Care Bears T-Shirts

My little nephew loves Care Bears (the modern ones, of course).  Though I'm definitely more partial to the original Care Bear crew, I can't deny my adorable nephew one of his favorite things! (Not to mention I love that he's too young/too awesome to care that Care Bears may be considered "too girly" for boys, depending on who you ask)

For his fourth birthday, I decided to make him a custom Funshine Bear shirt with matching hat!

This is a very easy and affordable beginner project for all you n00b crafters out there and/or Care Bear aficionados who want a great Halloween costume that doesn't involve wearing a full-body pink bear suit! I spent around $12 at Michael's for all the supplies and I completed the entire project in one night.

Funshine Bear's current look

Look how happy he is!

Things You'll Need

• A solid color T-shirt that matches the Care Bear of your choice
• 1 sheet of plain white craft felt 9"x12" 
• Colored felt as needed for the design of your choice 
• Needle and thread or sewing machine (you can match your thread colors to your felt or just use white) 
• Scissors
• Fabric glue (optional) 
• Red baseball cap (for Funshine Bear only)

What to Do

Figure out your design

Break down your Care Bear's "belly badge" into simple shapes that you can cut out of the appropriate colors of felt. 

Cut the components out of felt

Start with the white background. If you want an oval shaped belly badge, just round out the corners of the felt with your scissors until you get a shape you're happy with.  If you want a circular belly badge, I suggest using a clean plate or bowl as a stencil to ensure symmetry. 

Once your white background is complete, you can start cutting out the colored details that will comprise the main design. Make sure that your pieces will all fit on the white background you just made, with a little room on the edges.

Attach the pieces to the background

If you don't like sewing, you can try using the fabric glue to attach the pieces to the white background, but felt may not like to stick to other felt as easily as it would stick to a different, sturdier fabric.  Especially when you're dealing with very small parts (like the sun rays on Funshine), you don't want to take your chances and risk pieces falling off. 

Small pieces may be better for hand-stitching, but that depends on your sewing machine and your own abilities. If you decided to match your thread color to your felt, you don't have to worry so much about the decorativeness of your needlework.  However, if you went with the white thread, try to make sure your stitches are small, neat, and deliberate-looking.

Funshine's Hat

If you're doing the hat for Funshine Bear, cut the semicircle sun and sun rays out of yellow felt and either glue them or sew them right onto the cap. Gluing here works a little better since you're adhering the felt directly onto the hat. (If you're having trouble applying pressure for the glue to set, try putting the hat on a stuffed animal or pillow. Cover the design with some wax paper, and stretch rubber bands over it to apply constant pressure without bending the hat out of shape.)

Attach the belly badge to your shirt

Once all your felt is securely assembled, you're ready to attach it to your shirt! Simply sew along the edge of the white background felt either by hand or with a machine. Stitch style is again up to you, depending on how much your thread is going to show. 

That's it! 

- Nori <3