Materials:

10" x 14" piece of rust fabric (for body and arms)
3" x 6 1/2" piece of light tan fabric (for wings)
3" x 4" piece of brown felt (for collar)
8 1/2" x 13" piece of dark rust print cotton fabric (for tail)
6 1/2" x 8" piece of Pellon fleece
two scrap pieces of gold fabric fused together or a small piece of light weight cardboard and gold acrylic paint (for beak)
3/4 cup birdseed, rice or lentils
1/2 ounce polyester fiberfill
1 1/2"-diameter wooden ball (for head)
dark brown permanent marker
pink permanent marker
7"-long piece of 3/8"-wide rust satin ribbon (for bow)
5 1/2"-long piece of 3/16"-wide rust satin ribbon (for hat)
three 4"-long feathers (optional)
2 1/2"-diameter black or green felt for hat

You Will Also Need:
scissors
pencil
carpet thread (optional)
threads to match fabrics
large-eye sewing needle
small plastic bag and twist tie
straight pins
glue gun

Before beginning, print our the following patterns by clicking click each link to go to the individual pattern, then click your browser's print button. Use your browser's back button to return to this page.

• arms pattern
• tail pattern
• beak and wing pattern
• collar pattern
• body pattern

Instructions (1/4" seams allowed)

Cutting
Fold rust fabric in half lengthwise; using full-size pattern, cut one body piece from one end of fabric. Unfold remaining rust fabric and fold lengthwise; cut one arms piece from fabric. Cut four wing pieces from light tan print fabric; cut one collar piece from brown felt; cut two tail pieces from dark rust print fabric; cut one tail piece from Pellon fleece. Cut one beak piece from fused gold fabric or from lightweight cardboard. If using cardboard, paint beak with gold acrylic paint. Transfer dots to right side of wing pieces and arms piece. Transfer dotted lines to right side of one tail piece.

Body
Using carpet thread or 4 strands of regular thread, hand-stitch large gathering stitches around body piece 1/4" from edge. Fill small plastic bag with birdseed, rice or lentils, secure top of bag with twist tie, then place bag in center of wrong side of body piece. Pull ends of thread to gather fabric to make a pouch. Stuff pouch around plastic bag with fiberfill. Tightly pull ends of thread to gather fabric around fiberfill, forming a ball; knot thread ends close to top of ball, forming the body.

Wings & Arms
Pin two wing pieces with right sides together and edges even; machine-stitch along edges, leaving straight side open. Trim seams; turn right side out; press. Repeat with two remaining wing pieces. Matching dots on each wing to corresponding dots on right side of arms piece, pin wings to arms piece with straight edges aligned. Fold down top of arms piece so that wings are inside arms piece. Machine-stitch open sides of arms piece, leaving opening at middle of long side for turning. Trim seams; turn right side out; press. Stuff arms firmly with fiberfill; hand-stitch opening closed. Center arms seam side down on top of body pouch; glue or mud-stitch in place.

Collar & Head
Center collar right side up on top of arms; glue in place. Center wooden ball on top of collar and glue in place for head. Referring to photo, use dark brown permanent marker to make two dots or eyes; use pink permanent marker to make rosy cheeks. Glue beak in place. Tie 3/8"-wide satin ribbon in a bow; glue to collar beneath chin.

Tail
Lay fabric tail pieces with right sides together on top of fleece tail piece; pin all layers. Machine-stitch around outside edges through all three layers, leaving straight edge open. Trim seams; turn right side out. Machine-stitch along dotted lines through all layers. Turn under edges of opening; hand-stitch closed. If desired, glue feathers to one side of tail. Glue tail to body with feather side of tail against back of body and bottom of tail even with bottom of wings.

Hat
Glue 3/16" wide satin ribbon around base of hat crown. Place hat on head and glue in place.

Amanda Formaro is the entrepreneurial mother of four children. She and her husband live in southeastern Wisconsin. She is also the owner of FamilyCorner.com Magazine. Work at Home Mom Heidi Ott is the editor of Crafter'sCommunity.com, a favorite net craft site.