Handmade Bear Mask

At the First Mummies Club on February 18th, Helen Burridge presented the course 'Kids Costumes-The Homespun Living. The activity was to create a felt mask for our "little one".  My first thought was to create a LadyBug mask but I decided on a ... BEAR.

Little Ladybug loves to create a cave in Mommy's and Daddy's bed by tucking the blankets between the headboard and the wall.  Then we read "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury.  Little Ladybug loves to yell "BEAR" when it gets to the part in the book when the family finds the bear.

Below is how I created Little Ladybug's bear mask

Mask Shape
1. Put 2 pieces of felt together ( would suggest pinning together to keep felt from slipping) and cut out a mask shape.  I decided to create a high forehead to create a more round face for the bear.
2.  I cut out the eyes at this time by folding the felt mask in half and cutting circles. (I had to do some trimming of the eye sockets later to even them up before sewing)
Ears
1. Cut out the brown ears.  I put two pieces of brown felt together and cut a half-circle shape.
2. Created the inner ear by using the brown ear shape to cut 2 pink ears the same size.  I then trimmed down the pink ear by taking approximately 1 cm off the edges of the pink ear.  (I used pink because it was for my daughter but a tan or light brown colour is another option.)
3. Sewed the pink ears to the brown ears.  I used a blanket stitch on 3 sides but on the edge that will be attached to the mask I used a running stitch.  I used a running stitch so that I could then put the stitches and create pleats in the ears. 
4. Sewed the ears to the front side of the back mask piece (If you ears are flat, you can also create
shape by creating pleats as you sew the ears to the mask)

Nose
1.  I cut a circle out of black felt that was a little larger than the nose shape I wanted to create.
2. Sewed a running stick around the circumference of the circle and then pull string to gather edges together.
3. I put a little piece of felt inside of the nose to help keep its shape.
4. Sewed the nose onto the front side of the front mask piece
Almost Done
1. Sewed the 2 mask pieces together.  Sewed around the eye sockets. I chose to pull the stitches tight in the eye holes at a couple points to create a slight gathering on the mask. 
2. You can either use elastic or ribbon.
If using elastic, sew 1 end of the elastic between the 2 mask pieces on one side. Then hold up the mask to your little one and measure how much elastic is needed wrap around their head. Sew the elastic between the 2 mask pieces.
I used ribbon and cut pieces of equal lengths of ribbon that will give plenty of length to tie behind
little one's head. I would suggest sealing the ribbon ends by flame or little clear nail polish to prevent fraying. (I chose to use ribbon because it is very possible that my husband and I will be requested to wear the mask.)

I am going to hide this bear mask in Little Ladybug's "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" book and surprise her when we read it tonight.

Little Ladybug wearing mask. We are going on a bear hunt.