I come to my interest in bear making honestly. This is the first teddy bear I remember owning. My mother made it from Simplicity Pattern #6810 (published in 1966). I was about five years old or so and I remember watching her cut up a couple of old shirts to use as stuffing. He is made of corduroy and filled with a combination of sawdust and fabric pieces from old shirts. He is one heavy dude.

I don’t remember when he lost his eye. I’ve never had the heart to replace it. There’s just something about keeping him just the way he is.

The structure of this bear is really very good for a huggable bear that a little child can love. I periodically see the pattern available on Ebay. I don’t recommend saw dust and old shirts as stuffing materials though.