Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Gobble Gobble Craft

I wanted to get this post done before Thanksgiving was over! These are some fun turkeys that I have been making off and on for quite a few years. My Mother-in-law, hi Carol Jean, sent me one a few years back and I just made up a pattern for it and took off. I love making these things because it is therapeutic to do hand work.

Supplies you will need:

Colored felt sheets- 6 for a large turkey, 5 for a small turkey

Cotton thread in cream or black

Poly-fil stuffing

Needle

scissors

black eyes

fall embellishments (ribbon, buttons, etc.)

Hot glue gun-glue sticks.

Here's the pattern for the turkeys, if you are so inclined to make a few for yourself. The felt sheets are very inexpensive. Be creative on your colors, I have used red, black, green, orange, and many others.

Lay your pattern on the felt and cut it out. Make sure to cut two of everything.


Next, blanket stitch around all the pieces, making sure to leave an opening for the stuffing. If you don't know how to blanket stitch I found a Blanket Stitch Tutorial on YouTube that was pretty good. It is a bit different than they way I do it, but it will get the job done.

This is the type of thread I use. It is a thick cotton and can be found near the yarn section of you local craft store.


After you stitch around each section, stop and fill loosely fiberfill, just make sure not to over stuff. You want your turkey to be soft and squishy. Finish stitching the section closed. When you have all the pieces stitched and filled. Hot glue them together so they stand on their own. Add the embellishments, don't forget to put on a nose and waddle. These are buttons, and I will cut the shank off to make gluing easier.

I just hand cut the nose and waddle, there is no pattern. You may think it looks terrible when you are cutting it, but when you put it on it will look fine. I glue them on also.


These are a couple samples I have done. You don't have too many embellishments on your turkey, it is personal preference. Have a ball and get crazy! Sorry the pictures aren't so great, my camera does not like to take pictures inside and the flash tends to make everything look possessed, so you have a nice Thanksgiving orange glow! Sorry, maybe Santa will leave me a new camera in my stocking! Hey, a girl can dream!


5 comments:

Amy @ Keep'n The SunnySide said...

That is so cute Maria.. great job!!

Allison Scherer said...

I have two on display right now thanks to you and Mom! I love when my family makes the crafts for me so I don't have to (ha, ha)!

Tami Anderson said...

LOVE IT!

Amy @ Keep'n The SunnySide said...

I just had to come back and see these turkeys again.. they are just so dang cute! HA!

tammy said...

So cute!