: 48 sc

Row 22: *Sc 6, DEC, repeat from * around (42)

Row 23: *Sc 5, DEC, repeat from * around (36)

Row 24: *Sc 4, DEC, repeat from * around (30)

Row 25: *Sc 3, DEC, repeat from * around (24)

Row 26: *Sc 2, DEC, repeat from * around (18)

Row 27: *Sc 1, DEC, repeat from * around (12)

Fasten off, stuff, sew on arms and legs.

Eyes (2)

Row 1: Ch 2, 6 sc in second loop from hook (6)

Row 2: *2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (12)

Row 3: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (18)

Fasten off, leave a tail for sewing.

Ears (2)

Row 1: Ch 2, 6 sc in second loop from hook (6)

Row 2: *2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (12)

Row 3: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (18)

Row 4: 18 sc

Fasten off, leave a tail for sewing.

Muzzle

Row 1: Ch 2, 6 sc in second loop from hook (6)

Row 2: *2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (12)

Row 3: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (18)

Row 4: *Sc 2, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (24)

Row 5-8: 24 sc

Fasten off, leave a tail for sewing. Embroider on mouth and nose. Stuff

Head

Row 1: Ch 2, 6 sc in second loop from hook (6)

Row 2: *2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (12)

Row 3: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (18)

Row 4: *Sc 2, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (24)

Row 5: *Sc 3, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (30)

Row 6: *Sc 4, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (36)

Row 7: *Sc 5, 2 sc in next sc, repeat from * around (42)

Row 8-18: 42 sc

Row 19: *Sc 5, DEC, repeat from * around (36)

Row 20: *Sc 4, DEC, repeat from * around (30)

Row 21: *Sc 3, DEC, repeat from * around (24)

Row 22: *Sc 2, DEC, repeat from * around (18)

Row 23: *Sc 1, DEC, repeat from * around (12)

Fasten off, sew on muzzle, eyes, and ears, stuff the head, and attach to body.

I'm pretty sure this is how I did it. Please leave a comment if you notice an error in the pattern and I'll update this post to fix it.