Cuddle Blanket Bear - Promotes Babies Development While Cuddling

The Cuddle Blanket is a cosy and cute soft toy for babies which I created for a friends newborn. With its different types of fabric it´s good for a baby´s first tactile touch experiences. Additional you can put some foil or a rattle in the inside of the blanket so that it´s also good for the sense of hearing.

With this Cuddle-Blanket you have a cute friend for your baby and additionally promote its development by providing tactile and hearing experiences, which is fundamental for the newborns – what else could you want!?

Everything you need:

• Teddy fabric – 40 x 60 cm and 2 pieces 15 x 15 cm
• 2 cotton fabrics for the front – 2 pieces 20 x 10 cm
• Different colourful fabrics for arms and legs (jersey, fleece, cotton fabric,...) – 4 pieces 5 x 10 cm
• Fabric remnants for face, eyes, nose, mouth, ears
• Additional: tinfoil/ plastic-bag/ rattle for the inside
• Felt-tip
• Pins
• Sewing thread (different colours)
• Scissors and/or rotary cutter
• Sewing machine

Step 1: Preparation

Prepare and arrange all the materials you need. Print the pattern and cut it.

Step 2: Transfer the Pattern

Place the pattern “body” on the left side of the big piece of the teddy fabric and transfer it twice with a felt-tip. These pieces will be used as the front- and backside. After that place the pattern “ear” on the left side of the leftover teddy fabric and transfer it two times. Put the pattern as well on another colourful cotton and transfer it another two times. Now put the pattern “cloth 1 and 2” on the cotton and transfer it. You can vary here and use also different sizes of these rectangles. After that you should transfer the “arms” and “legs” on the different colourful fabrics you have chosen. For this you should transfer the pattern eight times. As a next step place the pattern “face” on a brown or beige remnant and transfer it. The “nose” should be a bit darker than the face. Chose a remnant and transfer it once. As the final step place the pattern “eye” on the same fabric than the nose and transfer it twice. Once you have transferred all the patterns cut them.
You can always vary in fabrics, colours, sizes...the variation makes the Cuddle Blanket individual!

Step 3: Face

Before you can start sewing all the pieces together you should design the face of your Cuddle-Blanket. I´ve chosen a teddy bear but you can also create a dog or a cat or any other animal you like. In this case you have to modify the face and the ears a bit (more peaked ears for a cat for example). Fix the nose on the top of the face with the pins. Sew around the nose with a zigzag stitch (small and narrow). Try the zigzag stitch on another piece of fabric - it has to be really small and narrow. Use always sewing thread which is in the same colour than the fabric! Afterwards draw a mouth with the felt-tip underneath the nose and sew all along the line with a normal small stitch. Place the face in the upper third of the front side body, fix it with the pins and sew around the outside rim with a small and narrow zigzag stitch. This part can get a bit difficult because of the thick teddy fabric but it works when you sew carefully. Fix the eyes above the face and sew around the outside rim with another zigzag (small and narrow) to fix them on the teddy fabric.

Step 4: Ears

To make the ears look more special I used two different types of fabric. To sew them together place the two fabrics with right sides together and fix them with pins. Sew around the edges with a normal stitch. Don´t get too close to the edges (0,5 cm). Leave the lower part open that you can turn it around after sewing.

Step 5: Clothes

Put the two rectangles with right sides together. For this place the smaller piece on top of the bigger piece and fix it with pins. Now sew them on the long side (which is at the bottom now) together with a normal stitch. Open the fabric and fix the upper edge with its right side on the front side of the body underneath the face. The rest of the fabric lays above the head now. Just sew a straight line with a normal stitch on this edge. Afterwards you can fold it back down and the clothes lay on the body like a dress.

Step 6: Arms and Legs

Now we have to focus on the arms and legs. Take your prepared fabrics. I have chosen a fleece and a jersey fabric for the arms and a fleece and a cotton fabric for the legs. The more different types and colours of fabric you choose the better it looks and the better it is for the experiences of the baby while touching the different fabrics. Put each two fabrics together with the right sides and fix them. Sew around the edges. Leave open one of the smaller edges for the turning. Repeat this step with the remaining parts. When you finished the sewing turn the pieces to the right side and make a knot at each end (the closed side).

Additional you can put some tinfoil or plasticfoil in the arms or legs. This is also good for the sense of touch and hearing of the baby in its development.

Step 7: Sew Everything Together

Since we have finished all the pieces individually we can start matching them all together to one nice and colourful Cuddle Blanket. First of all you should fix all the individual pieces to the front side of the body. Now it depends a bit on how you want to fix them. I placed the legs and the ears slightly diagonal and the arms straight. But you can vary here depending on your preferences. Lay the ears, arms and legs with the side you want to have in front later onto the right side of the body showing in the centre of the body and fix them. Sew each piece for its own now. Keep in mind to go back and forwards because babies will pull on these pieces. Afterwards place the back side of the body with right side onto the frontside and fix it as well. Pay attention that everything is fixed and all the small pieces lay inside the two body parts. The fabric from the clothes needs to be in between front and back side as well. Now sew around the edges. Be careful that everything stays in its position while sewing. Leave a gap for turning on the bottom of the body. When you are done with that turn everything inside out through the gap. Pull all the pieces to the right location and close the gap by hand.

Step 8: Finished :)

Now your Cuddle Blanket is ready to cuddle :)

I hope you enjoyed creating it and had fun with my instructions. If you have any questions or suggestions for improvement just let me know. I´m glad for any feedback. Thank you for supporting me!