Soft fabrics are a favorite among my girls, especially Missy S! She loves to cuddle up at night with a buddy by her side. So, I was very excited when Shannon Fabrics invited me to create a project with them. Their Cuddle™ fabric is super soft and comes in luscious colors! Yummo!
Cuddle Buddy Bear
Materials:
- Cuddle™ Fabric from Shannon Fabrics: Cuddle 3 from the Kozy Cuddle Solids™ Collection in Honey and Turquoise.
- Wild by Ann Kelle from Remix Flannel from Robert Kaufman
- Snaps
- Embroidery floss
- Double sided fusible
- Poly fil
- Bear template
Tools:
- Sewing Machine
- Needle and Thread
*This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing and ad-free. Find more here. The blog post is totally free to read, print, and sew! The PDF tutorial & download for $2 is totally optional.
Basic Instructions:
1.From flannel; cut 2 bodies, 2 ears & 1 nose. From Cuddle™ color A; cut two ears & 1 face. Cuddle™ color B; cut eyes, heart, and 4 strips 6″ long x 2 1/2″ wide. These strips will be the arms and legs.
2. Trace appliqué details onto the paper side of the fusible. Following the manufacturers instructions, fuse to the wrong side of the fabric. Peel off paper backing, position in place on the body of the bear, and fuse in place. If desired, add a quick row of stitching all around for additional security. Click here for more information on appliqué.
3. Hand embroider mouth detail and attach snap eyes.
4. Match the ears, wrong sides together and stitch all around; clip; turn ears out and lightly press. Be sure to smooth out the curve of ears with a dull object if needed.
5. To create arms and legs; fold your Cuddle™ strips in half and tie a knot close to the end.
6. To join pieces; pin the ears at the top, arms at the side marking, and legs 1/2″ in from corners along the bottom edge. Be sure that all parts are on the body and not extending past. Sandwich right sides together with the backside of the body. Pin everything in place. *I reduced the arm length 1″ on my cuddle buddy bear.
7. Bring to your machine; starting at the bottom edge, straight stitch all around to the other side. Be sure to leave around 2″ open along the bottom edge.
8. Turn the bear right side out and lightly press.
9. Stuff Cuddle Buddy Bear with polyfill.
10. Pin opening together and slip stitch closed with needle and thread or machine stitch with matching thread.
And if you are nervous about sewing with Cuddle™ we have you covered. Check out our top 10 Tips for sewing with Cuddle post.
Now, if you are like me and need a few extra hours to wrap gifts and such, your little ones might be heading out to Grandma’s for an overnighter or to a friends. This Cuddle Buddy Bear fits perfectly into the pocket pillowcase project. You can find the full pillowcase pattern and instructions here and here.
You can have this PillowCase and Cuddle Buddy stitched up in a flash. With the holidays around the corner, it’s the perfect time to visit Grandma’s for an overnighter. (I’m thinking kid-free holiday shopping!)
*A special “Thank you” to Robert Kaufman and Shannon Fabrics for supplying the fabric for today’s Cuddle Buddy Bear project.
Comments & Reviews
A fun way for my family to celebrate the holidays is to go go-karting! Everyone stops by early on. Christmas. Eve for a huge breakfast. Then off to the indoor go karting arena for the day! Everyone gets involved from the grand kids to the grandparents! It’s a fun tradition our kids started and look forward to each year !
We always look forward to a local Christmas Horse Parade. This year will be the first year we go the the nighttime version–with all the lights. And afterwards, we cut down our tree, although it will probably be done in reverse order this year. 🙂
My parents passed away when I was in my early teens, my older siblings were all out of the house. Every year since then, we have taken turns hosting Christmas morning. We all gather for breakfast/brunch. Everyone must where pajamas… it’s a requirement.
My most fave way to spend the holiday is doing things for others, especially the elderly and children. All of our needs are met and we are so incredibly blessed. Most recently we purchased sweat pants for veterans and are making shoeboxes and getting together coats and blankets for folks in ky who are having some difficulty. I just love giving to others, including baking, sewing and visiting!
we are trying some new things this year- like a local boat parade! Pretty excited. Thanks for sharing this bear- it will make a great gift!
My favorite part of the holiday is having both my daughters helping me with the dinner. For so many years I did it all on my own. A couple of years ago they finally realized Mom wasn’t going to get well enough to do it on her own again.
This is so sweet, thanks for sharing the tutorial!
As for celebrating….we love to dress everyone in jammies, hit Krispy Kreme drive thru and then cruise around town looking at all the beautiful Christmas lights! 🙂
I like just getting together with family and remembering the good old days.
smjohns63 at yahoo dot com
Lots of things make up a wonderful Christmas for us…the Angel Tree program at church where we can gifts for children of prisoners and then host a Christmas party for them, my kids exchanging names for gifts, the tree sitting in the corner decorated with the ornaments we’ve collected through the years, Christmas Eve candlelight service at church, and this year, Skyping with my oldest son’s family and our new granddaughter!
Very simple, time with family – one of the few times we can all be together.
My GGdaughter and I started decorating a special little tree just for her. We really look forward to doing this.
Making grandma’s Christmas cookies. My sister & I always spent a weekend at our paternal grandparent’s house making Christmas cookies-she had 2 boys but had 4 grand daughters. My mom has continued the tradition with my kids & my sister’s kids when they are here. My sister moved out of state last year before Christmas, but she made sure to make the same cookies with her girls on the same day that my kids made them with grandma.
Just getting together with family is enough for me.
I found sewing with my niece is a great way to be close any time of year. The trick is setting aside several hours of my time to accomodate her interest! the cuddle Bear is perfect for us.
We kick off the holidays w/ new jammies, popcorn drizzled w/ peppermint chocolate & Charlie Brown Christmas followed by either Scrooged or The Santa Clause.
Love the tutorial, so gonna try it!
When I was younger the funnest part of Christmas was getting together with family and going caroling Christmas eve night. We would bundle up and load up on a hay ride and go around to different houses (we live in country so long space between houses) we would carol and look at Christmas lights. Then when we got home we would sit around fire and drink hot choclate or coffee. LOL with 3 kids with their spouse and 7 grandkids who got to invite friends my grandparents had a big family to haul around.
Love this one!!!!! and I have a 5 foot pile of minky to downsize!!!
We love to make Mexican hot chocolate and drink it while decorating the tree together.
I love sewing for my kids and friends!
My favorite holiday celebration is getting together with family. That’s so much harder to do now that some live in different states. My side of the family lives in California, Nevada and Missouri. My husband’s side of the family lives in Mississippi, Alabama, and North Carolina. Sadly, this means we’re never all together at once anymore. This year, we will be 9 for Christmas, as those from North Carolina and Alabama will be in Mississippi…
I’m hoping to take a vacation day one day in December and spend the day making a mess … I mean cut-out cookies with my toddler!
Ever since my husband & I have become empty nesters, & then became Grandparents, it seems like it gets harder & harder to have family time on a regular basses, so I’m so happy when the Holidays arrive, because it’s a for sure family time I can count on….love it!
Hello Tambra,
Be sure to check your emails…. you are the lucky winner.
~Heather
Congrats Tambra What a fun project!!
We, as a family bake cookies and decorate them ever weekend until Christmas. Thank you.
Taking it easy, enjoying family and celebrating the season.
My Brother his 4 kids, me & my daughter & my Mom make a big thing of going on the hunt for the perfect Christmas tree!!!
Our family, old and young, always plays Bingo at Christmas. We have a table full of prizes for the winners to choose from, and everyone really gets into it. So much fun to see the older cousins helping the youngest cousins.
We have a family game day after each holiday dinner. Clean up first and then Five Crowns or Mexican Train or Scrabble or Cribbage or all of them. At Christmas we have a “white” elephant gift exchange and that brings lots of laughter.
My Mom gets the family and family friends together for a big dinner every year she is 82 and still does all the work.
Its always fun to see how excited our 2 and a half year old granddaughter is and the expressions and comments she makes. This year her little brother will have a ball ripping into the gifts.
We like to spend time with all of the family just visiting.
Every year someone gets to play santa. That preson hands out gifts and desserts. We sing holiday songs as a family before we do gifts.
We are going to be making homemade ornaments and I plan on making matching pjs for my 1 month old and 6yr old. I loving creating memory’s as we go.
Simply enjoying the time you have with family. Shutting off the TV, putting on Christmas music and playing board games.
I’ve been making pillowcases for some time, using a great pattern I found at Missouriquilts.com. This version is ADORABLE!!!!!!! I love the cuddly fabric, too!
Cute bear. I make gifts during December. My sewing machine never quits.
My favorite is just being able to spend time with my children and grandchildren and grand doggies all at the same time.
This is so cute, would love to make it for my new great granddaughter!
We try to slow down during Christmas break. We have fun playing old style board games with our kids. Playing games creates a lot of laughter.
A fun way we celebrated the holiday this yr was making crafty greeting cards for our servicemen & women that will need a little lift in spirits while their away from home. Sharing the spirit of Christmas around the world!
We love to celebrate by getting the whole family together. My sister and I both had babies this summer, so this year is extra special!
Gathering together with all the grandson’s and watching them rip the wrapping off of their presents….then hear the words, “Grandma is there more?”. lol
I used to make my kids pj’s every year – That was there one present to open on Christmas Eve – The rest wait for morning. Now I do the pj’s (purchased if I run out of time) for the grandkids – matching for the 4 granddaughters – same theme for the 1 grandson. This pillow case would be a great idea to ‘wrap’ new pjs in too.
We have a big meal late in the afternoon and then after the clean up we open our gifts. My Mom was always too eager to have us wait for Christmas morning. She had one of the neighbors come over and shake bells outside the window so we would think Santa was coming. I miss my Mom and Dad so much at Christmas time. Later we go to church for Christmas Eve service. Thanks for the giveaway!
One fun way we always celebrated the holiday season when my kids were little were to take them out after dark, in their jammies, and drive around town to see the Christmas lights. When we got home, we’d have some warm cocoa, a cookie and off to bed! The kids (now grown) still talk about how much fun they had doing this.
On Christmas Eve we have Lasagna, and on Christmas Day homemade Caramel Rolls. Then we watch Christmas movies together.
Awww… so cute!!! I’ve linked to your tutorial over at Craft Gossip: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/free-pattern-cuddle-buddy-bear-and-a-pocketed-pillowcase-to-keep-him-close/2013/11/30/
–Anne
We do 12 nights of books. I gift my son 12 new books leading up to Christmas. It is his favorite part of Christmas.
Our Capitol building is filled with decorated Christmas trees in December. It’s always fun to go see them all. The main tree is 38 ft tall this year. This little bear is adorable! Love those soft fabrics for small projects too.
favorite way to celebrate is to just spend time with my family 🙂
Just having the whole family under the same roof at the same time is definitely my favorite way to celebrate the holidays…matters not the food, decorations, or gifts. Thank you for the pattern…perfect timing…I’ll be making it for my quilt guild’s gift giving to kids in need this year.
Having all the family in on Christmas Eve works at my house!
We go to our log home in MI (from OK) to enjoy a White Christmas.