A child who gets to select a Build-A-Bear stuffed animal of her own can start a magical connection. By making her own bear or other creature and picking out its wardrobe, she gets to watch it come to life. While there are a lot of clothing options to choose from in the store, you can make Build-A-Bear clothes yourself for a lot less money using any fabrics you want. There are many patterns to choose from for 18-inch dolls, but you can create and sew your own pattern with very little trouble.
Lay your bear on its back over a sheet of printer paper. Starting at the shoulder, trace around each arm, up the armpit, and down to the waist.
Remove the bear and draw a slight scoop on the paper to create the neckline and arm holes. Draw a line across the waist area to form the bottom of the shirt pattern.
Cut out the pattern along your drawn lines. Place the pattern over a piece of fabric and cut out the fabric around the pattern, allowing about ¼-inch extra fabric all the way around. Cut out a second piece of the same fabric using the same pattern.
Pair your two fabric pieces with the outsides facing in and pin along the edges. Sew a ¼-inch seam along the edges of the pattern, leaving open the neck, waist, and arm holes.
Fold each of the open edges over by ½ inch to create a hem. Sew the hem down around the edges of each opening. Turn the shirt right side out and put it on the bear.
Create trousers or a dress for each animal following the same process for tracing the stuffed toy’s actual size to make a pattern and cutting out two pieces of fabric for each pattern. Sew the sides and hem the open edges needed for dressing the animal.
Tip
Add ribbons, embroidery, buttons, embellishments, and iron-on patches to your Build-A-Bear creature's clothes to personalise them and make them unique.