The Scrappy Bee !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pattern

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The Scrappy Bee

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Fabric!and!Notions:!

- You can use pretty much any type of fabric you want for this, except heavyweight fabrics (ex: decorator fabric). I’ve used all kinds (quilting cottons, fleece, linen, satin, corduroy, flannel, satin, chenille, etc.). I find that I like flannel or fleece the best for the bee’s head, arms, and legs. It makes it easier to work with. But, make it your own and have some fun! The amount isn’t too much. No more than a quarter of a yard for the head, legs, and arms. Scraps are used for the body and small pieces for the wings.

- See options for the antennas in Step 2

- 1 piece of felt for the face and 2 pieces of felt for the stability of the wings (you can substitute with quilt batting or interfacing in the wings if desired).

- Options for eyes: 12 mm safety eyes, sew on circles of felt, or embroider them. - Embroidery thread for facial embroidery. This is also suggested to use when

sewing on the wings.

- Stuffing (ex: fiberfill, t-shirt remnants, quilt batting remnants, etc.)

Other!Supplies:!

- Coordinating thread - Scissors

- Straight pins - Pattern cut out - Embroidery Needle

- Fabric Glue if using safety eyes

Notes:!

-All seams are ¼” unless otherwise stated.

-Wash your fabric before hand if desired, but isn’t necessary. If finished product is in need of washing, I suggest it be hand washed or in cold water on delicate, then hung to dry.

-Pattern pieces are in the second attachment

-ALWAYS back stitch at the beginning and end of sewing, unless otherwise stated. -Read instructions before attempting. The pictures are there to help explain the wording.

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Step!1. Cut out the pieces from the fabric.

a. Cut out the following from your choice of fabrics:

-4 wing pieces (Two should be cut with the curved wing part facing the left and the other two with it facing the right so they match up.)

-2 wing pieces from felt -1 heart face from felt -2 legs

-2 arms

-Scraps for body -2 head pieces

Step!2. Creating the Antennas

a. Decide how you want to make them. Here are three examples:

1. Felt Antenna- Cut two skinny strips of felt about 6 inches long and the width of your choice. Cut four circles out for the ends. Mine were a little larger than a quarter.

Instructions

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Fold the long strips in half and sew around.

Then place one piece on top of a circle felt piece.

Place the next circle piece on top next. The two circles will be sandwiching the skinny piece. Sew on. I just sewed random circles and lines.

2. Crocheted Antenna:

Crochet Hook size G and F using worsted weight (other types would probably work too, you can just adjust the hook to get the size you like). Make 2.

a. Ch. 4 and sl st in 1st ch

b. Ch 1 (counts as 1 sc) c. sc 5 times in the middle d. 2 sc in each (12)

e. 1 sc in each around (12)

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f. *1 sc, dec* continue around (6) g. Switch to smaller hook (F) h. sc in each around (6)

i. Repeat step h 7 more times (42) j. Sl st in next and finish off

3. Rick-rack and pom-poms (not suggested for little ones at all! The pom-poms can be pulled off!). I just cut small pieces of rick-rack and glued on pom-poms to the end.

Step!3. Preparing the Body Pieces

a. Sew the pieces of scraps together to create a piece of “fabric” to cut from. You don’t

have to make them match on both sides, but you can. Just make sure the pieces are as big as the pattern. Iron seams. You can top stitch the seam as well if you desire.

b. Place the body pattern piece on top of the scraps and cut two out.

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c. Take the leg pieces and arm pieces. Pin right sides together. Sew down sides and at the

end curve in as seen in picture below.

d. Clip toward the seams at the curves.

e. Turn pieces right side out and stuff as desired. Just make sure to leave some room at

the top for sewing them on. I made used my thumb as a guide for how much room to leave.

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f. Optional: Take the piece that is going to be the front head and fold in half. Sew a small

dart from about 1.5” down that barely graduates, like in the picture below.

g. Place the felt heart face on the front head piece. Make sure it is in the middle and

about 3/4” from the bottom. Pin in place.

h. Sew the face on. I sew closer to the edge than ¼”, but it’s up to you how you want to

sew it on. Embroidering this on by hand would give a pretty look too.

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i. Determine where you want to place your eyes.

1. If embroidering them on, do that now. If using small felt circles, sew them on. If using safety eyes, take a seam ripper and make a small hole to place them in. It needs to be big enough to fit the stem part through, but not too big.

2. These next few gluing points really help secure the eyes. I have made things

without doing this and my daughter has managed to get the eyes out, and that is with following the instructions on the package to a t. Place some fabric glue right around the front openings and place the front part of the eye in (the eyeball part).

3. Cut two small squares of felt from leftover materials and cut a slit in the middle for the eyepiece to pass through. Turn the bee’s head over and put some fabric glue around the eye stem sticking through.

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4. Place the felt square on and put on some more glue on top of that around the stem.

5. Place the small closure piece on last. Push it on real tight.

j. Now do any more embroidery you would like to do, such as eyebrows, mouth,

eyelashes, etc. ! ! www.happytogetherbyjess.com www.happytogetherbyjess.com www.happytogetherbyjess.com

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Step!4. Putting it all Together

a. Take a head piece and a body piece and pin together at the neck, right sides facing.

The neck will be slightly longer than the top of the body, so just center the body. Do the same thing for the other head and body pieces.

b. Sew the head and body piece together. Iron the seam allowance where the head and

body meet up. Turn over and topstitch close to where the head and body meet to sew the seam allowance down. This will provide for some extra durability. Repeat for other head/body pieces.

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c. Take the front of the bee and pin on an arm. Make sure the seam on the arm is facing

down (see 2nd picture below). It should be a little further down from the neck. I angle the arms down, but you can place them however you like. Sew it in place close to the edge. This way the thread won’t show up on the outside of the bee once it’s all done.

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d. Repeat for other arm.

e. Now do the same for the legs. Place at the bottom corners and pin, making sure the

seams on the legs are facing the center of the bee. Sew both legs on.

f. Now place the antennas on and sew in place.

g. Now the next part might test your patience a bit. I recommend taking your time so you

don’t have to go back and redo it. Push all the arms, legs, and antennas toward the inside of the bee (see above picture). Then place the backside of the bee body/head on top, right sides facing. Pin together.

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View from both sides

h. Start sewing at where the arrow shows (at the middle edge of one leg) and go all the

way around until you sew over the other leg. This leaves the middle open to turn the bee right side out.

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i. Now it’s time to turn it right side out. I start by pulling all of the appendages out first.

Start with the legs and then the arms. The rest should be easy to pull right side out then.

j. Stuff the body as desired. I like to really fill it up tight with fiberfill. I think it looks

best when it’s very full, but again, it’s up to you how you like it.

k. Once it’s stuffed grab a needle and thread and sew the opening at the bottom of the bee

shut. There are a variety of stitches you can use to sew it shut. I push the ends of the fabric in to make it neat. From there you can backstitch, overcast stitch, blanket stitch, whipstitch, slipstitch, etc. For these, I quickly did a whipstitch, but a slipstitch is the best if going for a more professional look. It is nearly invisible if done right.

Step!5. The Wings

a. Take the four pieces of wings and match up the ones that go together (one with curves

facing left and one with them facing right). Take one of the two pieces and lay it right side facing up.

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b. Take the second piece and lay it on top, right side facing down.

c. Take a piece of the felt (batting or interfacing) and place on top next, creating a

sandwich of the three pieces. Pin together.

d. Sew around the edges leaving an opening on the straight side of the wing.

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e. Turn the wing right side out and, tuck in the fabric at the opening to be even,

and sew ¼” around the edge of the whole wing (see picture below). Repeat all these steps for the second wing.

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f. Place the two wings on top of each other, matching them up. Sew them together on the

flat side with a straight stitch and then a zigzag stitch. If for some reason you don’t have a zig zag stitch on your sewing machine, just do the straight-line stitch.

g. Place the middle of the wings on the middle of the bees back. Take a needle and

embroidery thread and sew the wings onto the bee. I start sewing at the top with the wings facing the left. I use a whipstitch, which is basically just sew over and come back up under. It’s done at an angle to make it easier.

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h. Then flip the wings over so they face the right and sew the wings on that side.

i. Lastly, stitch down the top of the wings a little bit as seen in the photo. Finish off.

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