Bear in a top hat–couldn’t get much cuter!

This cute little bear is one of the creatures you might meet in Fox Hollow! Want to meet some of the other creatures that live in Fox Hollow? My Kickstarter campaign is going strong and you can visit and see other character sketches and watch the video! Please help me spread the word and meet my goal!

This Bear is easy to make– you can make him into a pin or an ornament.

Here are your directions!

1. Download the bear-pin-J.Carson pattern.

2. Print the pattern on cardstock or print on regular paper and trace onto heavier paper.

3. Trace the pattern onto the back of your fur fabric. Only trace 2 ears on fur. Trace 2 more ears on felt.

4. cut out the pieces. Pin the side head together from nose tip, under chin to neck edge. Sew with a whip stitch.

5. Pin the gusset to the head. Stitch in place.

6. Turn right side out and stuff. Gather neck edge.

7. With a blanket stitch, sew one fur ear to one felt ear– place felt on wrong side of ear and blanket stitch edges.

8. Stitch ears to head.

9. Sew glass beads on for eyes.

10. Embroider nose and sew pin back on back of head, or attach a hanging loop.

If you want to make a top hat: cut one circle about the size of a quarter. Cut a rectangle about 2″ wide by however tall you’d like it. Sew the flat edges of the rectangle together with some embroidery floss. Cut a circle the size of the top of the fat and whip stitch circle to top of hat. Them stitch the larger circle to the bottom of hat. Stitch hat to bears head. Attach a little fabric bow and/or other bits and bobs for decoration.

If you’d like to learn more about the books, please visit my book page!

Here are your directions:

1.Print out PDF here:badger-felt.carson

2. Trace pattern pieces onto freezer paper. Cut out pieces on the line.

3. With a warm iron press the pattern pieces onto the felt. The body, belly, soles, tail, inner ear and face stripe should be on black/gray. The head and outer ear on white. Cut the pattern pieces out. I like to store all of them in a ziploc baggie while I’m working so that I don’t lose a piece!

4. Match the notched curve of the belly and blanket stitch together, leaving about 1-2/2″ open for stuffing.

5. Match head to body and whip stitch in place. Place inner ear on top of outer ear and secure with a dab of fabric glue. Place Face Stripe on top of white head and stitch on at neck. Place a dab of fabric glue near the nose (away from the edge) and at back of head to keep the felt from slipping when you stitch the gusset in place.

6. Match one side of the belly to one side of the body and stitch together using a blanket stitch– secure threads at bottom of legs and start again at the bottom of the other leg. Repeat for opposite side of body.

7. Sew the front of the body where the belly meets in the chest, up to the point of the nose.

8. Pin head gusset in place between the head pieces. Stitch with a blanket stitch.

9. Continue stitching at point in head gusset down the badger’s back.

10. Stitch soles to bottom of feet.

11.Whipstitch tail in place. Stuff badger. Close stuffing opening with a whip stitch.

12. Sew seeds beads in place for his eyes. Whip stitch ears in place.

Today I launched the kickstarter for my project with illustrator Patricia Ann Lewis– she’s the fabulous artist who illustrated Hapenny Magick and To Find A Wonder. It’s a scarey feeling to put your work out to the world but also exciting =0)

Fox Hollow Tales is a series of stories set in New England in the 1830′s.

Wojer and the Wizard of the Wood

is the first tale in the series and stars a little badger named Wojer.  The neighborhood bully, Lilly, tries to scare Wojer with a story about a wizard who turns anyone who picks berries at the Old Lark Meadow into frogs. But Wojer humorously turns the tables on the Lily and her friends.

You can find out more about Wojer and the Fox Hollow Tales series by following this link:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jennifercarson/fox-hollow-tales-first-in-the-series-illustrated-s

(posted to BEEZ in the Belfry Blog)

Join us at The BeeHive on April 19th, from 5-8pm, for a Book Signing with Jennifer Carson.

Jen is excited to present her newest book, Beyond Bears – How to draw, design and sew your own stuffed animals. She’ll be demonstrating how to make a tiny bear head pin from the book. Copies of the new book, as well as her previous adventure books, To Find a Wonder and Hapenny Magick, will be available for sale.

If you cannot make it to the book signing party, but would like to purchase a copy of Jen’s new book, you can get it from her Etsy shop online. Be sure to ask her to sign it because she is getting famous and all her books will be valuable some day. If they had super heroes in the magical world, Jen would be Wonder Woman. But Jen’s not a super hero because the cape would get in the way of her wings…

Note: If you are new to my blog or can’t quite remember who Jen is… take a look at my blog post from last March. This party is all Jen’s and there won’t be a giant castle cake, but other than that, it will be great!

I heard rumors of teddy bear cupcakes…

Swirly Turtle, hand sewn from felt, PMRT

Swirly Turtle is made from felt and hand sewn together. He is 6 1/2″ long and about 6″ wide. Easy …

Price: US$3.00

Baird Bear, a music playing bear PMRT

Baird Bear is a new 2013 bear pattern with clearly written and illustrated directions. He sits at …

Price: US$8.00

The second pattern is from a customer request for a Chinese styled dragon. He is the Good Luck dragon and is sure to bring some to your household! He is 14″ long and stands at 10″ high with a fabulously curly tail. Eyes and belly are needle felted. Wnat to see other dragon sewing patterns? Check out the dragon page by clicking here.

Good Luck, Chinese Dragon PMRT

This Chinese style Good Luck Dragon is 14″ long and 10″ high. He is made from hand dyed woven wool …

Price: US$10.00

Happy Creating!

Want to order your own copy of Beyond Bears? Visit my Etsy shop! I also have a new dragon pattern out, the Dragon Hatchlilngs, that is a 2 for 1 pattern. One pattern, two dragons! If you haven’t heard, you can now immediately download your purchase from my Etsy store which makes it super fast and easy to start creating!

New Dragon Hatchlings sewing pattern!

 

Two beautiful dragon patterns in one digital download. Patterns will be delivered as a PDF file. Detailed instructions with illustrations. Each dragon is about 22″ long. Needle felted eyes and chest, soft sculpted nose, wired fingers/toes. Your choice to thread joint or safety lock joint, instructions included for both. $14.00

Dragons shown are made with hand dyed woven wool and wool felt. You can now order directly from Etsy and download the PDF as soon as your payment is received! Or order through Patternmart for an instant download or  if you’d like a paper pattern.