Good Saturday morning and welcome to the 4th day of the Essentials by Ellen October Release blog hop. I’m excited to be hopping along to share Brandi and Julie’s amazing stamp and die sets. You should have arrived here from Julia’s wonderful blog. If you want to start at the beginning of the hop just go back and start at the CLASSroom. You can see the whole release here along with some great samples and video tutorials.
I’m playing with Julie’s new Bear Hug die set. If you love Julie’s All Inside Stamp and Die Set then you are going to love using this die set for all kinds of projects.
I chose to create a plush bear Christmas ornament with the heart in the set and a poinsettia and tiny Christmas trees. I used the small flower die from the Otter Ware Die Set to create the poinsettia and the Christmas trees from the Home and Hearth. I thought I would show a few step by step photos of how I put the bear together.
I used acrylic yarn from JoAnn’s to sew the pieces together.
I line up the two bear pieces and arms and pinned them in place. I started sewing by slipping the threaded needle in between the two bear layers so the knot would be hidden inside and brought the needle up through the first hole of the top bear. I used a simple whip stitch beginning along the straight edge of the bear so that I would be finishing the closure on a straight edge.
When I was all the way around the ears and feet edges of the bear I started back down the straight edge and left the opening large enough to allow me to insert the batting to fill the bear. I knew it would be much easier to close the opening along the straight edge rather than near the feet or ear edges of the bear. I gently inserted the batting up into the ears and down in the feet sections first and then filled in the rest of the bear. Once I was satisfied it was filled enough I completed the stitching to close the opening.
When the opening was totally secure I inserted the needle between the two layers and pushed it through to the other side of the bear. I didn’t want there to be a knot showing so I pulled the yarn through and out the other side and snipped it off. I failed to get a picture of the backside of the bear but it is as flawless as the front showing no knots.
I used hot glue to attached the eyes and nose to his face.
I created a knot with the yard and then pulled the needle through both poinsettia layers to create the center and then hot glued the yarn to the back side of the second flower and trimmed it off. I decided to use the tiny Christmas trees as the foliage for the poinsettia and to layer on the heart. The picture above just shows the pieces for that little arrangement. When I was getting ready to attach the heart inside the arms of the bear I decided it would be cute to add a trio if trees behind the heart along with a little star to top off the center tree. I hot glued the three trees and heart in place to finish.
Note: I failed to add a yarn hanger to the bear so it could be hung on the Christmas tree. I should have created one by knotting two ends of yarn together and tucking the knotted end in between the two bear layers before stitching it together. With the knot inside the bear you would not have any ugly knots showing on either side of the bear. Duh! I didn’t think of doing it as I was making this little guy. LOL!
Here are links to the whole release:
I appreciate you stopping by and I hope you have fun hopping on over to Laurel’s blog! You can find the complete hop list below.
Kittie Caracciolo (you are here)
Project Links along with my regularly used tools and supplies:
Your bear is adorable! Love the extra touch of the little trees behind the heart!
Posted by: Carol H. | October 14, 2017 at 10:03 AM
HOW ADORABLE, Kittie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;) TOTALLY PERFECT!!! EVERYONE is playing with felt now..... ;)Thank you for showing us just how this little bear can be used in a special way! ;)
Posted by: Becky Green | October 14, 2017 at 10:19 AM
AAWWHH!Such a sweet polar bear!
Posted by: Lagene | October 14, 2017 at 11:14 AM
Love that bear with yarn for the stitching. Makes him even “warmer”
Posted by: Liz mcallister | October 14, 2017 at 03:57 PM
Good afternoon, Kittie. this little bear is adorable. I love how you presented him with the fern an holiday ornaments. He is so cute. I could see him on mantel , or table, maybe with a place card in his hand an the small Christmas tree. beautiful idea and well done.......have a good week-end.
Posted by: Pattie Jns | October 14, 2017 at 04:30 PM
thanks for the details....Hugs
Posted by: Pattie Jns | October 14, 2017 at 04:38 PM
Oh my goodness !! How adorable is that bear !!! And look at these little trees !!!!
Posted by: Marjorie Dumontier | October 14, 2017 at 05:07 PM
Your bear is so adorable. The heart and trees are perfect. Thanks for sharing the how to info.
Posted by: Gilda (McStamper) | October 14, 2017 at 06:38 PM
Cute--love stitching with felt.
Posted by: Sue LD | October 14, 2017 at 09:48 PM
Cet ourson est adorable et je l'imagine très bien sur une table à Noël ! Bon dimanche doux et ensoleillé !
Posted by: crisitane | October 14, 2017 at 10:16 PM
Such a sweet bear.
Posted by: Julie | October 14, 2017 at 11:16 PM
Morning Kittie, the bear looks so beautiful. I like the stitched yarn and the sweet little deco he's holding in his arms.
Posted by: Petra | October 15, 2017 at 03:49 AM
Darling Christmas bear!!
Posted by: Janet Ingraham | October 15, 2017 at 04:45 AM
Now he is just too cute. Love your project, as always.
Posted by: Jan D., FL | October 15, 2017 at 06:51 AM
Your bear is so cute! Great idea to use the trees as foliage for the poinsettia.
Posted by: Deborah Kaye | October 15, 2017 at 09:42 AM
Oh oh just so cute.
Posted by: Deb Selby | October 15, 2017 at 11:49 AM
Oh my gosh you just took that little guy to the top!!! He is just the sweetest, prettiest Christmas bear. Thank you.
Posted by: Martha R | October 15, 2017 at 06:15 PM
Oh isn't he too cute, so fun!
Posted by: Conniecrafter | October 15, 2017 at 09:20 PM
Just the cutest....adorable....love it...super job but of course....Miss Kittie...
Posted by: Vickie | October 16, 2017 at 06:14 AM
This bear is just adorable and what a great small gift for a small child or a dear friend, an ornament on the tree to remind them of you! Thank you for sharing.
Posted by: Laura Peddicord | October 16, 2017 at 12:39 PM
Exquisite!
Posted by: KimberlyRae | October 16, 2017 at 02:49 PM
This is so cute, Kittie! I am curious to know, in the photo where you are gluing the eyes, what is the gadget you're using, and what do you think of it? Is it better than the usual craft reverse type tweezers that are sold? Thank you, Karen!
Posted by: Karen Goodfellow | November 01, 2017 at 07:11 AM