How to Make a Chicken Doorstop courtesy of Fabric Mills in Monmouth

You will need:

About ½ metre of fabric

Some red felt for the comb and yellow felt for the beak.

Two buttons for the eyes

Rice for the filling

Chicken template – free download available from Fabric Mills www.fabricmills.co.uk

Scissors, needle and thread and preferably a sewing machine.

Step 1

Print out the template from www.fabricmills.co.uk. Use the large triangular shapes on the chicken doorstop template to cut out your chosen fabric.

There will be three triangles for the body and two half triangles for the face. Leave an extra centimetre around the edge of each shape to allow for joining the material together (seam allowance). Keep the off cuts for stuffing your chicken.

Step 2

Cut out a small triangle from the yellow felt (this will be the beak) and a wavy-shaped piece from the red felt (this will be the chicken's comb). If you have extra yellow felt you might want to make your chicken some feet.

Step 3

With right sides facing, (i.e. the front of the fabrics facing together) pin the triangle edges together. Don't forget to pin the beak into the front seam and the comb into the back seam. Then stitch the seams together starting with the beak seam, then the comb seam following the pattern numbering on the template. Remember to leave a small hole at the base for the filling.

Step 4

Turn the stitched-together chicken out then hand stitch the buttons onto the front for the chicken’s eyes.

Step 5

Fill the doorstop with rice, using a funnel to avoid spillage. You can also stuff your chicken with any leftover fabric.

Step 6

Hand stitch the small gap closed to finish.