Time for new projects

Well, Christmas has come and gone and the new year is almost upon us. Everything that needed to be made for this year's festivities has been made, and I have time for new projects (or the continuation of old ones).

Recently I was asked to make a "memory bear" for a child whose father died this past summer. Part of the request was to make the bear out of dad's t-shirts. I had never heard of memory bears before, but, after doing a bit of research, found they are not unknown in the wider world. It took a bit of time to procure a pattern that matched the request, but I finally did (Simplicity 5461). When I read the pattern instructions, I had a bit of a moment, as the fabric to be used on the bear was NOT knit fabric, as t-shirts are. Would t-shirt material, which stretches in all different directions when pulled (or stuffed) even work for this pattern?

Not wanting to cut into irreplaceable t-shirts, I decided to make a bear from some of our old t-shirts that had been waiting for "just the right project". In case I haven't mentioned it, I tend to hoard fabric of all types, just in case...

Well, the pattern worked wonderfully with the t-shirt material and I had fun making this bear. And it sure brought back memories for me. I used a t-shirt my eldest received in 2006, when she attended the Pearson Seminar for Youth Leadership for 3 weeks at Lester B. Pearson College. She had an amazing time and was so excited to have been able to participate in the program. The back of the t-shirt had the slogan "Live like you plan on staying" and the bear now sports that on its arm.



To make a long story short, the t-shirt fabric worked well, the bear is bigger than expected and very huggable, and everyone in our house has had a smile on his or her face when holding or seeing the bear. I think I'm ready to cut into those other t-shirts now.

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