DIY Sewing - Otto Bear Pillow - Easy to sew yourself

It’s finally here: our "Otto" bear pillow for you to sew yourself. You can find the free instructions, including the pattern, in this blog post. A great DIY sewing project, perfect as a gift for children, for a new baby, or as a cozy decorative item for a child's room. Click here to find even more patterns with instructions. All very easy to sew yourself.

We just swapped rooms for the kids – total chaos! Our oldest moved into the smaller room, and the two youngest are now sharing the large room. The small room turned out really cozy, but I still have work to do on the big one. It’s still very bare and white, and that just won’t do in the Kunterbunt household!
Besides hunting for a nice, vintage wardrobe, I’ve already started on the decor.
Pillows are always a hit in children’s rooms. Animals are very popular with us right now, and I’m sure they will be for a while. So, it had to be an animal pillow. I started with a classic: a bear. I like bears. Otto is the first animal pillow I’ve ever sewn, and I had a real moment of happiness when it turned out exactly the way I had designed and imagined it. Made from soft sweat fabric, it’s super cuddly and much loved by the kids. We already have him in blue and orange. I will definitely sew at least one more – three kids, three bears… obviously. Now I just need to decide on the color… maybe a polar bear this time? Let’s see if I have any say in that.

In case you also have little or big animal fans at home, have always wanted to sew a bear pillow, or are still looking for a special gift, I sewed Otto again, photographed every step, digitized the pattern, and turned it into a detailed eBook. It’s really not difficult and is huge fun! Perhaps a cuddly bear will soon be moving into your child’s room, too. I would be delighted, and of course, I'm curious to see your great color combination ideas!
Of course, the two bear pillows don’t transform our currently barren sibling room all on their own, but it’s a start!

>>Click here to find suitable fabrics.

What you need:

• Fabric scissors and paper scissors
• Iron
• Sweat fabric or French Terry in your desired colors for the head, ears, and collar
• Small scraps for cheeks, nose, and muzzle (jersey or woven fabric also work)
• Vliesofix
• Thin iron-on batting
• Sewing thread (matching the muzzle, nose, and cheeks for appliqué)
• Sewing machine
• Stuffing/fiberfill approx. 300g
• A4 paper
• Printer

You can find the free eBook including the pattern here

1. First, prepare everything: tape the pattern together, cut the cheeks and eyes out of the head section. Cut the nose and the small strips out of the muzzle section. Set up the iron and turn it on.

2. Cut out the head, ears, and collar, paying attention to the grain line, and transfer all notches (the triangular marks on the pattern; these will help you sew everything together straight later). Prepare large enough pieces of fabric for the nose, muzzle, and cheeks and iron Vliesofix onto the back.

3. Use the ear pattern piece without seam allowance for the iron-on batting.

4. Transfer the muzzle, nose, and cheek pattern pieces onto the paper side of the Vliesofix. Make sure to trace the muzzle and nose in reverse (with the blank side facing up).

5. Cut out all the pieces...

6. Now place the head pattern piece on the cut fabric and position your muzzle and cheeks using the template. It’s best to work in two steps: position and iron on the muzzle, then the cheeks.

7. Carefully remove the template before ironing, and make sure your pieces don’t slip.

8. Now do the same again with the muzzle and nose...

9. Now, all ironed-on pieces are topstitched close to the edge with a simple straight stitch of medium length. An edge-stitch foot works very well for this. Many sewing machines include this as standard equipment. You can move a small guide on it that runs along your fabric edge while sewing, ensuring a constant, uniform distance from the needle.

10. Place the muzzle pattern piece back on and transfer the lines onto your muzzle using a fabric marker or similar tool.

11. "Trace" the drawn lines with the sewing machine. For this, I used the "triple straight stitch" and went over each line three times. I find it looks best if you sew very slight curves and occasionally offset it minimally.

12. Now use the head pattern piece to trace the eyes and cut two small rectangles out of your fabric...

13. ...and pin them to the back at eye level.

14. Embroider the eyes on the front again using the triple straight stitch. Feel free to trace the curve three or four times.

15. Trim the fabric rectangle on the back.

16. Now pin the collar pieces to the front and back of the head. Make sure all notches are aligned; the collar should then be easy to sew on without wrinkles.

17. Iron the seam allowance on the back upwards (you will notice that it naturally folds upwards, so we won't work against it). Also, carefully iron over the seam again from the front.

18. Now for the ears:

19. First, iron the batting onto the left (back) side of the corresponding ear pieces.

20. Pin the ear pieces right sides together and sew them together. Sew close to the edge of the batting. Leave the bottom, straight edge open.

21. Trim the seam allowance close to the seam.

22. Turn the ears right side out, shape them nicely, and then iron.

23. Fold the ears inward by about one cm on the more curved side, pin them, and fix the fold with a few stitches.

24. The ears are now pinned to the head and topstitched close to the edge. The folded sides of the ears point toward the center; the outer edges are aligned with the side notch.

25. The fabric of the ears protrudes slightly beyond the fabric edge of the head, ensuring everything is caught later.

26. Pin both head pieces together and sew. Leave an approx. 8cm opening for turning at the bottom of the collar.

27. Trim the seam allowance all around (except in the opening area).

28. Turn the bear right side out...

29. ...shape it and iron. Iron the seam allowance neatly inward, especially at the turning opening; this will help you when sewing it shut later.

30. Now it's time to stuff. Proceed systematically and step-by-step. Stuff in small amounts of fiberfill and keep pressing and patting the head back into shape.

31. Once the head is sufficiently stuffed, close the opening with a mattress stitch, also known as a ladder stitch.

32. For this, stitch alternately into the top and bottom folded edges. This creates the ladder effect. Pull the "ladder" tight every few stitches. Once the opening is closed, secure the thread with a few stitches.


Ta-da... your pillow is finished

In the mood for fabric?

>> Click here to discover great fabrics