felt bears

I think this might be one of my favorite recent projects. These little bears were really enjoyable to make, not terribly time-consuming, and I think they are absolutely adorable. I was browsing through the handmade gift guide on marthastewart.com and saw the "Tooth Bears" template...I have always loved the look of simple hand-stitched dolls and toys, so I started cutting.

I had intended to make the tooth bears, which have a little pocket on their chests for kids to store lost teeth in...but honestly, teeth are not front and center in my mind right now. I'm not even thinking about my baby (not even born yet) getting teeth, let alone losing them. Plus, I didn't have any good pocket colors in my felt stash and I wasn't terribly convinced that I could embroider a picture of a tooth (that anyone would be able to identify as a tooth) on the little pocket...so I thought I'd forgo the pocket and put a red heart on their chests instead.

I'm thinking of changing the pattern slightly - expanding the length of the ears and adding whiskers - to make some felt bunnies...because honestly, I enjoyed making these guys so much I can't imagine not having a hand-sewing project to work on!