Before I go into how I made these adorable turkeys to add to my Thanksgiving decor, I thought I’d cover a few other issues.

Such as, last Tuesday I mentioned that Tropical Storm Eta was on the way and might stop in for a visit here in Old Homosassa. Eta hit a bit north of us. We got a lot of wind and rain. (Welcomed the rain.) We had tree debris and a few large branches down. No flooding. The only casualty was this wooden swing. Which will stay down until we have a visit from two strong men that can put it upright. Which might be awhile since no one visits during pandemics. I’ll be sitting elsewhere for the views.

The banana tree that I was a little concerned about suffered some crushed leaves. That could have been from the wind or from the squirrels that like to leap from the top of the screened room into the branches of the bushes and flowers below. This seems to be a lot of fun for the fluffy tailed rodents. Bungee jumping without the bungee.

Next. Am I the last person to know that we were skipping right from Halloween to Christmas? I’ve been reading numerous blogs of this phenomena and even my own daughter said that it was now politically correct to decorate for Christmas right after Veterans Day. Oh. 2020.

Well. Having this adorable turkey is now totally unnecessary because we aren’t decorating for Thanksgiving. Put that turkey chinaware away. Get your Christmas Spode on the table.

But I’d already made three. Guess if we have Thanksgiving in 2021 I can put them out then!

Might as well discuss how I made them…..

First. This Turkey Stuffed Animal Pattern is free from Deliah Iris Designs. She sells patterns on Etsy plus has a bunch of free designs on her blog.

Her tutorial and pattern are really good. I started out thinking I would make several of these cuties but when I found that I was the only one that hadn’t put my Christmas decor out, stopped at three.

I copied the pattern onto freezer paper sheets. Then I ironed them onto the felt. I hand-stitched the first turkey but for the other two, I used my sewing machine whenever possible. On the machine, I used a small stitch length. 1.6 on my Baby Lock. If you are careful removing the paper you can use the freezer paper pattern more than once. An open toe on the presser foot makes following the lines easier.

I have these really great little sharp scissors from Gingher that have larger finger holes than the typical embroidery scissors which are great for cutting out the fiddly pieces.

The openings on the pieces for stuffing them is pretty small. I use tweezers and a chop stick to place the poly-fill into those tiny bits.

I buy a 35% wool blend felt for my softies and I usually have plenty on hand but I only had enough of the brown felt to make one turkey! I went out to Etsy and ordered more from “Over the River Felt” I have turned to Etsy many times this year and have been very pleased. I ordered on a Sunday and it was delivered on the following Wednesday. I was quite surprised at that turn around.

The tutorial suggests using safety eyes. The ones I have are way too big for these small softies. I embroidered the eyes on turkey number one but used buttons on number two and three.

The arms and legs are string hinged. A weak spot for kid play but easy enough to sew back on if they get ripped off!

I’m not sure why, but all three of my turkeys look like they have duck bills. And the feather colors I chose make them look like the NBC Peacock. Rather than admitting that I did something wrong, I’m calling them turduckens. Colorful turduckens for Christmas!

And now I must rid my house of pumpkins and turkeys and all fall-themed decor.

Merry Christmas!