Meet Mrs. Peck

Day 295: Meet Mrs. Peck! That was how she was introduced to me via a YouTube video, although in my care she has undergone a tummy tuck to reduce her avoirdupois. The original pattern for her body consisted of two squares which left her looking quite boxy as a plain cloth prototype, so I trimmed a curve to round her out, "smallerizing" her at the same time. In theory, she's a pincushion, but I couldn't bear the thought of doing chicken voodoo, so she'll just sit on my shelf for now.

If you'd like to make your own Mrs. Peck, you'll need two 6.5" squares of fabric for her body, with one corner rounded off into a nice curve. Her wings shouldn't be too large. Draw a template for them slightly wider at the front and straight across the top edge. Cut them from fabric and sew them to her body parallel to her back seam, then fold them down and topstitch. Cut a 2.25" square for her beak. Fold it into a triangle and then bring the side points together at the lower point to make a square. Fold the beak in half again to make another triangle. It should be open along the lower edge. Cut shapes for her tail, comb and wattle and position them as you like. Sew together along the curved edges and her back, leaving the side opposite her beak open. Now match her back seam to the center bottom seam by pulling out the corners of her bum. Take a few stitches along each side, leaving the center open so you can stuff her tummy. Hand-sew the last short seam and tack on a couple of 1/4"buttons for her eyes. The most time-consuming parts of this cute project are cutting out the pieces and inserting the stuffing, so in a very short period of time, you can make a whole flock to give as gifts.