How cute is this little fella? Perfect for beginners to patchwork, a fat quarter turtle is guaranteed to bring smiles all round as you all give him a little cuddle on the sofa!
How to Make a Fat Quarter Turtle
Skill Level: Beginners
Time to Make: 4-6 hours
You Will Need
- 1 pack of Ombre fat quarters »
- Toy stuffing »
- Templates printed onto A4 thin card (see below)
Craft Essentials
How to Make
1. First of all print off the templates onto thin card – paper will work, but thin card will give more stability. Cut out all the pieces with your paper scissors (Never use your fabric scissors to cut anything but fabric)
2.Take the Hexagon template with “Shell Centre” written on it, and cut out one piece of fabric approximately a centimetre larger all the way around as shown in the photo.
Using the contrasting thread tack the fabric (right side out) to the card using large tacking stitches.
3. Take the odd shaped Hexagon with “Shell Edge” on it, and do the same as step two with different patterns of fabric. The arrows on this piece all need to be pointing to the main first hexagon for joining.
4. Now take one of the six pieces, and making sure the arrows point to the main hexagon, place the pieces front side to front side and sew in place using the matching thread and tiny stitches. Make sure you just sew the fabric and not through the actual card as it will be harder to remove later.
Repeat with all the other pieces so that all pieces are joined to the main hexagon as shown.
5. From the centre hexagon ONLY, remove the taking stitches and gently pull the card away.
This mean you can now bend your work in half to sew the edges of the second row together.
Do this all the way around.
6. Using the small Triangle template with “filler” on it, prepare 6 pieces of patchwork the same way you have just done with the hexagons.
Sew them in place into the gaps around the bottom of the shell. Then remove all the tacking stitches and the card.
7. Now prepare all your other pieces. Cut one Circle, two heads, eight feet and two tails out of your chosen fabric.
Place the head pieces together right side to right side and using a sewing machine, or by hand if you prefer, sew around, leaving the neck open for turning and stuffing. Repeat with the legs and tail – remembering to leave the edge open for turning and stuffing.
Turn and stuff the pieces.
8. Using the contrasting thread, tack the head to one of the hexagon edges – facing inwards as shown in the photo. Tack the tail to the opposite one, then tack the legs to the ones in-between. These stitches will be removed later.
Take the circle and lay it face down on top of your work, pin it in place. Tack it all the way around.
Using your sewing machine, or by hand, sew all the way around the circle making sure you leave one of the “filler” triangle sections un-sewn so you can turn your work the right way in.
9. Turn your Turtle the right way out (you may need to squash his head a little to get it through the gap) and check all limbs are sewn on and there are no missed bits.
Stuff your turtle and hand sew up the gap with neat stitches.
10. To keep the head in an upright position add a tacking stitch to the back of the shell and the head, this will pull it in tight to the shell.
Finally add the eyes. I used two buttons for each eye to give it a 3D effect, but you could embroider them on if you prefer.
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