Skirting the Issue: Maryann and Caroline from Sew Together

Today we have Caroline and Maryanne, the Aussie duo who make up Sew Together.  They are experts in the details and today's project is no exception to those lovely, little details.  Thanks ladies!!!


When you’re the fiftieth tutorial in a series it’s a bit hard to find inspiration, especially when you are after all of the amazing tutorials in LIz and Elizabeth’s Skirting the Issue series.

So – we have a confession… we kind of cheated on this one. We haven’t done a skirt tutorial. Instead, we came up with something sweet and simple that you can add to any one of the skirt patterns and tutorials that you already have.

We like to call it the ’My Best friend pocket Teddy’.

It’s always good to know that you have a best friend in your pocket. It’s especially good to know that you can’t lose him because he’s attached to a super long piece of ribbon.

As long as your skirt has a pocket (and you can always add one) you’re good to go.

You’ll need

· Felt

· Embroidery thread

· Stuffing

· Marking pen

· A scrap of fabric and heat and bond

· Ribbon

· Press stud

1. Start by making a template – make sure that when you draw up your teddy that it will fit in the skirt pocket. Don’t forget that the teddy will be bigger when it’s stuffed!

2. Draw around your template on a single layer of felt. Make sure you use a marker that can be erased as you will see it on the outside of the finished product.

3. Mark in where you want the teddy’s features to be. Embroider them!

4. Adhere the fabric scrap to the heat and bond. Cut out a heart and bond it to the centre front of the teddy. Machine stitch the heart on.

5. Pin the embroidered teddy to another piece of felt WRONG sides together.

6. Machine stitch around the teddy leaving a gap between the legs so you can fill it with stuffing. It’s easier to go around curves if you use a small machine stitch. Stuff the teddy and machine stitch the hole closed

7. Cut around the teddy

8. Stitch a ribbon to the teddy’s back and a press-stud to the other end of the ribbon. (Make sure that you use a long piece of ribbon. On a safety note, also make sure that you take care with small children and long ribbons)

Stitch a press-stud to the inside of the skirt pocket. Now he won’t get lost!

Thanks for having us Liz and Elizabeth.  We've loved being here. Pop over and say hi at Sew Together.

Maryanne and Caroline