Bear Carrier

This adorable bear/doll carrier will soon be on its way to my friend’s 4-year-old daughter, whose birthday was last week. (I like to extend the celebration by sending gifts late, ha ha). This is a project from a review copy of  “Oliver + S: Little Things to Sew” that I recently received. The instructions were very clear, and this was an easy project. Keeping the three layers together (front, lining and batting) together was a bit tricky when sewing around all the curves,  and if I make it again, I might just pin rectangles of fabric and batting together, trace the pattern (minus the seam allowance) on the top layer with an erasable pen and then sew on the line. But overall it was not difficult. And I was able to make it using fabric and supplies I already had. The front and lining fabric actually were leftover from a quilt I made for the birthday girl when she was born, and the straps are from some ticking fabric I cut from an old body pillow cover my mother-in-law made and we used to have in our guestroom maybe 10 years ago. I knew I’d use it someday!

The carrier attaches on the top with buttons (I used two sets to make it adjustable) and on the sides with Velcro. I added three strips of Velcro because I wasn’t sure how big or little either the recipient or her favorite dolls are. I had my son try it on. His first reaction was “People will laugh at me, it’s pink!” (even though no one could see us except our cats). But that was quickly followed by a request that I make him one as well for his stuffed animals, in a different color.