RABBIT

ZARA'S BAG

Rhegan Bear

REQUIREMENTS :

A handsome chenille bear, perfect for a little boys room, gift or to admire in your own home.

23cm square piece of chenille

Tan Rit Dye, coffee or tea

Fibre fill

Crochet thread

2 small black beads

Pencil or marker

Dolls needle

Black embroidery thread

Basic sewing requirements

Finished height of Rhegan when finished is 16cm.

Preparation

Abbreviations R.S.T- right sides together R.S.O- right side out.

You can dye the chenille first or after you have made the whole bear.  So first of all prepare the chenille, I have used Tan Rit dye, follow the instructions on the packet and then dry in the dryer.  You can also coffee dye him when you have finished the bear.  Trace your pattern pieces onto paper or cardboard and cut out, making sure you copy all the markings and openings where indicated.  Double your chenille with R.S.T and pin your pattern pieces onto the fabric, drawing the pattern pieces as you go, draw on 1 head, 1 body, 1 paw, 2 ears, 2 arms and 2 legs, once again mark your openings. Take the pattern pieces off and pin where your pattern was, so they don’t move when you are sewing or cutting them.  Cut the head and paws on the traced line. Sew the other body parts on the traced line using a small sewing stitch(1 to 2). Cut around the body pieces leaving a ¼” seam allowance where shown.  With the legs sew only where shown, as there are two openings and cut out with seam allowances all the way around the leg (where shown). Cut the bottom of the leg on the line (this is where the foot pad goes).  Cut out on single material your muzzle.

Head and Body

Place the two head pieces with R.S.T. sew down a seam at the front of the teddy from A to B  (shown on pattern).  Leaving the head pieces with R.S.T, pin the gusset into place by pinning the centre front of the gusset to the tip of the nose.  Stitch the gusset into place by sewing down one side of the head starting at the top of the nose going over the head and down to the neck.  Do the same to the other side.  Clip the curves and turn R.S.O.  Stuff the head and body so they are firm.  To attach the head to the body, start at the back bottom of the head’s neck, using  crochet thread and needle do a running stitch around the neck (do not tie off) pull the thread carefully so that it gathers.  Place the front of the head so that it lines up with the front body seam.  Ladder stitch the head onto the body.  Make sure that the teddies head is facing down.

Ears, Eyes and Nose

You can choose what you would like to position first.  I like to start with the eyes and nose first.  Start at the back of the head using a dolls needle and three strands of black thread with a knot in the end.  Put the needle through to where the first eye is to go, and sew a bead down to position the first eye.  Then go through to the other eye position and do the same. Pull fairly tight as doing so, this will make the eyes indented.  Go back and forth from one eye to the other through the bead to secure.  Using crochet thread gather stitch along the bottom openings of the ears and then with out tying off sew the ears down using ladder stitch into there position.

Arms and Legs

First of all leave the legs with R.S.T. position the foot paws on the bottom of the leg, so that right sides are still together.  You may want to hand sew the paws into place first.  Line up the marked lines with the centre front and back seams.  I used my machine to sew these into place, but it is a bit tricky with this bear.  So you may want to hand stitch these on.  For another alternative you could have the wrong side of the chenille as the front of the paw.  Turn the legs R.S.O and stuff, do the same with the arms, close the openings using the crochet thread.  Position the arms and legs to match where indicated on pattern sheet.  Using your crochet thread with a knot at the end, Start from the inside leg or arm and sew to the body going back and forth to secure into place.  Do not go all the way through to the front, so that you just catch it. You shouldn’t be able to see the stitching.

Finishing Off

If you want to give your Rhegan bear a real antique look.  Make a strong mix of coffee and water by using one tablespoon of coffee to 50-80ml of water (depending on the darkness you want to achieve) and either spray or wet your bear with it.  Make sure there are no white patches left.  You can also rub a bit of coffee into the bear while it’s still wet, to make darker patches of dye.  Do as much of this as you want. Then dry your bear in the sun.  I then like to pull bits of chenille out to make it look like it’s been around for many years, do this especially around the face.  To give your bear a different touch you can put a bow around his neck as well, or to make it into a girl, around her head.  Your Rhegan bear is now completed isn’t he cute.  I hope you enjoy him.

Regards,

Katherine.  

FLOWER BASKET

Please read all instructions before beginning.

Cut background fabric to 16in square.

Centre pattern onto background and using a sunny window or lightbox transfer the design with a grey lead pencil.

All stitches are as follows:

All leaves are stitched with 1505/935 using backstitch, except for the daisy leaves, these are lazy daisy stitches.

Please follow pattern sheet and photo where indicated with a *.

Press completed stitchery with a hot iron, being careful not to scorch the fabric, or pull the stitches.

Trim background fabric back to 10in x 12in. Attach a piece of iron on pellon to the back of the stitchery, following manufacturers instructions. Remove the glass from the picture frame, run masking tape around the edges overlapping both sides of the glass, being very careful not to cut yourself. Place the stitchery right side up on the glass, pull the fabric tight, but not too tight (or you could rip or tear the background fabric) and replace back into the frame. Before putting the backing of the frame back on, make sure that the stitchery is centred in the frame and the background fabric is taut. Fold any excess fabric in towards the centre of the frame, and secure with a couple of stitches if necessary, place the backing board back on and put back into the frame.

Hang or stand your completed stitchery and enjoy!

Julie Gibbs© 2006

All rights reserved.

I am not responsible for individual results or errors. Every effort has been made to make sure there are no mistakes or omissions.

Pattern kindly donated by Kerry Daly - Primitive Country Treasures

Pattern kindly donated by Vivian Robinson - Viv's Creations