Crow Pot Holder

I made a Crow shaped Pot Holder out of a denim skirt I found for $4 at an op shop, and left over scraps of wadding from my Coffin Quilt. The skirt I found had some pretty bad staining on the hem, and I doubt would have been worn by anyone, so I didn't feel too bad about chopping it up.

The construction was relatively straight forward and other than having some super thick seams to sew through.

You Will Need:

1. Topping Material
2. Quilting Wadding or Heatproof wadding
3. Backing Material

Supplies

1. Scissors
2. Sewing machine and thread
3. Embroidery floss (DMC)
4. Paper
5. Pen

Since I already had all the wadding, thread and other supplies, this whole project only cost $4

Print 2 x copies of the pattern image (A4 size) and then cut the wing section out of one of the patterns.

Since my wadding was made of scraps I pinned a few pieces together, and then sewed them with a zigzag stitch.

The skirt also didn't have quite enough width in the panels to fully cut out a top and back piece, so the pockets were cut way from the skirt, and sewn to the bottom of one piece to mimic tail feathers.

Trace the pattern onto the wadding, and also onto the rear side of the backing piece of fabric.

The wings are made of three layers of fabric.

Lay wadding on your table, and then lay you back fabric facing ride side up. Place the topping fabric facing pretty side down on top of the backing fabric.

Pin all the layers to keep them secure and avoid shifting. Trace the entire wing pattern out onto the top layer, and sew Only the curved edge- see the second photo. Trim all the edges down to a 1/4 inch seam allowance

Flip the wing right sides out along the sewn edge. Iron the pieces flat.

If you would like to embellish the wings use the pattern as a reference and stitch a line of embroidering thread.

Use a scrap of dark coloured fabric for the beak and place facing down onto the top fabric. Sew along the beak line and then iron the fabric upwards.

Lay the wings onto the top layer of the pot holder, and stack this on top of the wadding. The raw edges will be showing now, but soon they will contained when the whole thing is flipped inside out.

Lay the backing fabric face down, and pin everything securely. When you think you've added enough pins add 5 more.

Sew along the outline of the crow, ensuring that a gap is left on one side of the beak. Go slow as the seams will be thick.

Once sewn, trim around the crow to about a 1/4 inch seam allowance, trim into any tight corners, but make sure you do not cut any stitches.

Flip the crow inside out.

This is much easier said than done. if you need to, widen the hole in the side of the beak a little, but try not to make the hole too long. The flipping process felt like it took ages, at least 30 minutes or so.

Once right sides out, tuck the seam allowance back into the side of the crow's head and use a ladder stitch to pull the edges together and close the hole.

If you like, you can also use the embroidery thread to add eyes, or stitch a loop of ribbon onto the back of the crow so that it can hand from a hook.