QUICK CHICK

This is a really easy chick to make in record time, and so easy  the kids can do it too. It will make a great Easter decoration, place several in baskets or hang from painted branches.


GET YOUR BITS AND PIECES

You will need everything in the photo and some wadding. The best wadding to use is a soft and springy one. If you're not sure, grab a handful and squeeze it, if it bounces right back, then this is right.

CUTTING OUT AND SEWING

This chick is made from 2 circles of fabric. The bigger the circle, the bigger the chick. To make this easy, use a circle about 20cm diameter. This makes a chick about 15 cm tall. Don't make the circle too small because the next stages are quite fiddly.  After placing my fabric fronts together, I used a side plate to draw round and cut out.

Pin and sew by hand or machine and you need to use a seam allowance of about 1 cm. Leave a gap of 5 cm for the stuffing.

Then clip the edges every 1 cm, up to the stitch line, not through it. Do not clip the open edge.

STUFFING AND SHAPING

Turn through carefully shaping the circle as you go. Press flat with your fingers around the seam. Start stuffing. This needs to be a light stuff and even. Oversew the open edge closed by finger folding the seam in as you go, keeping the round shape.

Take a long piece of thread about 1m will do. Fold this in half and thread the loop through the needle eye. Bring the loop to meet the loose ends and knot in place. You will have a thread that is about 25 cm long but made of 4 strands. Place your circle in front of you with the hand stitched edge to the side. Measure approximately 1/3 of the way down the length of the circle and stitch though from back to front on this side seam. Loop the thread as shown to give a good anchor to pull against.

Wrap the thread around the circle creating a head and a body, you can squash the side seams together to help the process. Don't worry too much about how it looks, try to get the thread to wrap round evenly. Wrap several times pulling tighter as you go. Leave enough length of thread to do some finishing stitches.

THE FACE

Choose the side that looks the best with the most even pleating. This will be the front.

EYES - If making for a small child be safe and sew on circles of felt by hand with neat small running stitch. If not, use buttons as in this example. Place the eyes leaving enough space for the beak.

BEAK - Cut a rectangle of felt the width you want the beak to be, and double the length. You are going to cut a kite shape. There is no right or wrong here. Experiment with different shapes as they will affect the expression.

Find the midpoint on the short side of the rectangle and mark. Fold this rectangle in half length ways. Find the midpoint you marked. Cut from folded corner to midpoint both sides so that you have a triangle with the folded edge at the bottom. Open out and you have a kite. Place the beak on the face, and sew with small running stitches across this fold. At both ends, fold the beak into place and anchor closed with small over stitches on both corners.

VARIATIONS

Add some legs and you can turn your chick into a Seagull chick.