Chicken Pin Cushion Tutorial & Giveaway

The last couple of years we've gotten spring chickens.  It's a wonderful time of year to do that.  But I added chicks in the fall and I have downsized my flock to just the perfect size ~ 23 including the rooster.  All of them are young except Dear Lizzy (my lap chicken) and I could never get rid of her.

Since there will be no spring chicks on the farm

I needed to make some.

Recently, I saw a picture of a chicken pin cushion on the internet.  When I went back to find it, I couldn't.  Don't you just hate it when that happens?  So after some googling and not finding good instructions, I took what I could find and decided to create a tutorial.

If you sew, you can follow along and make a chick. 

And if not,

I'll be giving away a spring chick!
(please note: the giveaway was in spring 2012)

The ones that can enter are the sad ladies that won't be getting real spring chickens this year, like me.

Just leave me a comment and in two weeks, I'll draw a name.

Ok, ready to sew?

First you need fabric (I buy the quilting squares for $2 each):

2- 4 inches square for the body

1- 3 inches square for the large tail feather

1- 2 inches square for the small tail feather

1- 1 1/2 inches square for the beak

and 1- 1x3 inches for the comb

You also need some black embroidery floss.

Fold the 3 inch square in half, then in half again. Pin in place.

Fold the 2 inch square the same way.

With the 1 1/2 inch square you are going to fold and extra time diagonally to create the beak.

 To create the comb, fold the 1x3 piece in half long ways.  Sew a gathering thread down one side.  Gather.

Next pin the beak & comb on one corner of a 4x4 piece.

Each one should be spaced about 3/8 of an inch from the corner.

Now lay the other 4x4 piece face down (right sides together) on top of the other one.  Pin through comb and beak.

Sew with a tight stitch length (I set my machine on 2.5) around these three sides.

Turn right side out and see how cute it already looks.

French knots!  Don't worry ~ they aren't hard.

With the full thickness (six strands) of embroidery floss, thread needle and tie a knot at the end.

From the inside, insert the needle by the beak to make an eye.

  Wrap thread around the needle tightly.

With thread wrapped around, insert needle right next to the hole where the thread came out.  Pull thread through to make the knot. 

Do another french knot on the other side.

Fold unfinished edges of the last side to the inside and press.

If you are impatient like me, you can finger press it down so you don't have to wait for the iron to warm up.

Place side seams together.

Slip tail feathers in and pin.

Sew closed leaving enough room for a funnel tip to be inserted to fill pin cushion.

Grind up some rice with your coffee grinder and fill with the funnel.

{ Don't tell my husband I used the coffee grinder for this ;) }

Using a zipper foot on the sewing machine, sew the hole closed.

Such cute spring chicks.

Leave a comment if you aren't getting spring chicks

and would like a chick pin cushion.

(giveaway was over in 2012)