Traditional Jointed Bear 2nd & 3rd May

Workshop/ Course Description

Friday 2nd & Saturday 3rd May 2025 Each day 10am - 2pm The cost includes expert tuition on both days, the pattern for the bear, the joints, the eyes and the specialist thread to make nose and mouth. On Day 1 you’ll learn about the different fabric and construction of bears, choose your fabrics, cut out your pieces and make the head. You might start some of the limbs. On Day 2 we’ll finish sewing the limbs and body, put the limbs and head onto the body and make the features of the head - this is the best bit - when your bear will really come to life! You can choose to hand sew or machine sew your bear. I use a mixture of both techniques - hand sewing the more fiddly bits and using a machine for larger pieces. There will be sewing machines available or bring your own if you want to. You will need to buy fabric to make the bear, thread to sew the bear and stuffing. The finished bear is 270mm (10.5”) tall. You will need a piece of main bear fabric 350mm x 450mm plus a piece of paw fabric 200mm x 80mm. You can use mohair or synthetic (faux) fur or you could use a non-furry fabric. You are welcome to bring your own fabric if you would like to. I will have mohair and synthetic fur fabric available to buy and Becca has a lot of lovely fabric to choose from in the shop. Mohair is quite expensive to buy and a piece for the bear will be about £20 to buy from me. Synthetic is much less expensive and will be less than £10. Synthetic fur fabric can be more slippy to work with than mohair and fray more but your bear will look lovely whichever you choose. I will have a selection of paw/ear fabric which will be £2 or, again, you can bring your own. Felt or velvet or a tweed work well. There are different kinds of stuffing for bears and I will have a selection of woodwool, polyester and kapok and I’ll be able to advise you which would suit your fabric choice best. Stuffing is relatively inexpensive and will cost £2-£5 depending on which you choose. You will also need a matching thread to sew the bear. Becca has a wide selection in the shop. If you need any more info, please give me a call - 07884237471 I look forward to seeing you! Refreshments provided mid morning & we will break for 30 mins around midday. Please bring a snack or packed lunch. Contact Laura with any questions on limounder@btinternet.com.