Sewing: Win Hearts with a Hand Stitched Teddy Bear

You've got your own sewing kit. You've attached a few buttons. You've made a few repairs and a few friends. You know how to secure threads and bury looses ends. It's time to put that knowledge to good use by hand stitching a teddy bear. A four carat diamond doesn't even say "I love you" like a hand sewn teddy bear.

And you can do it. It will take time, but not too much. If you put in an hour a day, the project should be over in less than two weeks. We live in a society that defines "making a teddy bear" as going to a store in the mall, pointing to a limp bear, and watching as a machine stuffs it with the requested amount of fluff. Ha! Not you. You are the man who keeps the past alive. You are a man's man and a woman's man, all at once!

Here's how to do it:

• Go to a local fabric store. Look through their pattern books and pick out your favorite pattern for a classic teddy bear.

• Pick up the necessary amount (usually a yard or two) of your chosen fabric. (The furry fabrics are okay, but tough to use; also consider buttersuede, or corduroy.)

• Pick up some thread. Since you're hand stitching, you'll probably want to use embroidery thread. You'll also need a pack of embroidery thread needles. Choose some colors of thread that match the fabric and some that slightly contrast, to use for accents. And brown for the nose.

• Select two really nice buttons for the eyes. Not fake teddy bear eyes, but old school buttons.

• You'll also want to make sure that you have a scrap of felt to give shape to the nose. Also, it's nice to have a few scraps of different fabrics if you want to make a bow tie or some appliques (shapes that you cut out of fabric and attach by sewing around the entire edge of the shape; often heart shapes).

• Grab a bag of stuffing, and you're ready to go.

Follow the directions, but don't stress about every little detail. Don't worry about making the darts and notches to minimize bunching. Just cut out the shapes. Stitch them together where you're supposed to using an over and under stitch about quarter inch away from the edge. (Just be sure that when you finish a stitch you finish it with a knot.) Attach the pieces in the proper order. And voila!

You're an artist, so the rest is up to you!