How to Attach Cotter Pins & Discs on a Knitted Teddy

Give your knitted teddy bear old-fashioned appeal with disk and cotter pin joints. This style of joint, which consists of two wooden disks and a pronged cotter pin, will give your knitted teddy bear moving limbs and a rotating head, just like the original teddy bear. Your knitted teddy's poseable limbs and head will delight children and teddy bear lovers of all ages. Fitting your knitted teddy with these traditional joint materials only requires a little advanced planning.

Things You'll Need

• Knitted teddy bear pattern worked in individual pieces
• Tapestry needle
• Yarn required by pattern
• Needles required by pattern
• Stuffing
• 5 cotter pins
• 10 wooden disks
• Pliers

Instructions

1. Knit your bear using the appropriate yarn and knitting needles. If the pattern you chose is not jointed, or if it does not use cotter pin and disk joints, you must modify your pattern as you knit.

2. Work the head in the round from the top down. When you have decreased to 8 stitches, break yarn, leaving a 10-inch tail. Using a tapestry needle, thread the tail through remaining stitches. Do not pull closed.

3. Knit your teddy bear's body in the round from the bottom up. At the point where limbs join the body, yarn over to and knit the next 2 stitches together. This will create an eyelet hole for your cotter pins to fit through. When you have knit 1/3 of the bear's body height, switch to knitting flat, beginning at the bear's middle back. Continue knitting flat until you have completed 2/3 of the bear's height. Switch back to knitting in the round. This will create an open seam. When you have reached the base of the neck, decrease to 8 stitches and break yarn. With your tapestry needle, run the tail through the live stitches and set aside.

4. Work your limbs flat from side to side. Fold in half with the right sides together, and sew the seam. Leave open at the joint attachment location and turn limbs right-side out.

5. Stuff the knitted pieces, beginning with the legs. Peng Peng Li suggests stopping about 1/4 inch from each hole to account for the joint and to make closing the seam easier. Insert a joint disk and pin into each leg. The pin should stick out from the inner side of each limb. Add stuffing around the joints and sew the seam closed around your cotter pin.

6. Stuff the head, leaving half an inch of space at the bottom. Insert your disk and cotter pin, allowing the pin to stick from the bottom of the head. Pull your stitches tightly around the pin.

7. Insert limb joints into the eyelets. Slide a joint disk onto each pin, and with a pair of pliers, pry the pin's prongs apart until they lie flat against the disk. Attach the head to the body using the same method as the limbs.

8. Stuff the body. Fill body until firm, and sew the back seam closed.

Tips & Warnings

• Choose disks and cotter pins appropriately sized for your project.

References

• HGTV