Teddy Bear "Muff" for a Little Girl Who Loses Her Mittens...

When there is an active little 2 year old girl in your life and it is winter in Canada one thing is certain... Mittens will get lost (or soaked) and little hands will get cold. But little girls tend to never lose their teddy bear so I thought why not use a soft and fluffy Teddy Bear as a stroller companion and hand muff!

Now as this will be a Christmas present I do not have pictures of the little girl using the Bear Muff but I think it is self explanatory how it will be used.

PS. All procedures as required by the International Teddy Bear Council were used during the surgery and no bears were harmed during the procedure. If you are upset by pictures of Teddy Bear surgery please do not read any further.

Step 1: Find the Perfect Bear...

The perfect bear for this project will be soft, fluffy and love hugs from little girls. I found this little bear looking for a home at a sale bin for 50% off the original $20 price! He was super soft and very cute plus he came dressed for winter and had extra material that I could use in the project.

Like any surgery the first thing to do is to undress the bear.

Step 2: The Incision...

Once the bear was prepped and given the appropriate amount of Teddy Bear anesthesia you can begin. Unfortunately the Bears little jacket was sewn directly to his arms so the easiest way to remove the jacket was to remove his arms. I know this sounds radical but it is common in Teddy Bear surgery and is a simple procedure. Once the arms are off find the side seams and make an incision from where the arm was down about 3 inches. Repeat this on the other side of the bear.

At this time using your fingers make a hole through the body stuffing between the two side holes. Make sure you have the hole in the middle with an equal amount of stuffing on the front and back of the hole to ensure the little hands will stay the warmest during use.

Step 3: The Internal Muff...

This bear came with a matching scarf that was basically a tube sewn at both ends. Cut the one end off of the scarf and measure the length that you need to pass this through the bears body. You want to leave some extra room so that you can easily sew the edges but also so that as the bear is hugged and loved and pulled that there is plenty of "give" so that it will not tear during normal use.

Cut the scarf to length and then turn it inside out as the "finished" side will need to be on the inside where the little hands will go.

Step 4: Stitch Him Up...

Pick a thread that is strong enough to stand up to regular use and is a color that will blend with the bear fur. Place the "tube" inside the bear and stitch the tube to the cut in the side of the bear. You will want to fold over about a half of inch of the tube under itself before you start sewing. This will result in a clean edge that will not fray. Hand sew all the way around the tube making sure that the stitches are close enough so that no stuffing will escape. Also insure that the stitches are not too close to the edge of the fur as then they could pull away. Straighten the tube inside the bear and then repeat this procedure on the other side of the bear.

Once the tube is stitched in, fluff up the bear and insure that everything is secure. Running your fingers across where the fur meets the tube will even out the fibers and give the edge a professional look.

Step 5: Arm the Bear...

Now you can re-attach the bears arms. Just sew them back to the seam where they were originally. Make sure you stitch them on extra secure are this is now a working Teddy. Now all that is left is to wake up Teddy...

Step 6: Success!

One last step is to put on his hat and add a couple of stitches so that it does not run away with the mittens. Teddy is now awake and ready to keep a little girls hand warm in the cold winter. He will live in her stroller so that he is there when he is needed not only as a friend and companion but for those days when a mitten goes missing he can jump in and help out. I can just picture my god daughter in her stroller with the bear in her lap and her little hands tucked warmly in his belly as she hugs him tight.

I cannot wait to introduce him to his little girl on Christmas day and if I remember I will update this with some action photos of Teddy in use!