Rare Bear Charity Sewing

One of my charity projects for this year has been making unstuffed bears for Rare Science. I found this charity while watching videos from Rob Appell  aka Man Sewing on YouTube. In his Rare Bear tutorial video he mentioned that Rare Science prefers that we don't stuff our cute little bears. I figured that was perfect because an unstuffed bear is easier to make and less expensive to ship. Perfect.

This is a picture of my next 8/10 bear heads. I giggle whenever I take pictures like this. When sewing these bears you completely stitch the heads before moving on to the rest of their body parts. I've mailed and donated several of these bears so far but I've decided that I won't be making more next year. I've decided I'm really not a sewn stuffie maker. Too many pieces and it's not difficult to sew the heads to their bodies but it is a bit trying and fiddly. 

Stuffies...bunnies and kitties

Last month I went on a stuffie making spree. Not only did I make kitties but I also made some sock bunnies. I am a funky sock hoarder. I drive my kids crazy because I always stop to look at this style of socks to make stuffies.

Here is a close up of a set that I made for a customer earlier this month. I have an order for 5 sock monkeys that I will be working on this weekend. These bunnies were all hand sewn. Sometimes it's just easier to sit down with a good movie and whip these up. They go really fast.

Here Kitty Kitty

I went a little crazy making kitties recently.  They are so quick it's easy to make a dozen or so. I used a pattern from Whosies and Whatnots but made kitties instead of bunnies.

I also made a couple for football fans. Hubby's favorite team is the NY Giants. He "steals" many of my creations but I wouldn't let him have this one. He has enough toys.

I also made a SF 49ers kitty. Rob's little sister loves the 49ers.  There was alot of smack talk a couple weeks back when the Giants played the 49ers. 

Squishy Balls

 

I like to keep some hand sewing in a little soft case for those times that I have to sit and wait. I also take it with me to work so I have something to do during break times. I was making lots of hexagons but then I got bored. The only surprise there is that it took much longer than I expected. Still loving the hand work, I decided to switch to pentagons instead. This way I can make a bunch of balls instead of quilts, purses, placemats, etc.

 

I joined 2 different I spy Swaps recently. One was for 4" squares and the other was for 5" squares.  I  took the 4" squares and turned them into pentagons using freezer paper. This is the same way I do my hexagons. You stitch 5 around a center pentagon. You do that twice. Then stitch the two halves together (inside out). I leave 1.5 sides unsewn, turn and stuff very well. Sew the opening closed. They make fun little balls for the little ones. My big kids (and the dog) have been having fun with them too. I think they would make great additions to a baby shower basket.