Hey there!

I had a special request come through! I was asked to turn a collection of pony club ribbons into a teddy bear for a special little persons birthday!

I couldn’t resist the challenge, and this project genuinely excited me! Alas, it caused a little anxiety, cutting into some prized horse riding ribbons! But it was totally worth it in the end!

  • Pin It
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
This is what I started with. I used every ribbon pictured here, and there was minimal scrap left over!
  • Pin It
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
I used this pattern, the jointed version. It has been on my book shelf for a while now, and probably on my mums for much much longer! “Make Your Own Teddy Bears” by Doris King
  • Pin It
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
I drew out all the pattern pieces onto fusible interfacing. This became the base for the bear. I then cut this out, and fused the ribbons to each piece, fussy cutting it so I made the most of the print on the ribbons.
  • Pin It
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
After ironing the ribbons to each pattern piece, I trimmed the ribbons to the shape of the pattern. Then I top stitched the edge of the ribbons to hold them into place.
  • Pin It
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
I sewed everything together, jointed the arms, legs and head, then stuffed the bear!
  • Pin It
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Because the printing on each ribbon was way too long to include the whole thing in one piece, I focused on using the name of the place the ribbon was from. The rest of the ribbon always read “pony club” so I stitched all the leftover pony club pieces together, gathered one side and made a beautiful flower bow for the bear to wear!
  • Pin It
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
This fellow has gone to his forever home now <3 I hear they were well received!

Things I learnt:

  • Ribbon is hard to work with! These ribbons in particular. The screen printing wasn’t particularly robust, even the turning out process took its toll. And the rainbow ribbon has been digitally printed in those colours, so minor mistakes showed through as a weird white mess.
  • The curating on where each ribbon should go and what to fussy cut takes way longer than actually sewing the bear together!
  • I love making pieces like this!

In other news, my lounge room is still a mess as we continue sorting through absolutely everything in my studio. But the end is in sight! And it has to be, as we are having a baby shower here on Saturday and expect the weather to be unpredictable.

Have a creative week!
<3 Cate