This month, Island Batik Ambassadors are tasked with making a friend--a Funky Friend! Funky Friends Factory is the crafty business of Pauline, who lives in Australia. Pauline designs patterns for making soft/stuffed toys. We were able to pick the toy of our choice and Pauline generously sent us that pattern. There are a lot of Friends to choose from! I've made several Funky Friends before but never a teddy bear. I chose Ben the Beginner Bear.
The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik, Funky Friends Factory, Hobbs, Schmetz, Aurifil, & Oliso.
I knew that Ben would end up belonging to Fire Monkey, so I let him pick the fabric. His favorite color is red. We ended up with Imperial for most of Ben's body and Shell for the tummy and face, both from Island Batik's Ravishing Reds in the always-available Basics line.
One of Ben's main features is that he has a large tummy area with no seams, perfect for those who want to add embroidery to their bear. When we visited family in Portland over Christmas, we went to a store called Daiso, referred to by my family as a Japanese-style dollar store. One of the things we bought there was a cute little firetruck patch. Fire Monkey is still crazy about all things fire truck and firefighter. I didn't think he had used the patch on anything yet, so I asked him about it. He was enthusiastic about using it for Ben! It's an iron-on patch; I ironed using my Oliso mini-iron, then stitched around it twice using Aurifil thread and a Schmetz microtex needle.
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| firetruck patch on the belly piece |
Pauline's patterns are clear and easy to follow. She has a blog post for each pattern that shows the visuals for each step. (There is a link for the step-by-step tutorial in the pattern.) She also has detailed tutorials for some of the tricky parts in making toys, like installing safety eyes or making perfect feet.
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| ready for stuffing! |
I printed the pattern pieces onto freezer paper that can go into the printer. I learned about this product from Kathleen and it makes the process so much easier! Plus the pieces are reusable! I saved them all in a large envelope so I can make another Ben whenever the mood strikes. Hobbs Batting generously sent me a bag of their Simply Stuffing 100% polyester filling for toys. This is probably the best toy stuffing I've used!
Pauline has so many different animals to choose from! Here are the other Funky Friends I've made with Island Batik Fabrics over the years:
Ollie the Laid Back Owl
