Tiny Hands Turkey Applique Tutorial

I meant to post this last week, but I was busy and Serenity and I wasn't feeling too good - that's the reason it's so last minute.

When I thought of the idea, I search the internet to see if anyone else doing this age-old kids' project in fabric.

I was so surprised to find there wasn't!

So I thought I'd do one to share with y'all.

This is a very easy, NO-SEW turkey applique you can create using your child's hands!
Of course you can sew it down if you want to, but it's not necessary if you fuse the applique to the shirt correctly.

This is similar to the hands and feet turkey craft projects kids do in school - but with fabric.
It's a great project to do with your child too since it's mostly just cutting, ironing, and gluing!

This is a cute shirt that's great for girls and boys!


Materials needed:
White tee shirt
Heat 'n Bond
(the red package)
2 3" pieces of medium orange Rick Rack
(I have jumbo yellow pictured, but I changed my mind)
1 1 1/2" piece of 3/8" red ribbon
4 pieces of 9"w x 5 1/2"l fabric in red, orange, yellow, and brown
(this depends on how big your child's hands are)
Liquid stitch
2 googly eyes
lighter or fray check

I used this picture for the turkey's body and it's beak, but you could draw your own or use your child's feet to create a template.




Trace your child's hands on a piece of paper and cut out them out to use as templates.
Print and cut out this turkey picture to use as a template for the turkey's body and beak.




Following the directions on the the Heat 'n Bond package, apply the Heat 'n Bond to all the fabric.
Using the templates, cut out the hands, the turkey's body, and it's beak.
Sorry I forgot to put the turkey's body and beak in this picture!




Make sure you use a lighter or fray check to seal both ends of the ribbon and Rick Rack.
Fold the piece of red ribbon to form the turkey's wattle, then glue it together using Liquid Stitch.
I put it on the turkey's body to get an idea of how it would look:




Arrange the hands on the shirt how you'd like them, and iron them down one by one.




Place the turkey's body in the middle, and use Liquid Stitch to glue the Rick Rack to the shirt underneath - those will be his legs.
Now iron down the turkey's body.

----------------

Stitching little buttons to the tops of the "legs" would not only look cute, but ensure the legs stay attached when you wash the shirt!




Using the Liquid Stitch again, glue the turkey's wattle to his body.
Arrange the beak slightly over the wattle and iron it down.
Use Liquid Stitch to attach the googly eyes to the turkey.




All done!

Look how cute it looks on Serenity!

UPDATE:
11/15/11
Check out my Tiny Hand Turkey FELT Applique tutorial!


POST-IT-NOTE:
I ended up using the medium orange Rick Rack 'cause I think it looks better. I have no idea what I was thinking when I got that big jumbo yellow pack for this project.

TIP:

If some of the fingertips won't stay ironed down, just use a little Liquid Stitch to get 'em to stick.

Hand wash, or turn the shirt inside-out before washing in cold water on your machine's gentlest cycle.

Hang to dry.

I would totally recommend using homemade laundry soap or Charlie's soap too!

Total cost:
I bought a fat quarter in each color for a $1 a piece at Wal-Mart - I have plenty of fabric left.
The shirt was $4.99 at Target (Serenity's pants are from Target too - $6 in the store).
The Rick Rack was $1.14 for a 2 1/2 yard pack - I used 6 inches total.
The red ribbon is 24¢ a yard - I only used about 1 1/2 inches.
A pack of 50 googly eyes is 97¢ - I have 48 left.
I bought the Liquid Stitch about a week or so ago - so I didn't need to buy anymore.

All together, this project costs less than $6?
I don't know exactly since I'm horrible at Math - I just know it was pretty cheap!

POST-IT-NOTE 2:
Check out Brandy's version of the Tiny Hands Turkey applique - it's adorable!

She used some funky fabric, pretty pink ribbon, and buttons & rhinestones for the eyes.

Carole made a turkey for her little boy Leland on a onesie.

Go have a look-see on her blog Lee, Carole & Leland!

POST-IT-NOTE 3:
I would like give a HUGE thank you to Ucreate and Pocket Full of Posies for linking this post!


Have fun!