Make Tiger Lilly: A Mink Panda Bear with Expressive Patch Eyes
Award-Winning Bear • Magazine Cover Star • Signature Mink Pattern • Panda Patch Eyes
Some patterns become familiar favourites, returning to the worktable again and again.
Tiger Lilly is one of mine. An award-winning bear and magazine cover star, she brings together the soft fullness of mink, contrasting colours and the expressive face that has become part of my bear-making style.
In this final guide in the Beauty in Bear Making collection, I share her pattern, written construction instructions and a photographed lesson in creating panda-style patch eyes.
It is an invitation to explore the small details that help a bear’s personality emerge.
A closer look at panda patch eyes
The dark patches around a panda’s eyes do more than introduce another colour. Their shape and angle help frame the face.
In this technique, the glass eye, a small white suede accent and a shaped mink patch are assembled together before being attached to the bear’s head.
The white forms a delicate crescent beneath the eye, while the mink creates a soft surrounding patch. Together, these layers bring depth and definition to the expression.
The photographed lesson shows you how to prepare, shape and position these elements, with time to check the face before securing the eyes.
What you’ll explore
Layering the eyes and patches
Follow the photographs to prepare the white suede accents, shape the small mink patches and bring the components together.
You’ll see how each layer sits behind the glass eye and how to refine the shapes as you work.
Finding the expression
Before attaching the eyes permanently, you’ll preview their placement on the face.
This gives you an opportunity to check the balance, adjust the angle of the patches and notice how much white is showing beneath each eye.
Small changes here can make a considerable difference.
Working with contrasting mink
Tiger Lilly’s materials list pairs chocolate and honey mink with honey suede.
The pattern gives you a starting point for exploring how contrasting fur colours work across a bear’s body and face. You can follow the original combination or consider colours of your own.
Using an awl with care
The featured tool is the awl: useful for preparing small openings and releasing fur caught in seams.
The guide explains how to work gently with its tapered point, giving you more control over these finishing details.
A little observation to try
Look closely at a panda bear’s face, either in a photograph or among your own bears.
Notice the shape of each eye patch. Does it curve downwards, extend outwards or sit closely around the eye? How much does that shape contribute to the expression?
When planning your own patches, begin a little larger than you think you need. You can refine them gradually, checking both sides together.
A signature pattern with room to explore
Although Tiger Lilly is shown in mink, this is a pattern I also return to in mohair, alpaca and synthetic fabrics.
Each material changes the finished appearance. Fur length, density and colour can reveal different aspects of the same design.
Once you understand the eye-patch method, you can also consider how it might suit other patterns, adjusting the patch size and placement to fit the face.
What’s included
A 16-page digital guide, with the matching Tiger Lilly pattern supplied separately.
Materials and tools guidance, including a closer look at the awl.
Written instructions for construction, jointing, stuffing and finishing.
Step-by-step photographs for the panda patch eyes.
Guidance on white suede accents, mink patch shaping and placement.
Suggestions for grooming and optional shading.
You’ll gather your own materials and tools. The guide also refers to earlier lessons in the collection, including slit jointing, the button method for attaching eyes and optional clay noses.
Let your own bear emerge
Tiger Lilly’s history is part of this pattern’s story. The bear you make will begin another.
Your fabric choices, stitching, trimming and eye placement will all contribute to its character. Take your time with those decisions. There is pleasure in watching a familiar pattern become a bear you have never met before.
Find Tiger Lilly inside the Studio
Tiger Lilly is one of 12 bear-making photo guides with matching patterns inside the Beauty in Bear Making Studio.
The collection also includes nine additional patterns, three digital magazines, six Studio Companions and a four-hour mink bear-making video masterclass.
One-time payment of AU$89, with lifetime access.
If you would enjoy exploring the techniques behind my bears, you are welcome to join me in the Studio.
Bare Cub Designs by Helen Gleeson