For me, the hand print turkey is the quintessential
Thanksgiving kids craft and it is one of my favorites. I thought
it would be fun to have a more permanent version so I decided
to make a softie version. I'll be the first to say that the following
tutorial is very spare (because I'm really supposed to be working
on other things) but I had this on my mind and just had to make it!
You'll need:
*two layers of fabric large enough to accommodate your child's
hand with at least one inch to spare all the way around
*a few pins
*disappearing fabric marker or pencil
*sewing machine & coordinating thread
*scissors
*poly-fil or other stuffing
*pencil with eraser for help with stuffing
*scraps of felt (wool preferable)for feathers, wings, eyes, beak,
and wattle; I used red, orange, gold, yellow, and beige
*fabric glue, like Fabri-Tac
How-to:
With right sides of fabric together, trace your child's
hand with the marker/pencil.
Pin the fabric together and sew over marked lines
leaving the wrist area open.
Trim within about 1/8" of stitch line.
Snip between the fingers and around any curves.
Turn right side out and poke out fingers.
Using only small bits of stuffing at a time, stuff the
fingers then the hand.
Tuck in the bottom opening and edge stitch to close or hand
stitch if you've got time - I didn't.
Feathers should be about the length of the fingers. I didn't
use a pattern but cut them freehand. I used five different colors
and cut two feathers from each one for a total of ten. Snip
along one edge of the feather.
Apply glue only at the base of the feather and attach to the turkey.
Cut two wings, apply glue on one forward end only
and place appropriately.
Cut a little triangle for the beak and a little rounded strip
for the wattle and glue in place.
Take a little bit of felt and roll it between your fingers to make
the eye then glue in place and repeat for the other side.
Tip: If you don't want to machine sew then make the body from
felt. Leave a little more room around the edges of the tracing
for hand sewing and there's no need to turn it inside out.
Continue as above with the stuffing and feathers.
Your done! That was simple right? Enjoy!
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