Embrace the spirit of love and craftsmanship with our enchanting leathercraft tutorial, where we’ll guide you through the creation of a timeless Valentine’s Day teddy bear. This heirloom-quality bear is not just a gift, but a cherished keepsake, perfect for celebrating love on Valentine’s Day or delighting children all year round.
Adorned with a heart plushy held in its hands, thanks to hidden magnets, this teddy bear adds an extra touch of sweetness to your heartfelt gesture. The heart plushy even features a secret pocket, perfect for hiding a special message or token of affection for the recipient.
Join us as we embark on this heartwarming journey of crafting love and memories, one stitch at a time!
3 / 4 oz (1.2 / 1.6mm) chrome tanned leather – about 3 sqft (0.27m2). Chrome tanned is preferred to vegetable tanned in that case because it is much more flexible which is definitely what we want since most of the pieces of the teddy bear will be turned inside out. I did manage to use supple veg tanned goatskin on one of the prototypes but I had to soak it in water to turn the arms and the legs inside out without ripping the seams.
Print it on US letter or A4 paper depending on the version you downloaded.
Make sure that the pattern is not resized by checking your print settings. You can check if it was printed properly by measuring the reference found at the bottom of each page.
The pattern provides 3 different options for the paws.
Choose the pair that you like best or use the blank template to make your own design!
Securing the pieces of the pattern on the leather
Roughly cut around the different pieces of the teddy bear with an X-acto knife or a pair of scissors.
Secure all the pieces of the pattern to your leather using masking tape.
Punching the holes
Use your 10mm hole punch to punch the two eye sockets on the face.
Punch-out two additional pieces and set them aside. Those are the eyes that we will glue in the sockets later on.
You can use a 7.5mm hole punch to punch-out the narrow curves of the motifs on the paws.
Finally punch all the stitching holes with your 1mm hole punch.
Cutting-out the pieces of the project
Using an X-Acto knife or a pair of scissors, cut-out all the pieces of the project.
Setting-up the eyes
Apply a small amount of glue around the eye pieces.
Insert each piece into its socket and hammer gently to insure a perfect fit around the edges.
Apply a generous amount of glue at the back, making sure to cover the eyes and allow some overlap on the face.
Set aside until fully dried.
Stitching the snout and the ears
We will be using a cross stitch during the entire stitching process.
Follow along on the Assembly Diagram to help you align all the pieces and connect the holes easily.
If you are like me and are more used to stitching leather pieces flesh to flesh you may get confused when trying to intuitively figure out how everything fits together. A bit of advice that often helped me find my bearings during the stitching process: as you are stitching two pieces together, they will always be facing top grain to top grain which means the flesh side is the one visible to you until you turn the piece inside-out. If that is not the case, your pieces are not oriented correctly.
Start by stitching the crease of the nose (holes 1 to 2).
Then stitch the nose to the snout (holes 3 to 4) and stitch down the crease of the snout (holes 5 to 6).
Finally stitch the two small creases of the snout (holes 7 to 8 and 9 to 10).
Stitch the mouth.
To stitch the horizontal line I looped my thread twice around each horizontal stitch going up to the nose, creating little thread chevrons of sort.
To prepare the ears we’ll start by assembling the two pieces that together will form the front of each ear (holes 11 to 12 and 15 to 16).
Then join both sides of each ear by stitching along their perimeter (holes 13 to 14 and 17 to 18).
Remember, we’re always stitching from the flesh side so that our piece are facing top grain to top grain.
Once they are stitched, turn the ears inside-out.
Although it can sometimes seem like a daunting task, it really doesn’t have to be. First of all chrome tanned leather of this thickness is really quite robust and it doesn’t tear easily to don’t be scared to rough it up a bit to get it to its final shape. I also found that the most difficult part is to get that initial pinch. Once you’ve got that you can stick a blunt object in the depression and the hardest part is done. The rest is just a patient game of pushing and pulling but really that first pinch is the crux of it all.
Add a bit of stuffing to each ear.
Stitching the snout to the face
Stitch all 5 creases on the face (holes 19 to 20, 21 to 22, 23 to 24, 25 to 26 and 27 to 28).
Stitch along the lower edges of the face (holes 29 to 30).
Then stitch the snout to the face (holes 31 to 36).
A lot of pieces have creases that are made up of a V shaped cuts that are stitched closed. The two holes at the base of those V cuts will always be considered as two separate and consecutive holes when matching them with the holes of the opposite piece (see holes 32 to 33 and 34 to 35).
Stitching the face to the back of the head
Stitch the two creases at the bottom of both pieces that will form the back of the head (holes 37 to 38 and 39 to 40).
Stitch the two halves of the back of the head together (holes 41 to 42).
Stitch the two halves of the head together (holes 43 to 52), adding the ears along the way (holes 44 to 45 and 50 to 51).
It is very easy here to stitch the ears the wrong way since we are working from the inside so pay special attention to their positioning when you add them between the two sides of the head.
Turning the ears inside out made the first and last holes virtually unusable if we wanted to go through both layers with our needle which is why we start with the second hole and finish with the second to last when going through the lower edge of each ear to stitch them up between the two sides of the head.
Turn the head inside-out and fill it with stuffing.
Stitching the legs, the arms and the tail
If you chose option 2 or option 3 for the paws, stitch the background of the motifs to each paw.
To stitch the leg, start by stitching the top and bottom edge (holes 52 to 53 and 54 to 55 – there’s a typo in the diagram: 52 should be 53 which would shift all the following numbers by 1. I swear I’ll fix it one day…).
Then stitch the paw along the edges of both sides of the leg (holes 56 to 59).
Turn the leg inside-out and add stuffing.
Repeat the process with the other leg (holes 60 to 67).
Follow the same procedure for the arm. Stitch along the perimeter of the arm (holes 68 to 69), leaving the edge that will connect to the belly and the back free.
Turn inside-out.
I stuck a magnet in there so that the teddy bear could hold the heart plushy. I simply pushed it where I wanted it to be and then added a copious amount of stuffing. If you choose to add a magnet as well, pay attention to the polarity otherwise you might end up creating a repelling force between the arm and the object you want it to hold.
Repeat the process for the second arm (holes 70 to 71).
Stitch the two halves of the tail together (holes 72 to 73).
Turn it inside-out and fill it with stuffing.
Assembling the lower body
Stitch the crease on both halves of the back (74 to 75 and 76 to 77).
Connect the leg and the arm to their corresponding back piece (holes 78 to 79 and 80 to 81).
Connect the belly to the back (holes 80 to 83) as well as the leg (holes 84 to 85) and the arm (holes 88 to 89), all the way up the back (hole 91).
Repeat the process with the other side of the body (holes 92 to 107).
Stitch together the two halves of the belly (holes 108 to 109).
Do the same for the back (holes 110 to 113), adding the tail in between along the way (holes 111 to 112). The situation with the tail is as it was with the ears: we go through the second and second to last holes (+ the two in between).
As you join both sides it will become increasingly difficult to stitch facing the flesh side with both sides flush against each other. When I get to that point I switch my default stitching position to having both threads coming out from the top grain side through opposite holes. This way it becomes easy to tension the thread after each stitch and to progressively close the gap between the two edges being stitched together.
Fill-up the body with stuffing.
Stitching the head to the lower body
Connect the head to the body by stitching all around the lower edges of the head and the upper edges of the body (holes 114 to 129). Saddle stitch from the outside in loosely, then tighten one stitch pair at a time. Alternatively you can use a ladder stitch. Curved needles are recommended to make this step easier.
Congratulations, you made a beautiful leather teddy bear!
Finishing touches
As a final touch I decided to add a dot of white paint to the eyes.
Final result
I hope you enjoyed following along this tutorial. Please consider posting a photo of your creation in the comments below. It would mean a lot to me to see my little projects out into the world as you make it your own.
Any feedback/question about this tutorial or project idea that you’d like to see posted here is and always will be more than welcome.
Happy crafting!
Footnotes
The following online content provided some assistance and/or inspiration during the making of this project:
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Tutorial
Leather Teddy Bear
8 hours
Intermediate
Common for leathercraft
Embrace the spirit of love and craftsmanship with our enchanting leathercraft tutorial, where we’ll guide you through the creation of a timeless Valentine’s Day teddy bear. This heirloom-quality bear is not just a gift, but a cherished keepsake, perfect for celebrating love on Valentine’s Day or delighting children all year round.
Adorned with a heart plushy held in its hands, thanks to hidden magnets, this teddy bear adds an extra touch of sweetness to your heartfelt gesture. The heart plushy even features a secret pocket, perfect for hiding a special message or token of affection for the recipient.
Join us as we embark on this heartwarming journey of crafting love and memories, one stitch at a time!
Requirements
Skills
Tools
Bill of Materials
Pattern
Teddy Bear Pattern
Walk-through
Printing the pattern
You can get the pattern here if you haven’t already.
Print it on US letter or A4 paper depending on the version you downloaded.
Make sure that the pattern is not resized by checking your print settings. You can check if it was printed properly by measuring the reference found at the bottom of each page.
The pattern provides 3 different options for the paws.
Choose the pair that you like best or use the blank template to make your own design!
Securing the pieces of the pattern on the leather
Roughly cut around the different pieces of the teddy bear with an X-acto knife or a pair of scissors.
Secure all the pieces of the pattern to your leather using masking tape.
Punching the holes
Use your 10mm hole punch to punch the two eye sockets on the face.
Punch-out two additional pieces and set them aside. Those are the eyes that we will glue in the sockets later on.
You can use a 7.5mm hole punch to punch-out the narrow curves of the motifs on the paws.
Finally punch all the stitching holes with your 1mm hole punch.
Cutting-out the pieces of the project
Using an X-Acto knife or a pair of scissors, cut-out all the pieces of the project.
Setting-up the eyes
Apply a small amount of glue around the eye pieces.
Insert each piece into its socket and hammer gently to insure a perfect fit around the edges.
Apply a generous amount of glue at the back, making sure to cover the eyes and allow some overlap on the face.
Set aside until fully dried.
Stitching the snout and the ears
We will be using a cross stitch during the entire stitching process.
Follow along on the Assembly Diagram to help you align all the pieces and connect the holes easily.
If you are like me and are more used to stitching leather pieces flesh to flesh you may get confused when trying to intuitively figure out how everything fits together. A bit of advice that often helped me find my bearings during the stitching process: as you are stitching two pieces together, they will always be facing top grain to top grain which means the flesh side is the one visible to you until you turn the piece inside-out. If that is not the case, your pieces are not oriented correctly.
Start by stitching the crease of the nose (holes 1 to 2).
Then stitch the nose to the snout (holes 3 to 4) and stitch down the crease of the snout (holes 5 to 6).
Finally stitch the two small creases of the snout (holes 7 to 8 and 9 to 10).
Stitch the mouth.
To stitch the horizontal line I looped my thread twice around each horizontal stitch going up to the nose, creating little thread chevrons of sort.
To prepare the ears we’ll start by assembling the two pieces that together will form the front of each ear (holes 11 to 12 and 15 to 16).
Then join both sides of each ear by stitching along their perimeter (holes 13 to 14 and 17 to 18).
Remember, we’re always stitching from the flesh side so that our piece are facing top grain to top grain.
Once they are stitched, turn the ears inside-out.
Although it can sometimes seem like a daunting task, it really doesn’t have to be. First of all chrome tanned leather of this thickness is really quite robust and it doesn’t tear easily to don’t be scared to rough it up a bit to get it to its final shape. I also found that the most difficult part is to get that initial pinch. Once you’ve got that you can stick a blunt object in the depression and the hardest part is done. The rest is just a patient game of pushing and pulling but really that first pinch is the crux of it all.
Add a bit of stuffing to each ear.
Stitching the snout to the face
Stitch all 5 creases on the face (holes 19 to 20, 21 to 22, 23 to 24, 25 to 26 and 27 to 28).
Stitch along the lower edges of the face (holes 29 to 30).
Then stitch the snout to the face (holes 31 to 36).
A lot of pieces have creases that are made up of a V shaped cuts that are stitched closed. The two holes at the base of those V cuts will always be considered as two separate and consecutive holes when matching them with the holes of the opposite piece (see holes 32 to 33 and 34 to 35).
Stitching the face to the back of the head
Stitch the two creases at the bottom of both pieces that will form the back of the head (holes 37 to 38 and 39 to 40).
Stitch the two halves of the back of the head together (holes 41 to 42).
Stitch the two halves of the head together (holes 43 to 52), adding the ears along the way (holes 44 to 45 and 50 to 51).
It is very easy here to stitch the ears the wrong way since we are working from the inside so pay special attention to their positioning when you add them between the two sides of the head.
Turning the ears inside out made the first and last holes virtually unusable if we wanted to go through both layers with our needle which is why we start with the second hole and finish with the second to last when going through the lower edge of each ear to stitch them up between the two sides of the head.
Turn the head inside-out and fill it with stuffing.
Stitching the legs, the arms and the tail
If you chose option 2 or option 3 for the paws, stitch the background of the motifs to each paw.
To stitch the leg, start by stitching the top and bottom edge (holes 52 to 53 and 54 to 55 – there’s a typo in the diagram: 52 should be 53 which would shift all the following numbers by 1. I swear I’ll fix it one day…).
Then stitch the paw along the edges of both sides of the leg (holes 56 to 59).
Turn the leg inside-out and add stuffing.
Repeat the process with the other leg (holes 60 to 67).
Follow the same procedure for the arm. Stitch along the perimeter of the arm (holes 68 to 69), leaving the edge that will connect to the belly and the back free.
Turn inside-out.
I stuck a magnet in there so that the teddy bear could hold the heart plushy. I simply pushed it where I wanted it to be and then added a copious amount of stuffing. If you choose to add a magnet as well, pay attention to the polarity otherwise you might end up creating a repelling force between the arm and the object you want it to hold.
Repeat the process for the second arm (holes 70 to 71).
Stitch the two halves of the tail together (holes 72 to 73).
Turn it inside-out and fill it with stuffing.
Assembling the lower body
Stitch the crease on both halves of the back (74 to 75 and 76 to 77).
Connect the leg and the arm to their corresponding back piece (holes 78 to 79 and 80 to 81).
Connect the belly to the back (holes 80 to 83) as well as the leg (holes 84 to 85) and the arm (holes 88 to 89), all the way up the back (hole 91).
Repeat the process with the other side of the body (holes 92 to 107).
Stitch together the two halves of the belly (holes 108 to 109).
Do the same for the back (holes 110 to 113), adding the tail in between along the way (holes 111 to 112). The situation with the tail is as it was with the ears: we go through the second and second to last holes (+ the two in between).
As you join both sides it will become increasingly difficult to stitch facing the flesh side with both sides flush against each other. When I get to that point I switch my default stitching position to having both threads coming out from the top grain side through opposite holes. This way it becomes easy to tension the thread after each stitch and to progressively close the gap between the two edges being stitched together.
Fill-up the body with stuffing.
Stitching the head to the lower body
Connect the head to the body by stitching all around the lower edges of the head and the upper edges of the body (holes 114 to 129). Saddle stitch from the outside in loosely, then tighten one stitch pair at a time. Alternatively you can use a ladder stitch. Curved needles are recommended to make this step easier.
Congratulations, you made a beautiful leather teddy bear!
Finishing touches
As a final touch I decided to add a dot of white paint to the eyes.
Final result
I hope you enjoyed following along this tutorial. Please consider posting a photo of your creation in the comments below. It would mean a lot to me to see my little projects out into the world as you make it your own.
Any feedback/question about this tutorial or project idea that you’d like to see posted here is and always will be more than welcome.
Happy crafting!
Footnotes
The following online content provided some assistance and/or inspiration during the making of this project: