Category Archives: Hand Crafts

The date I wrote on the original copy of the pattern for this cute turkey is November 1999. The creation of the turkey came right on the heels of the Jack-O-Lantern Finger Puppet. I still think this little guy is too cute to be allowed. His appearance can vary based on what color of yarn you choose for his feathers and body.

I made the one in the photo in a little under 10 minutes. Make one or a lot and share with your friends!

Makes a Fridgie, Pin, Finger Puppet or Pencil Topper

This is a very versatile pattern for a Thanksgiving Turkey. It works up very quickly and is cute, cute, cute!

worsted weight yarn – small amounts of tan, red, yellow, orange, dark orange (or seasonal colors of your choice)
H hook
pin back or magnet (optional)
2 small google eyes

Body – with tan, ch 4, 11 dc in 3rd ch from hook. Join with sl st. Finish Off

Back Feathers – with rust and orange together, join with sl st to back loop only of any dc, (ch 6, sl st in same st, sl st to next dc) rep until six feathers are made. On last feather, do not sl st to next dc. Finish off, 6 back feathers
made.

Front Feathers – with orange, sl st in front loop opposite back feathers, (ch 4, sl st in same st, sl st to next front loop) repeat to last feather, do not sl st in next loop. 6 front feathers made. Finish off.

Head – with tan, ch 2, 6 sc in second ch from hook, sl st in first sc. Leave several inches of yarn for sewing to body.

Wattle – join red to head with a sl st in back loop of any sc, ch 4, sl st in same loop, finish off.

Beak – using yarn needle, sew yellow directly above wattle in a “T” shape, leaving top half of head free for eyes. Finish off.

Assembly – placing head on top center of body, sew using yarn left on head. Finish off. Using low melt glue or Tacky Glue, attach 2 small google eyes.

For Fridgie or Pin – glue magnet or pin on the back after eyes have dried.

For Finger Puppet or pencil topper – crochet another body and attach to back of completed turkey by stitching around. Leave four dc open at the bottom for finger or pencil. Finish off.

Visit the Turkey Craft Round Up and the Turkey Craft Round Up flickr group for more fun Turkey crafts.

Happy crafting!

This is part of my “Way Back Craft” series; patterns, crafts, tutorials and general crafty memories before the days of the blog.

“Mellocreme” Pumpkin Earrings

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Mmmmm, mellowcreme pumpkins, the yummy little sugar bombs that are really just candy corn kicked up a notch! In homage to these tasty Halloween treats, how about a fun, easy craft that is cheap and makes enough to share with your friends?

I made the cute pumpkin earrings for a Halloween swap I was recently participated in. You can make one pair or several!

makes 10 -12 pair

1 block orange polymer clay
small amount green polymer clay
toothpick or skewer
hook ear wires (aka French hooks) (2 for each pair)
eyepins (2 for each pair)
jump rings (size of your choice)
jewelry pliers (I used one round nose and one chain nose)
Sculpey Glaze (gloss)
small, soft paint brush
parchment paper
baking sheet
optional: business cards and decorative bags for gift giving

Separate the orange clay into enough pieces for 10 – 12 pairs of earrings. Roll each piece into a rough ball shape.

Using the round nose pliers, twist the eye pins into a curly shape, making sure each is approximately the same length. Make the same amount as the orange balls in the last step.

Squish the curly part of the eye pin into the orange ball. Cover wire completely with clay, rounding with your fingers as you go.

Add a small amount of green clay, gently pressing it around the wire into a stem shape. Make sure to leave the “eye” in the pin visible. If necessary, use a toothpick or skewer to clean out the hole.

Use the toothpick to gently roll creases into the orange ball.

Wallah! A tiny pumpkin! Repeat steps for each earring.

Place earrings on parchment paper lined tray and bake according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Pumpkin charms, all baked. They look a little dull, so…

Place earrings eye pin side down in Styrofoam. Gently brush on Sculpey Glaze. Allow to dry upside down. Once they’re turned over, add a little more Glaze around the top if needed.

Attach the ear wire (French hook) with a jump ring and pliers. (how to open and close a jump ring)

Repeat for each pumpkin charm.

If making enough to share with your friends, poke holes in a business card with a pin, then slide the ear wire through. Fold the top end of the business card down and place in a cute little bag.

Happy Crafting!

♥ Jennifer O

Posts on this blog may contain affiliate links to help cover the cost of my website. I thank you for your generous support. ♥

Way Back Craft: Paper Piecing Evolution

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Livejournal user lady_whitehaven turned on the Way Back Machine for me today when I found this post over at the Livejournal community quilting.

The dragon is an old design that I came up with way back in 2006 for a project that never quite made it to fruition. That was probably a year after I started designing. When I look at the original pattern, I can really see how much my design skill has evolved.

Sometime in 2007, when I had finally tested the dragon and realized how complicated it was, I pulled it off of sewhooked to be redesigned and then (apparently!) forgot about it. I have since tried to be more careful about what patterns I post untested. If I’m even a little unsure of the pattern design, I’ll hold onto it until I’ve had the chance to test it myself.

New, cleaned up and simplified version:

“Green Dragon” Pattern

The original version looks okay, but the pattern is scary, messy & has too many pieces!

First scary dragon pattern

When I woke up this morning, I had no intention of redrawing or reworking a pattern. I had kids to get to school (done!), a hubby to drop off at the airport (done!) and groceries to buy (um…not so done!). Thank you, lady_whitehaven, for inspiring me to have a second look and give the “Green Dragon” a second life.

“Green Dragon” is now housed on the Paper Pieced Pattern page at sewhooked. If you give it a try, or any of my other patterns or projects a try, I’d love to see a photo. Email me or add it to the Friends of Sewhooked flickr group.

Have a happy weekend!

coming soon – Guest Designer profiles!

This is part of my “Way Back Craft” series’; patterns, crafts, tutorials and general crafty memories before the days of this craft blog.

Snuggly Car Seat Blanket

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add this pattern to your ravelry queue!

Printable Pattern

It’s been many a moon since I had my own baby to crochet for, and while I do regularly make blankets for The Linus Connection, those are of the garden-variety baby blankets and afghans….definitely without holes!

My aunt recently had her second baby boy and was looking for a specific style of car seat blanket. It’s a tiny blanket with a hole for threading the car seat straps through. My understanding is that the blanket stays in place better, keeping the baby toasty and warm. She sent me dimensions and a photo of a blanket she already has and I went to work.

The goal is a blanket that is both simple to make and warm to use. The one below worked up in just a few hours, design time included.

2 – 6 oz. skeins of Caron Simply Soft (315 yds each)
K hook

finished approxmiately 18″x21″

With two strands of yarn held together, chain 50
Row 1: hdc in second chain from hook and in each sc across (48 hdc)
Row 2: ch 1, turn, hdc across
Row 3 – 10: rep Row 2
Row 11: hdc in first 20 st, ch 8, sk 8 st, hdc in last 20 st. (48 hdc)
Row 12: ch 1, turn, hdc in first 20 st, hdc in 8 sc, hdc in last 20 st
Row 13: ch 1, turn, hdc across
Row 14 – 44: Rep Row 13

Optional: Sc evenly around or add a decorative border

Finish off, weave in ends.

Happy crafting!

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Recycled Craft: Leo’s Sock

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My family and I spent last weekend in Alpine, Texas for the wedding of my husband’s youngest brother, Mark, to his lovely new bride, Allison. It was a genuinely wonderful weekend, with lots of food, family and happiness all around.

While visiting, I came across a recycled creation made by my father-in-law, Leo. He took an old wool sock that was in much need of darning, cut off the toe and hung it with a bit of wire hanger. This previous-sock is now the home to plastic bags for even more recycling. The bags go in the top and come out the bottom.

I’ve, of course, seen similar commercial creations as well as make-from-scratch patterns, but I am very much drawn to repurposing and am now on the lookout for my own long sock that is in need of recycling so I can make one for myself!

Happy Crafting,

T-Shirt Reconstruction: She-Shirt

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The She-Shirt – Resizing a too big shirt to fit

It’s no secret among my friends that I’m a big Eddie Izzard fan. My family and I were lucky enough to get to see a live performance in June. Eddie was amazing, funny & brilliant, just as you might expect!

Also available as a video tutorial:

In honor of our shared Eddie-love, my good friend Shae stenciled this fantastic “Covered in Bees” t-shirt for me. She knew it would be too big and sent it with her crafty blessings to be reconstructed however I saw fit.

Resizing tees is the recon I do most often, making my shirts fit me better while still being long (and wide!) enough to go over my hips.

Use a favorite shirt that you already love the fit of and that has similar stretch to the fabric.

This is a fairly easy recon and usually takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.

Supplies:

Too Big t-shirt
smaller tee (guide)
pins
scissors
thread
sewing machine (optional)
ball point needle (for jersey fabrics)

The shirt, before resizing

Resizing using a favorite shirt – cut about 1/2″ away from the original shirt so you have seam allowance. You’ll have to do a little guestimating on the sleeves, but if you take it slow and careful, it’ll work out fine.

Use my favorite recon technique and eyeball for the sleeve size, adjusting the sleeve under the body of the t-shirt until it’s the length and shape you want. Pencil a line on the existing sleeve using the cut on the t-shirt, and then added about 1/2″ for seam allowance.

Find the center on the sleeves, pin to the seam allowance on the shirt. Pin along the sleeve, being careful not to pull or tug the fabric. Stitch using a stretch stitch and 1/2″ seam allowance.

(Note from 2025 Jennifer – while updating this tutorial I realized this photo was missing. It appears to be long gone from my files and I do apologize for the inconvenience.)

After stitching the sleeves, fold shirt in half, right sides together, matching the bottom hem. Stitch a 1/2″ seam under the sleeve and all the way down the side. Trim seam allowance, if you wish.

Because you leave the original hems for the sleeves and the shirt in place, the reconstruction is now complete!

Add your Sewhooked-related photos to my flickr group and you might be featured in a future post!

Happy Crafting!

Find my free patterns on Sewhooked & Fandom in Stitches.

♥ Jennifer O

Posts on this blog may contain affiliate links to help cover the cost of my website. I thank you for your generous support. ♥

Halloween Bats Tutorial

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Every year, my family and I break out our big orange and black box full of Halloween decorations, cauldrons and punched aluminum candle holders. Folded and tucked into the side of the box are these sweet bats we made years and years ago. They’ve adorned several front doors, including our current home of almost ten years.

Halloween Bat Door Decoration

Super easy and adorable to boot, these anything-but-scary Halloween bats take about five minutes to whip up.

Supplies:

Felt Bat Template
1 piece of black acrylic felt for each bat
scissors
pin
hot melt glue gun & glue
google eyes
round magnets

Gather your supplies

Fold the acrylic felt lengthwise in half. Pin the Bat pattern on the fold.

Cut around the bat shaped pattern, leaving the fold intact. Fold fabric out.

Use hot melt glue to attach google eyes, being careful to use only a dot of glue. Use pattern placement as a guide.