Warren the Charity Bear — Two Ways

Warren the Charity Bear...

These uber cute Warren bears first came to my attention via the Patchouli Moon Studio blog, when fellow blogger Daryl P. made a whole hoard of them.

It wasn't until I recently saw them again — when she made several more — that I realized I had to get in on the fun.

I had originally dismissed the project via the I have no need for it, therefore why make it school of thought. But with babies beginning to appear on the horizon for a new generation of extended family members, I suddenly had a need and an excuse.

Not only that, I had the perfect fabric: my Luminescent Ocean Dreams in minky. So bright and colourful — stimulating for babies — and soft to the touch. (The design is based on photographs and feature an underwater scene embellished with butterflies.)

Fabric is my own creation called Luminescent Ocean Dreams...

The free pattern is by Wendi Gratz, of ShinyHappyWorld.com. (Would that we had such a world, huh?) She's got all sorts of fun stuff there, so I definitely recommend that you take some time to browse. And maybe download the pattern and start making your own family of bears; the pattern can be reduced for smaller versions.

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Warren (named after Warren Buffett apparently) was developed to be an easy to sew and easy to customize stuffie that can be made assembly line style for charitable giving.

It's a perfect pandemic project that you can do with your whole family to introduce them to the pleasures of sewing. Kids in particular will have loads of fun deciding what elements to add to their bear to make him one of a kind.

A simple shape...

The pattern comes with a variety of noses and muzzles — to create actual expressions — as well as an option for an oval belly patch or a heart. (Fleece is recommended, but I used a double layer of felt instead.)

There are options for the eyes depending on the age of the recipient. Since this is going to an infant, I glued and sewed all of the additional elements. I also made the eyes bigger since they might otherwise get lost in the busy print of the fabric.

Face elements glued and sewn on to front...

I played around by placing the pattern pieces on my fabric after cutting out the body and ultimately decided on a medium nose, with a wide muzzle and a heart patch.

Warren ready to be sewn up...

It's not part of the pattern, but I also gave him a tail on his back side. :-)

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By the way, while it's faster to sew up one of these with a sewing machine, this can be completely sewn by hand. I might even venture that — amount of total time notwithstanding — it might even be easier to sew by hand, since taking those extreme curves around the ears, arms and legs could pose a bit of a challenge.

It's the day before a walloping winter storm when I take Warren outside for a photo shoot...

My original intent was to make a family of Warrens in different sizes, but then I had a thought to take this in another direction.

Warren inside...

Why not turn him into a baby mobile? All you need is some single sided fusible Peltex, felt, fabric, glue, and fishing line.

I really liked how the template by itself looked so cute with the pudgy arms and legs. (Once you cut and sew the project, the seam allowance reduces the size of the arms and legs.) So I thought that if I reduced the template and used it to create a flat item that could hang, it would be yet another version of a baby gift.

Trace template onto a piece of Peltex...

Planning to make a mobile with three bears, I went with two templates, one that was reduced from the original by 50% — which I thought was perfectly sized for a "baby" version — and a second one that was upsized from the first by 125%.

For the fabric, I selected a black and white print that I had created for a Spoonflower competition two years ago. (The high contrast combo of black and white is apparently good for the brain development of infants.) 

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The process is simple. For each bear, trace the template onto a piece of Peltex and a folded piece of fabric (to get two pieces, for front and back) and cut.

All three bears have different sized eyes, noses and hearts...

Next, cut pieces of felt to make whatever other elements to personalize each bear. I didn't bother with templates for those, I just snipped freehand with a pair of scissors, ensuring that each bear would end up unique.

Felt features glued on; smile sewn in...

Hand sew the mouth, and then it's time to fuse the Peltex to the top panel. Finish by zig-zag stitching all layers together.

Complete Warren Family ready to be hung up...

To hang, thread some fishing line through the top of the head. Ensure that each line is a different length and the bears can simply be hung from the ceiling over a baby's crib or changing table.

Floating baby bear...

Here is a picture that provides an idea of the size difference between the stuffed bear and the largest one used for the mobile.

Warrens in two different styles...

Love how these turned out and I'm hoping that the recipients will appreciate them too! Highly recommended as a charity sewing project. Or for someone who loves to cuddle during this year's rule of "no hugging allowed".

Have a safe week before Christmas, everyone. 

'Til next...