If You’ve Been Thinking About Making a Bear…
- Sandi Millichip-Massocchi
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Not a complicated project. Just a meaningful one.
Over the past week, something rather lovely has been happening. Bears have begun appearing everywhere as we’ve been sharing our Scrappy Bear Week. Perhaps you’ve seen them on our social pages, small glimpses of cutting, pressing, clipping curves, and patient hand sewing?
They haven’t been identical. They haven’t been perfect. They’ve been made from shirts, dresses, baby clothes, uniforms and favourite fabrics — each one carrying a story only its maker truly understands.
The Scrappy Bear was never designed to be complicated. It was designed to be achievable.
A proper first keepsake project. One that teaches careful cutting, accurate pressing, neat curve clipping and steady hand stitching along the way.
If you’ve been watching but haven’t yet begun, perhaps this is your moment.
What Most People Miss When Making a Memory Bear
Before starting a bear, let’s talk about interfacing.
This is the step most people skip — and it makes all the difference.
I interface every bear I make. It gives structure, makes cutting more accurate, and helps stabilise thinner fabrics so they don’t fray or distort over time.
I cut the interfacing first, press it carefully onto the chosen fabric, and then cut the fabric directly around the pattern piece. All my patterns include a ¼” seam allowance, so there’s no need to add anything extra.
Talking of fabric, I often say, “I haven’t yet found a fabric I can’t turn into a memory bear.” But I have made over 600 bears. Here are some useful pointers:
If you’re making your first one, begin with easier fabrics, cottons, jerseys and linens are very forgiving. Start with something you already love.
Clients often struggle to choose which garment to use. My answer is always the same: Choose the fabric that, when you look at it, brings back the memories most clearly.
When positioning your interfacing, check for directional prints, align checks and stripes if possible, and always notice if the fabric has a nap.
Once cut, pin or clip the pieces together carefully, ready for sewing.
These small, thoughtful steps are what allow a bear to hold its shape for years instead of months.
Part of the family
A handmade bear becomes more than fabric surprisingly quickly.
It sits beside a chair. Travels to hospital appointments. Waits on a pillow. Or rests on a shelf where someone once used to sit.
We think we are simply making something. What we are really doing is creating something to hold onto.
Clothing carries memories.Fabric holds people.Making carefully honours that.
My first Memory Bear was made from my father Gordan’s ties.
A Small Reassurance
Many people worry a memory bear will be too difficult.
The Scrappy Bear was designed for careful beginners. If you can sew a seam, follow a pattern piece, and are willing to take your time, you can make one.
It doesn’t need to be perfect. It only needs to be made with patience.
And I promise — the second one is always easier than the first.
If you have been following us on Social for ‘Scrappy Bear Week’ here is our finished bear
If You’d Like to Make Your Own
The Scrappy Bear pattern and finishing kit are now available.
You can purchase:
The Scrappy Bear Pattern
The Scrappy Bear Finishing Kit
Or both together as a complete starter set
View the Scrappy Bear Pattern & Finishing Kit here
(Pattern and finishing kit also available separately)
Sandi’s Snippet
People often ask me which bear I remember most.
It isn’t the most intricate one, or the one made from the rarest fabrics.
It’s usually the first bear someone makes for themselves.
There’s always a pause when they finish it. They hold it slightly differently than they expected to, not as a project, but as something familiar. Almost recognised.
That is the moment a piece of sewing quietly becomes a keepsake.
If you decide to begin, take your time. Press carefully. Sew slowly. You’re not just learning techniques… you’re making something that will be kept.
— Sandi x
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