the minimum required...

I've gotten all the hand-sewing on my little bear done. It actually went quite quickly once I got going- maybe 30min for all the limbs- pads and all. I've been amazing at how little you need if you just want to make a single simple little bear. I've included of photo of all the supplies I'm using but a few of these things could be omitted too if you wanted to make a couple changes. For instance you could use a different fabric, but mohair really is the best (in my humble opinion!). If you didn't want to mess with disks and cotter pins you could just string join the limbs. I'm not using glass eyes for this bear- instead I'll just stitch the eyes with floss since it's for a baby (there are just little pins marking the placement now). I stuffed the head with excelsior, but since I didn't want the whole piece to be very hard I found this cotton in the drug store. It's just cotton batting instead of cotton balls- and I think it will be perfect for stuffing the limbs and body and could have been used for the head too. 

It's fun to see what you can make do with.  I can feel summer in the air here and summer always makes me want to pare everything down- from possessions to process. I just want to make room for more air in my day and my life- you know what I mean?