Fabrics
Traditionally, bears were made of mohair or alpaca. Mohair comes from the Angora goat and it have a distinct odor, especially when wet. Modern mohair plush is a blend of wool and cotton, and has no odor. Alpaca comes from the South American alpaca, a relative of the llama. It is denser than mohair and not as expensive.

Either mohair or alpaca can be found at an upholstery shop.

Bears can be made from a great variety of materials. Knits, corduroy, terry cloth, velour, velvet, synthetic suede, denium, calico, or even lace can be used to make a bear.

Synthetic fur is a blend of manmade fibres such as nylon, polyester, acrylic and modacrylic. It is shinier than real fur and mohair, but is inexpensive, durable, and can be found in a wide range of colours, textures, and thicknesses. Synthetic fur is also called fake fur, fur-by-the-yard, or acrylic fur.

Most fake furs have a knit backing that is flexible. Some are stiffer and less likely to be stretched out of shape when stuffed. Check to see just how much the backing will stretch before purchasing. You want it to give some, but you want your bear to maintain a bear's shape and not be stretched out of shape.

It is important that the fur fabric you choose be durable, flame resistant and washable. If you fold the fabric in half and look at the fur in the fold, you can get a good idea of how quickly the fur will show wear and tear. If the fur is thin, it will not wear very long. Look for fur that does not thin out when folded in half. Try to find out what the fabric is made of and how to safely clean it. Always test clean a piece of extra fur before starting to use it for your bear.

As bears vary in size and thickness, so should the fur. Select the correct pile for the bear you will be making. As a rule of thumb, medium bears look nice with a ½" file fur while large bears look nice with a ¾" pile fur.

Fake fur material tends to slide as you stretch it. You will avoid this problem if you carefully pin the pieces together, with right sides of fur together and hand baste each piece. An alternative is to place a sheet of tracing paper between the fur pieces before pinning and stretching. The paper is easily torn away after the seam is stitched.

The fur may flatten and get caught inside the seam while stitching. Brushing the fur before pinning and stitching, but you'll find that some will inevitably get caught in the seam. The bits that do get caught can be pulled out by running the head over a dressmaker pin over the seam, one side at a time, until the bits come off. This makes the seam less visible and fluffs up the nap.
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Nap
Fur fabrics have a definite nap. To determine the direction of the nap, run your hand over the surface. If it feels rough, you are going against the nap; if it feels smooth, you are going with the nap. The nap of fur is a lighter colour when stroked downwards and a darker colour when stroked upwards.

The nap of every fabric should be found before any pattern pieces are laid out to be cut. It the pieces are not cut with the nap running in the same direction, they will be unevenly shaded. While this may not be apparent on some pieces, it will be obvious on the bear's head.
If you are a beginner, it is a good idea to purchase more material than required, at least for your first bear project. This way, if you make a mistake, you can easily cut another piece and start over. If you are one of the lucky ones who makes no mistakes, you can use the extra material to make the ears, paw or foot pads, snouts or muzzles for another bear. Or, you can make an extra bear to give as a gift and show off your newfound knowledge.

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Remnants
Remnants are leftovers from bolts of fabric that are sold at a reduced price. Remnants can be found in fabric, discount and department stores. They are available in many types of fabric and even though you may not always find the exact colour you want, the price is usually reduced enough to make you take a second look.

Storing Fabric
When storing contrasting colours of fur in the same bag or box (yellow and brown for example), turn the coloured fur inward as you fold up the material, placing the backings together. This way, the different colours of file will not stick to one another and you won't have to pick tufts of one colour off another.

Cleaning fur
To clean your bear, use a spray bottle filled with a mild detergent and water solution. Before spraying the bear, test the solution on an extra piece of each different colour you have used to see if it will damage the material. After the solution as needed, either by adding more water or changing the detergent. Vacuum the bear to remove any direct, dust, or lint in the fur. Lightly mist the bear with the solution. Carefully wipe the bear with a damp cloth, moving the cloth in overlapping circles. You can use a hair dryer to blow the bear dry or let him air dry. After he is dry, you can lightly brush him to fluff up his fur and make him soft and cuddly looking again.

You can also clean your bear with a colour safe carpet cleaner, just as you would clean your carpets, Vacuum first to remove any dust, dirt, or lint. Carefully use a damp brush to work in the carpet cleaner. Let it dry overnight, then vacuum off.
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Sewing Techniques
Darts
Fold fabric along center of dart. Beginning at widest part at edge of fabric, stitch to point. Backstitch a knot thread. For fur, slash along center to ½ -1" (1.2 - 2.5 cm) from the point; press of finger press open.
Seam Allowances
Usually, a ¼" seam allowance is added.
Chipping Seam Allowance
Curved seams will need to be clipped so that they will lie flat. After sewing clip into the seam about 1/8" (3mm) at intervals of an inch or so, depending on the tightness of the curve. The seams will then be pressed open or pressed to one side and the edges overcast.
Cutting Out Pattern Pieces
After you have determined the nap direction, lay out the pattern pieces on the wrong side of the material (the wrong side has not fur, only the backing), according to the suggested layout pattern.

The pattern pieces can be traced onto tracing paper or you can photocopy them and pin the copies to your material. If you photocopy the patterns, you may find it difficult to work with stiff paper. If you use tracing paper, simply trace the pattern pieces onto the paper with a pencil or whatever you prefer to work with (several different tracing methods are available at fabric store).

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As you complete each piece, make sure that you label which piece it is and that you mark the nap directions. Mark all pieces with dots for joints, lines for darts, openings for stuffing and turning, dots for eye and nose placement, and ear placements, if any. You would be surprised how easy it is to confuse the pieces when it is time to assemble the bear, so label each piece carefully as you cut it out.

Arrange the pattern pieces on the wrong side of the material and pin. We recommend using dressmakers pins, which are longer than regular pins and work well with think fur fabrics. Before cutting, you can draw around the pattern pieces with tailor's chalk or magic marker on fur, or a soft pastel pencil on thin fabric. There are several markers on the market that dissolve or fade away. If you do not want to draw around it. Use sharp scissors and cut as close as you can without damaging the pattern pieces; chances are you will need to use the same pattern piece again.

Fabrics other than fur can be cut with material doubled. This is not recommended for fur. Some plush fur can be quite thick and, when doubled, the margin for error is greatly increased; you may cut more of the fur on the bottom layer than you realise. If you need to cut more than one of the same piece, re-pin and cut another one in the same manner.

For pattern pieces that are placed on the fold of the material, you will need to alter the directions when using fur. Pin the piece to the wrong side of the material and cut it out on all sides except the one marked "Fold". Mark the fold line, reverse the piece, and cut out the opposite side. Take care to match up seam lines so that the pieces will smoothly progress from side to side.

Some pieces will have to be reversed on the material. To do this, place the pattern piece on the material, pin, and cut out. Then reverse the piece (so that all the writing is facing down into the backing of the material), pin, and cut out. You will need to do this until you have the number of pieces needed. You will have to cut out four of each arm and leg (each arm and leg pattern will be cut out twice with right side facing up and twice in reverse or with the writing facing down).

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If you are using fur, lightly brush the cut edges of the material (both the pieces you cut out and the piece left over) to remove the loose fur and save yourself from picking it up off the floor, table, sewing machine or wherever else the material has been. If you can cut through the backing only and not the pile of fur, there won't be any loose fur to pick up. However, this is difficult to do.

When buying fur, try to buy the thread at the same time. It is important to get as close a colour match as possible, because the ears and stuffing openings are hand-sewn. A well-matched sewing thread will hide the majority of stitching sins.

The standard cotton-covered polyester thread is a good choice for strong seams. You can use a thick sewing machine embroidery thread for applique or double standard regular sewing thread. To button eyes, arms and legs, used a tough polyester thread. To embroider noses, mouths, use strand cotton, or a tightly twisted rayon or embroidery floss.
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