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I finished sewing my classic usakumya! This was a really challenging project. Basic plush toys are simple enough but there's an extra level of complexity with large articulated teddy bears and I'm not sure what part I spent the most time on... It was good supplemental learning to my recent teddy bear studies. Modern bears are made differently, and I've never handled an antique bear before, but I really wanted to try some of the methods without deviating from the original usakumya's design too much.

But I did make a few changes. I wanted to emphasize the bear features more, so I added bear ears and shaved down the muzzle. I think it probably would have been better to just trim it a little instead, but the backing fabric is a good match. I also modified the arms for front paw pads. But other than those things, and the bonnet, I was pretty faithful to the original pattern.

The bonnet did not work out at all...

As for traditional bear making methods I incorporated, the eyes are glass and sewn in (I swapped blue for a larger black pair later), which stopped being commonplace after standards for children's toys became more strict. The joints are made with washers and cotter pins, except for the neck, which is a nut and bolt. I could have sized up on the leg joints but the original usakumya's legs looked a little loose to me in the few photos I could find, so I decided to try to mimic that. Might be a little too loose, but not too difficult of a fix if I decide to later on.

Lastly, I used a mix of cotton batting and kapok to stuff! Kapok used to be a common stuffing for bears, but fell out of favor for polyfill, which is much lighter, bouncier and less of an irritant. It's still a bit of a shame though, because it's so soft, and very fun to play with. Apparently it's quite sustainable too as it doesn't need any pesticides to grow. It's also naturally resistant to mold and pests. But it's much heavier, and more expensive than polyfill. And less “clean”, which was a big concern for children's toys. So I understand why it fell out of usage. But I've come to really appreciate it as a fiber so I think I'd like to keep using it.

Anyway, for kumya, there are a few more pattern modifications I think I'd like to try, but I think I'll do a full writeup about that later after giving it another go. For now I'm mostly happy with the end result, and I learned a lot. The only thing I want to redo entirely is the bonnet, which needs to be about 10% bigger to accomodate the ears!

Also, teddies are hard to name so I outsourced it to my friends and they decided on Francine. They love old lady names. I gave Francine a “heart”, a small rock that one of them picked up on a trip to Australia. I really wanted to use a different, bigger rock but...Francine is already quite heavy. But I really love hiding small things in my toys so there needed to be something. I still have some teeth leftover so maybe next bear will get a tooth.

I also made a cover for this year's journal. It's a little different than the design I originally planned, but my own indecision about how I wanted to go about it was making me impatient, so I tried something else entirely. It's a simple design, just an ice cream. I've been looking at lots of handmade covers lately so I wanted mine to look very “handmade” too. Well, it is handmade! I also simplified my pattern from last year, which ended up being a good idea...except for that I messed up the measurements! I used scrap fabric, and I had a piece that I eyeballed to be about the right size. I'm thinking now that it was scraps because I cut it to the wrong size before and just forgot. So the cover ended up being a little too short. Quite a rookie mistake...

But I didn't have to waste the work I already put in! Ladder stitching the edge left just enough space. That was the least annoying way to make it work, I think. I'll probably make another cover at some point anyway.

No pockets this year! Buckle closure is also a pen holder

I do wish I added a bookmark though!

Anyway... on to the next project!

Omake