How to Make Build a Bear Clothes
A child who gets to select a Build-A-Bear stuffed animal of her own can start a magical connection. By making her own bear or other creature and picking out its wardrobe, she gets to watch it come to life. While there are a lot of clothing options to choose from in the store, you can make Build-A-Bear clothes yourself for a lot less money using any fabrics you want. There are many patterns to choose from for 18-inch dolls, but you can create and sew your own pattern with very little trouble.
Things You'll Need
- Build-A-Bear animal
- Printer paper
- Pencil
- Fabric
- Scissors
- Pins
- Sewing machine
Instructions
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1
Lay your bear on its back over a sheet of printer paper. Starting at the shoulder, trace around each arm, up the armpit, and down to the waist.
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2
Remove the bear and draw a slight scoop on the paper to create the neckline and arm holes. Draw a line across the waist area to form the bottom of the shirt pattern.
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3
Cut out the pattern along your drawn lines. Place the pattern over a piece of fabric and cut out the fabric around the pattern, allowing about ¼-inch extra fabric all the way around. Cut out a second piece of the same fabric using the same pattern.
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4
Pair your two fabric pieces with the outsides facing in and pin along the edges. Sew a ¼-inch seam along the edges of the pattern, leaving open the neck, waist, and arm holes.
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5
Fold each of the open edges over by ½ inch to create a hem. Sew the hem down around the edges of each opening. Turn the shirt right side out and put it on the bear.
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6
Create pants or a dress for each animal following the same process for tracing the stuffed toy’s actual size to make a pattern and cutting out two pieces of fabric for each pattern. Sew the sides and hem the open edges needed for dressing the animal.
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Tips & Warnings
Add ribbons, embroidery, buttons, embellishments, and iron-on patches to your Build-A-Bear creature's clothes to personalize them and make them unique.
References
- Photo Credit bear image by devilpup from Fotolia.com
