Big Stuffed Animals: Colorbok Build A Bear Curly Fashion Review

I bought this kit to make the bear myself (even though I'm 22), because I love Build-a-Bear, and do quite a lot of kids' craft kids as I need to have something to do with my hands but don't have the patients or skills for most "grown-up" craft projects.

Overall, I'm quite impressed with the bear.The skin comes with the head already assembled, and a front and back piece that have to be sewn together, but are already attached to the head so they're lined up.There are pre-made holes in along the seams, and the sewing is done with a plastic needle and friendship-bracelet type string, so it's safe enough for young children, and the sewing goes reasonably quickly (I think it took me about an hour and a half to two hours to sew the bear), but the seams still look good and seem reasonably durable.Although I do wish that they'd had something on the back like in Build a Bear stores to turn the skin right-side-out and stuff the bear, then close up the last part, or at least included underwear to cover the final seam, because the final seam that obviously couldn't be done with the skin inside-out sticks out quite a bit, even though I did my best to keep the extra fabric inside the bear while I sewed that part, and it's entirely visible under the bear's skirt.But even so, she's a very nice bear, and the kit even included the heart and birth certificate like in the stores.

The clothes, however, are a different matter, and I really expected more from Build-a-Bear.For starters, the seam under the tail hole in the skirt tore the first time I put the skirt on my bear, and if it can't even stand up to an adult handling it once very gently, there's no way it's going to survive being played with by children.Then there are the decorations for the clothes.These consist of iron-on transfers and glue-on rhine stones.Even with repeated ironing, the iron-on transfers look and feel like plastic, and are barely attached to the clothing.The glue that's included with the kit is no where near strong enough to hold on the rhine stones, and several rhine stones fell when I first tried to dress my bear after finishing her clothes, and I had to glue the back on with the skirt already on the bear, which was tricky to do without getting glue on her.I think her clothes will probably hold up well enough if I put her on a self and don't touch her (although one of the transfers is already starting to come off, and it's only been a few hours), but I can't imagine how the clothes could possibly be part of a child's toy.

There's also a purse to make, which more resembles Christmas tree ornaments I made in kindergarden than anything from Build-a-Bear.It's just two pieces of felt sewn together with yarn, with another piece of yarn for a handle, and it comes with cardboard cut-outs and glitter-glue for decoration (and if you've ever tried putting glitter-glue on felt, you probably know that's not a good combination).Update (1/8/10):
The rhinestones continued to fall off the skirt even while the bear was sitting entirely undisturbed in a corner of my desk, let alone the few times I had to move the bear at all, and I eventually gave up trying to keep and reattach the rhinestones.I looked for replacement clothes at Build-a-Bear Workshop, but since this bear is significantly smaller than any of the bears that are made in the stores, the clothes were all far to big for her.I eventually did find a dress for her at a local craft store that is only slightly big on her, and looks quite cute.I also made a similar bear for my great-aunt, which I was able to clothe in a doll's dress, which looks adorable on her although the top is a bit too small since dolls are generally a bit thinner for their height than bears are.However, neither dress would allow any but the most gentle play (putting this bear on my bed with my other stuffed animals is certainly still out of the question), as the mine tends to fall off if I'm not careful, and is also made of a very delicate fabric (although there may well have been sturdier outfits that were simply out of stock at the time), and the one I gave to my great-aunt pops open in the back if the bear is squeezed at all, even just enough to gently lift her up (just the velcro comes undone -- it doesn't damage the dress at all, but it would make play difficult).I've continued to look for better clothes whenever I've had a chance, but at this point I'm thinking that I'll have to try to make clothes for her myself if I ever have the time, patience, fabric, and sewing skills to do so.

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Product Description:
THIS IS A FUN AN EASY PROJECT. SEW THE BEAR, STUFF IT, DECORATE IT AND DRESS IT.MAKE A 7 INCH ANIMAL ONE COMPLETE OUTFIT AND A FUN ACCESSORY