Designing your own pretty plates with handmade decals

Knit a little mini bear

This bear is really tiny and may look hard to make but because the head and body are one piece she is easier to do than you may think. The arms and legs are a bit harder because they are tiny.

One tip before you start : have a safety pin ready to keep all your finished pieces together so they will not get lost.

What you will need :
1 pair of 1 mm knitting needles
Thin wool in white and caramel.
Tiny bit of Fibre fill or cotton wool to stuff the bear
Needle for making up the bear.
Black sewing thread for eyes and nose
Tacky Glue
Blush ( optional)

Head and body ( 1 piece)
Cast on 20 stitches in white for the dress part that doubles up as her body.
Row 1 and 2 : Knit
Row 3- 10 : Stocking stitch ( Knit or right side, purl on wrong side)
Change to camel for the head.
Row 11 _ 20 Stocking Stitch.
Cut thread leaving a long tail.
Thread the the tail through the stitches on the needle and pull tight to close the top of the head. Make a  few stitches to keep everything  in place but do not cut the tail just yet. Put aside.

Arms ( make 2 )
Cast on 6 stitches and work 6 rows of Stocking Stitch.
Cut the thread leaving a tail and thread through the stitches on the needle . Put on safty pin so it will not get lost.

Legs ( make 2)
Cast on 6 stitches and work 4 rows of Stocking Stich. Finish as arms and put on safety pin.

Ears ( make 3 )

Yes you will need 3 earshapes for one will become the bear's nose.

Cast on 3 stiches and knit one row. Cast off the stitches knitwise.
Cut thread leaving a tail.

For the ears : tie the tail and the thread at the cast on on end together to shape ears.
The nose stays flat.
Please put them all on the safety pin for sanities sake !

To make up the bear :
Close the seam on the back of the bear. You can use the caramel tail to close the head and use white thread for the dress.Weave in loose ends. Stuff  the head and the body ( dress) and close the dress at the bottom by making tiny stitches just above the two knit rows. This means there is a little space for the top of the  legs to go under the dress later

Tie white wool or a ribbon around the body at neck level to define the neckline.

To make the arms and legs. Arms and legs to not need stuffing. Just fold them in half and sew together. Weave in lose ends, Sew arms to body at the top of the dress.  The legs will be attached to the bottom of the dress.  The legs will appear as if they are coming from inside the dress. The easiest way to do this is to glue the legs inside the open bottom of the dress. Leave to dry.  Then make tiny stitches through the bottom of the dress catching both layers of the dress and  catching the legs in between the layers.

Ears :
Use the two earshapes on which you tied the threads and sew or glue to the top of the head, Weave in lose ends.

Nose:
The third earshape is going to be the nose. Sew or glue to the bears face checking the photo for placement. Weave in loose ends. With the sewing thread and a needle embroider a little nose and two eyes once again checking the photo for placement.

Optional :
Add a tiny tiny bit of blush to her cheeks. It will define the face just a little bit more.

Have fun with your little bear !