teddy

Materials

1 chenille stem (the colour of your choice, I used light brown)

Tools
wire cutters
needlenosed pliers
ruler
fine black permanent marker

Instructions
Measure and cut 4 pieces of stem -
1 x 1" (ears)
1 x 1 1/2" (arms)
1 x 3" (legs)
1 x 4" (body and head)

With the needlenosed pliers, curl each end of the ears piece round until they form loops like this O_O.

Do the same with the arms and the legs, making the loops slightly flatter.

Fold the body and head piece in half.

Put this piece on the table in front of you, with the folded point away from you.

Take the ears piece (the smallest one of the three left) and place it about 3/4" from the point. Fold the point down over it, and use the pliers to bend the very end of the point up, at right angles to the rest. This forms the head (with ears) and the nose.

This is what it looks like, from the side, with the
bottom of the body turned up also.

Take the arms, and lay them across the body under the chin. Make sure that they are central!

Now take the legs and lay them across the body about 1/2"-3/4" below the arms.

Take the two ends of the body stems, and bring them up and over the legs and arms, and tuck them under the chin. You can use a blob of glue if you want to secure them.

Bend the legs down to their proper position, and flex the feet. Bend the arms round to the front, and perk the ears.

Use the marker to draw eyes and nose, or you can use tiny beads if you prefer.

You can use tiny pads of felt for the paws, if you like, and add a tiny bow under the chin, or beside an ear.

Experiment with size, making them smaller, or larger, to suit yourself.

Happy mini-ing!

Alison Fleming 1999