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“Run run, fast as you can, you can’t catch me - I’m… Tom the
turkey?”
Okay, getting my holiday jingles crossed here but if there
ever was a good line for a turkey around Thanksgiving it would be that one, ha!
Here’s a turkey that won’t have to skedaddle – make this fine
fellow from felt and fabric and keep a little one occupied (thankfully) for a bit while you mash the potatoes this Thanksgiving!
Here’s what you’ll need:
Tom the Turkey
embroidery design (The free offer has expired, but you can still get him HERE for a few dollars!)
Embroidery machine with a 4x4 hoop
Dark brown felt (big enough to fit in the 4x4 hoop)
Lighter brown felt (4x4” piece)
Small piece of red and bright gold felt
5x5” blocks of cotton fabrics that are colored on both sides
(batik fabrics work great)
Sewing thread to match felt (brown, red, gold)
Black embroidery thread
Scissors (short blades, long blades and small curved blades)
A cup of tea (optional)
Print out the PDF Beak & Wattle pattern that is included with the design and cut them
out. Then cut out a red felt wattle and a gold felt beak.
This turkey has a “feathered” fabric tail. Choose fabrics,
like batiks, that are the same on both sides for prettiest results. Cut at 3
different prints/colors into 5” blocks. Hoop the dark brown felt and stack the
3 printed blocks on top. Be sure to cover the stitching field. If
you don’t know where that is you can use your onboard design perimeter finding
tool or just check the plastic hoop placement grid.
Thread the machine in top and bobbin with regular sewing
thread in a color that matches the brown felt. You can either put a darker
brown in the bobbin and a lighter brown (to match the lighter brown felt) in
the top or just choose a shade of brown that blends nicely with both. Sew the
first stitch sequence while you carefully and gently hold the stacked fabric blocks
in place.
Remove the hoop from the machine (don’t remove the felt from
the hoop!) and cut away the fabric layers straight across the bottom of the
stitched outline as shown below.
Next, use your short curved blade scissors (or these Snips!)
to trim away the fabric layers within the body part of the outline. Leave a
small selvage past the stitching line.
Place the lighter brown felt block over the inside body
outline shape. Be sure the felt covers it completely.
Sew the 2nd stitch sequence.
Thread the machine with black embroidery thread in
the top. (Usually I would suggest that you change the bobbin thread back to
embroidery weight bobbin thread, but as these eyes are so tiny it is really not necessary for this project.) Sew the 3rd stitch sequence to complete
the eyes.
Thread the machine on top with red sewing thread. Sew the 4th
stitch sequence. This is the placement line for Tom’s wattle. (WHAT a weird
word, but oddly satisfying to say, heh!)
Fold the red felt wattle in half and line up the center of
the wattle with the placement line.
You might need to put a bit of cellophane tape on the top
edge of the wattle to keep the machine’s foot from catching in it as it stitches up and down. Make sure the tape is stuck so it won't come off on the foot.
Sew the 5th stitch sequence. Clip the top right
and left sides of the wattle to remove a little felt there to make more room
for the beak placement.
Thread the machine on top with gold sewing thread. Sew the 6th
stitch sequence. This is the placement line for the beak. Fold the beak in half
and line up the center of the beak with the placement line. Sew the 7th
stitch sequence to secure the beak. The stitching begins in the middle and
travels to one side and then the other so you shouldn't have trouble with the
machine foot getting caught, but if it makes you nervous, tape the beak in
place then sew it down. (Note – Scotch brand “Magic” tape works great for
projects like this one as it leaves no sticky residue on fabric or needle and
tears off cleanly and easily.)
Thread the machine in the top with brown thread.
To make the back pretty you can add a piece of fabric to
cover up the thread knots there. This step is optional, Tom will play just fine
without it, so if you don’t want to take the time, just skip this step and
advance your machine to the final stitch sequence. If you do want to cover the
back messiness, here is what you do. Cut a 4x4” block of one of the fabrics you
used for the feathers or plain brown cotton fabric. Fuse a piece of fusible web
to the wrong side. I like Steam-a-seam 2 and Wonder Under 805. Peel off the
release paper and place the fabric fusible side against the wrong side of the
hooped felt. It will probably cling just fine to the felt (especially if you
are using Steam-a-seam 2, which is sticky) but if it seems to want to slide
around spray the fabric – not the felt in the hoop – with a light spray of
temporary spray adhesive to hold it in place.
Sew the 8th stitch sequence. Watch his beak; if
it extends past the top edge of the head fold it down while the
needle passes by.
Sew the final stitch sequence. These are Tom’s leg holes,
sized for little fingers so if your fingers won't fit don't worry, little fingers will have plenty of room!
Remove the felt from the hoop. Trim away the fabric on the
wrong side of the hoop leaving a tiny selvage just past the body outline
stitching. Iron to fuse the fabric to the felt.
Trim away the excess light brown body felt on the front of
the puppet, leaving a tiny selvage past the edge of the stitching outline. Cut
away the rest of the excess felt and fabric layers following the stitching line
around the tail and under the body’s bottom edge. Cut ON the
stitching line around his fabric tail, cutting the stitching off as you go. Trim just past the stitching line on the bottom of the body, cutting away the back layer of felt there but leave a little selvage edge. Your puppet should look like this
now:
Clip through all layers to form his feathers. To keep them
sort of even, begin clipping at the center top of his head, cutting in toward the
bird’s body and down around his shoulders. You can leave a little space between the
end of your clip and the body as you go around the shoulder area as shown below.
Choices! You can cut out the leg holes completely (try not
to clip the satin stitching there – if you do mend it with seam sealant) OR you
can clip in a radius within the circle and leave the pointy bits to act like
feathers at the top of his legs.
Finger Puppet Collection & Spring Fun Collection
My grandson has discovered some new playmates :-) Quiet toys - Yay!
Till next time! I hope you have a WONDERFUL, safe and happy Thanksgiving. Eat well, laugh lots, hug your loved ones and take a nap. (And sneak off to your sewing room to make a pretty or two if you can!)
Evy
