Thanksgiving Dinner Kidlet-Style

Those little drummies are detachable too...

 
by Maggie from Smashed Peas and Carrots
Ok, the felt pile is going down. Down, down...down! Yippee! I have been knee deep in lots of felt-y fun these last few days but all for a good cause. As of right now, I have 8 days remaining to get Noah's birthdays gifts finished and I am actually doing pretty good, knock on wood...or a pile of felt :) I thought I'd share with you one of the gifts that I just finished and am so lovin' on right now...A felt turkey dinner...just in time for the holidays.

So, what do you think? I'm a-thinking it's going to be so much fun for Noah (and Penny) to play with while I roast my big bird up on T-day. I'm just really glad that his birthday is a week before Thanksgiving cause now they can both get some use out of it as a Thanksgiving dinner and a Christmas dinner too...WooHoo for multiple uses!

Well, are you up for it? Are you interested in making one too? It is really super easy...here's what you need:

Thanksgiving Turkey

3 sheets of tan felt

1 sheet of cream felt

matching thread (cream and tan)

polyfil stuffing

2 inches of velcro, cut into two 1 inch pieces

Ok, so you got the goods? Then let's begin now shall we?

First, you are going to free-hand yourself a turkey body and drumsticks. Here are what mine looked like (the following three pictures):

You are going to cut two of these turkey bodies (above) out of two sheet of your tan felt. It kinda looks like a turtle shell, doesn't it? You may need to adjust the measurement depending on how big your felt sheets are, I noticed they vary in size depending on the store...weird. Oh, and you want to make the best use of your felt because you will be using the tan felt scraps to make the drumsticks!!! (Just a little FYI...otherwise you may need to buy a 4th sheet of the tan felt!)

Then, you are going to cut one of these (above) turkey bases out of the remaining third tan felt sheet. Next, using the tan felt scraps, cut 4 turkey drumstick bodies (the circle above), set aside. Now it's time for that cream felt sheet, you excited yet? Alright, go ahead and cut 4 of the turkey drumstick bones from it and set aside. An FYI, you may want to just fold over your felt so you only have to make two cuts of each.

Now for the sewing fun!

Take the two turkey body sides you cut out and sew a piece of velcro to each felt piece keeping the velcro towards the back end or wider region, just like real turkey legs would be located. I sewed the rough velcro part to the turkey body and the softer velcro part to the drumstick cause I figure the kidlets will be pretend eating them and didn't want it to scratch their cute little smoochable faces! :)

Then, match up the two turkey body sides (with velcro on the inside!) and stitch all the way around the curved part. This will end up being the top of the turkey. Then match up the oval turkey body base and sew this to the remaining free edges...making sure to leave an opening to turn and stuff it. Now, just so you know, I had to do some trimming of my oval to make it fit better...it happens to the best of us, right!?! Then just flip it right side out, stuff, and sew the opening closed. Yay!! Halfway there!

Now onto the drummies...almost done, promise!!!!

Ok, so take a tan felt circle and sew the smooth side of the velcro to it, do this to one other as well. Then, match up a velcroed (is this even a word?) tan felt circle (with velcro on the inside) to a non-velcroed one and sew all the way around leaving an inch opening for turning and stuffing. Flip it inside out and stuff it but not too full! Then, grab a pair of the cream bones and sew all the way around...leaving no opening. Push the bone into the opening of the drumstick and sew the opening closed.

See, what did I say, that was fast, right? Now, sit back and admire that bad boy. Don't you wish a real turkey took this much time to make? That would really be sweet!

Oh, and sorry for the lack of pictures to this post, I just wasn't thinking! As always, if I didn't explain something clearly just leave a comment or shoot me an email.

Drumsticks all separated and ready for the eatin'

Mmmm...looks good enough to eat!

Now, let's all give thanks for a Thanksgiving Meal that doesn't mess up the kitchen

Are you with me on this one!?!

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About the Author: Maggie is a wife and a mom to four little ones under five. She loves to craft and inspires others to do the same as well. She has an online store Smashed Peas and Carrots and an amazing blog you can check out at SmashedPeasandCarrots.blogspot.com.

How to Sew Buttons and Button holes

These days buttons are readily available in all shapes, colors and sizes. Some are made from glass, others from plastics and metals.

• Flat buttons have two or four holes for stitching through in order to attach them to a piece of material.
• Shank buttons are flat buttons without the holes cut all the way through. They either have a stitching hole cut into the back of the button itself or a metal loop at the back of the button to form a shank.

When buttons fall off, sewing them back onto your coat or blouse is fairly easy as you can see where your button has fallen off from and where to sew it back onto. (unless of course you lost it, try here for replacements of all types and designs!)
To prevent a button from coming off again it is best to sew it on with double thread. The easiest way to do this is to thread your needle, pull the thread through so the needle is in the middle, and knot the ends together.
Adding new buttons and creating button holes can be a little more tricky, here are some pointers on how to do this.

The Button
1)      Get the two fabrics together as they would be worn and mark exactly where you want your button to go on both pieces. Tailors chalk (rubs off when you've finished) can be useful to do this, mark the buttonhole with an ‘I' shape, or use pins to mark the area. Generally it is a good idea to allow 2mm on top of the button's diameter/width for the buttonhole length. For note your fabric for the buttonhole may require stiffening, interlining is useful for this.

2)      Place the button on top of the mark on the fabric you wish to attach it to. Double up the thread by moving the needle to the centre of the length and tying a knot in the ends. (15" of thread works well per button.) Pull the thread through from underneath the fabric through the button hole and repeat 6 to 8 times to be sure it is securely attached. Finish with the thread on the underside and tie a good knot.

The Buttonhole
1)      Sewing machines are good for sewing buttonholes. They tackle it as a small rectangle with bar tacking at the two short ends and zigzag or satin stitch (very close together stitches) on the long sides. First you need to get the piece of fabric with your buttonhole marking on from earlier. Some machines start with a long side of the buttonhole first but others may start with the shorter end.
2)      Place the material under the needle at the point you want put the button hole to start from and put the presser foot down. A buttonhole foot is very useful as it will have markings to allow you to line up your markings.
3)      Now turn the dial to the first setting (they are numbered with a little rectangle indicating which side of the buttonhole this step relates to, this guide assumes the first step is a long zigzag/satin stitch side. It helps to put the needle in the fabric manually first as you can then be sure you are starting in the right place. Then give the machine some power and guide the fabric through till the whole length of the button hole has been sewn.
4)      Now turn the dial to the second step of the button hole. You do not need to move the fabric round the machine will now sew bar tack stitches for the width of this button hole.
5)      Turn the dial to stage 3 and guide the material through to the top of the button hole, then turn the dial to step 4 and complete the final bar tack step.
6)      Cut the thread from the sewing machine and clip a little closer. Now you can cut the hole itself in the middle of all of these stitches! Some people find a seam ripper more accurate but I have a small pair of sharp scissors that work well for me!
7)      To do this By Hand you need to cut the button hole first. Then using double or thick thread, tie a knot in the end of the thread and pass the needle up through to the right-side of the fabric, just a small way from the hole. Then wrap the thread around the edges by passing the needle back through the hole, and bringing it back through the fabric at an even length to the first stitch. This has to be repeated until all ‘raw' edges of the buttonhole have been covered. Now you know why most sewing machines have this function Wink.

About the Author: Amber Allen from www.MyRetroStyleSpace.com

How To Make Play Food Chicken Legs, Fish and Burger Patties Out Of Felt

Felt Chicken Nuggets (pattern not included)

Guest post by Shelly Hill
 
For the past 2 years I have been making a variety of play food items out of craft felt for my little grand daughters kitchen play set. All little girls love to have a variety of food items to use with their sets and this three piece set works up quickly.
All three of these food items are made from your standard craft felt and the pieces are hand sewn together using blanket stitches and whip stitches. You can make all three of the pieces in just one afternoon.

Materials Needed For The Project:
1 Sheet of Felt in each of these colors: dark brown, vanilla and tan.
Embroidery Floss: dark brown, vanilla and tan
Poly Fiber Fill Stuffing (about 1/4 of a bag)
Sharp Fabric Scissors, Embroidery Needle and Measuring Tape
Paper Template (to use as your pattern)

Patterns: one 3" diameter circle (for burger), fish shape that is hand drawn that measures 4" long by 2" wide at it's widest point, chicken drumstick that is hand drawn that measures 5" long by 2 1/4" wide at it's widest point.

Hamburger Patty: Use your 3" diameter circle pattern and cut two circles from dark brown felt. Cut a strip that measures 3/8" wide by 10" long from dark brown felt. Using two strands of dark brown embroidery floss, blanket stitch the strip to one of the circles. Once it has been attached, blanket stitch the other edge of the strip to the second circle. Right before you finish stitch it on, insert some fiber fill stuffing and then finish your stitching to close it up. Fasten off your stitching and hide ends of floss inside the patty.

Fish Fillet: Use your hand drawn fish pattern and cut two of the shapes out of vanilla colored felt. Cut a strip that measures 1/4" by the circumference of your fish from vanilla felt. Using two strands of vanilla colored embroidery floss, blanket stitch the strip to one of your fish shapes. Once it has been attached, blanket stitch the other edge of the strip to the second shape. Right before you finish your stitching, insert some fiber fill stuffing and then finish up your stitching to close it off.

Chicken Drumstick: Use your hand drawn chicken leg pattern and cut two of the shapes from tan colored felt. Cut 1 1/2" of the bone end of your pattern off and then use that piece to cut two bone sections from vanilla colored felt. Using two strands of vanilla colored felt, hand sew on the bone section onto the top of the leg pattern using tiny whip stitches. You will repeat this for the other shape. Once those have been attached, use two strands of tan embroidery floss and whip stitch both of the chicken leg pieces together but right before you are done, insert in some fiber fill stuffing and then finish your stitching.

Tips: You always want to hide the ends of your floss inside the piece so that they are not visible and no knots are showing. Don't pull your hand stitches too tightly or the felt will bunch up. If the pieces should get dirty with use, they can be hand washed in a little bit of mild detergent.

About the Author: Shelly Hill is a mother and grandmother living in Pennsylvania who enjoys crafting, sewing, quilting and scrapbooking. You can visit Shelly's online craft blog called Passionate About Crafting at http://passionateaboutcrafting.blogspot.com for free craft project ideas and tips. You can find a photo of this completed project on her blog at http://passionateaboutcrafting.blogspot.com/2011/01/play-food-free-pattern-for-felt-fish.html.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shelly_Hill