Handmade Chickens

 I live in a pretty rural community. Though it is officially a small town, my hometown has more countryside than streets or buildings. Not surprisingly, I know several people who own chickens, and I know several more who like to decorate with them. I'm not sure what of the above inspired the design for these stuffed chickens, but one day I decided to try my hand at making one, and since I couldn't find a pattern I liked online, I made my own. It took a little tweaking, but eventually I was able to produce an extremely huggable, toy chicken that, frankly, makes me giggle whenever I finish one. 😊

And I've made several, since it seems that anyone who sees them wants to have one--for some reason, chickens are really popular with people. My children love the ones I made for them, and play with them surprisingly frequently, so I can say with confidence that kids like chickens too. Who knew?!?

So, for all of you chicken-lovers out there (you know who you are 😉) and for anyone who enjoys sewing and/or knows a chicken-lover, this post is for you: my step-by-step tutorial on how to make a (very cute) stuffed chicken. 

To make one chicken, you will need:

chicken template 

3/8 yd. of fabric A

1/4 yd. of fabric B

cotton fiberfill stuffing

1/8 yd. of low-loft cotton batting

2 matching buttons

sewing machine

straight pins

scissors

needle and thread

pen or pencil for tracing the pattern

Start by printing and cutting out the pattern pieces. Lay the patterns for the chicken's sides and bottom on fabric A, cut them out, and lay to the side; make sure to double your fabric to cut out two sides at the same time. If you're using selvage and simply can't fold the fabric in half to cut 2 at a time, you can cut the sides out one at a time--just make sure to reverse the pattern for one of the sides so that you have a front and back for your chicken.

Next, cut out the wings, beak and comb from fabric B. When I was designing these chickens, the question was raised, "Do all chickens have a comb?", and my husband informed me that, yes, all chickens have a comb; hens just have smaller ones than roosters (and no showy tail feathers). So, in case you were wondering, these are girl chickens. 😊

This fabric is doubled so that you should end up with four wing pieces, two beak pieces and two comb pieces.

Next, pin your two wings, front sides facing each other, to the quilt batting. 

Cut around the wing shape, pin and sew the long edges together, leaving the top open for turning (1). This will give you two inside-out wings. Clip the corners and along the bigger curves (2 & 3), then turn rightside-out (4). Your chicken's wings are done!

Now, pin each beak piece to one side of the chicken, front sides facing. (Two sides of the beak for two sides of the chicken.)

It's best to center one long side of the beak (it's basically an isosceles triangle) to the side of the chicken's head, so that you have a shorter edge on top and a longer edge on bottom. When it's sewn together, it should look like this from the back:

Once both sides of the chicken have a beak half, it's time to attach the wings to each side of the bird. Fold the open end inside, pin onto the chicken's side and sew in place. 

It's important when pinning the wings on to make sure you line each side up with each other, otherwise your wings may be crooked when seen from the top. 

Trust me, the voice of experience here! 😂

The same care should be taken when sewing on the button eyes (the next step), otherwise your chicken may look cross-eyed! When finished, both sides of the chicken should look like this:

Now it's time to sew the two sides together, but first we have to assemble the comb. Start by pinning the pieces together, front sides facing (1) and sew around the top edge carefully (2). If this is your first time sewing around curves, take it slow--this is a tricky seam! 

Next, clip the corners and turn it rightside-out (3 & 4).

           Now stuff it with just a little bit of cotton filling (1) and pin the edges closed (2). Insert it very carefully between the front and back of your chicken at the top of the head and use the pins to secure it in place. (It won't want to bend--take your time.) The top of the comb (the stuffed part) should be facing inward so that the bottom edge is even with the edge of the chicken's head (3). 

Pin the other sides of the chicken together, leaving the bottom open and sew around the front and head of the chicken and along the back and tail of the chicken (4). Leave a small space open on the neck for turning--you'll hand-sew that closed once the chicken is stuffed.

Sewing the comb in place can be very difficult because of the proximity of the button eyes and the stuffing in the comb; I've found it best to push my pins almost all the way in to help flatten it and Take. My. Time. Do not hurry around the head, and you'll be more likely to be satisfied with your results.

Once the sides are sewn together and all the pins pulled out, take a moment to clip the corners of the tail and beak and any sharply curved edges; this'll make turning much smoother when it is time for it. 

Now it's time to pin the bottom on. It's pretty straightforward from here on--simply pin the bottom in place and sew around the seam. I don't worry about clipping curves in this part.

We're almost there! Turn your chicken rightside-out: isn't it cute already?!? I love how the two different fabrics play against each other here!

All that's left is to stuff it from head to tail and then sew the neck closed. I use a pillow stitch or a zigzag stitch here.

And there you have it--one adorable little bird! And it's a lot quieter than the real thing, too!

As you can see from the picture at the beginning of this post, I've done these in all different kinds of fabrics--even sold a camo one once!--but I particularly like the floral patterns best; for some reason, I just think they look the best. What fabrics will you use for your chickens?