Friday 15 March 2013

Chicken pattern weights


These little chickens measure approx. 10cm from beak to tail.  They'd make good pattern weights if you stuff them with something heavy!  You could give them to children as toys if you use safety eyes and soft polyester stuffing.

You will need:
  • Fabric that doesn't fray (I used felt) in red, yellow and at least one other colour for the body
  • Two 10mm wobbly eyes
  • Glue suitable for fabric
  • Red thread, plus other thread to match the body fabric
  • Stuffing: to make the bird heavy you could either use rice or a combination of poly-fil and a large pebble
Download the pattern here.

Cut the pieces as directed in the pattern.  The wattle and comb in red, the beak in yellow and the body and base in any other colour.  The pattern includes seam allowance.

Use red thread to stitch the wattles to the body pieces by sewing a circle around where the eyes will go.  Position the wattles as shown in the photograph.

Glue the two beak pieces together (this makes it stiffer).  Pin the beak and comb in place sandwiched between the body pieces (wrong sides together).

Sew the body pieces together along the back of the bird between A and B, moving the wattles out of the way as you go (so you don't sew through them accidentally).  Make the seam just a few mm from the edge.

Pin the base to the bird, matching A and B.  Start at the rear and sew most of the way around before stuffing the bird and closing it up.

Trim the edge of the fabric to neaten it to a uniform distance from the stitching all the way around.  Glue the eyes on.


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