3 Little Pigs Finger Puppets -- TUTORIAL

NOTE: I updated my pattern upload so it will print correctly!!

My 3 Little Pigs Tutorial is so long I had to break it up into two parts. You can find the instructions for the piggies' houses here.

(Click here for more pictures of these guys in action!)


3pigs Pattern

WHAT YOU NEED FOR THE PUPPETS:

~ Print out the pattern. Cardstock will probably work best, if you have some
~ Fleece -- pink and brown/grey -- You can use scraps, purchase dollar store fleece scarves or baby blankets, or buy just 1/8 yard of yardage from a fabric store
~ Three 4-hole pink buttons for the pigs' noses
~ Bead or felt scrap for wolfie's nose
~ Scrap of rick-rack or white felt for wolfie's teeth
~ Sewing machine
~ Small amount of fiberfil stuffing (you could also use a couple cotton balls!)

STEP ONE: Fold your fleece right-sides together. (My fleece had one side that was more "furry" than the other, and for the pigs I chose the smoother side as the "right" side.) You want the stretch of the fleece to go side to side on your finger puppet, so it will stretch around your finger. Line your pattern up with the bottom straight edges of your fleece, and sew directly around the outside of your pattern. You could also try tracing the pattern directly onto your fabric with a disappearing ink marker if that's easier for you.


STEP TWO: Cut around your stitching line, leaving a small seam allowance. In the area between his head and arm, clip right up to the edge of the stitching, so it will turn more easily.


STEP THREE: Turn your finger puppet right side out. Use a chopstick for the arms. This is a little bit tricky, but it can be done. Too frustrating? Try one first, and if it's going to make you insane, re-trace your pattern making the arms a little fatter and sew again.


Piggy!


STEP FOUR: Stuff piggy's head. (No need to stuff those skinny little arms!) Double-thread a hand-sewing needle with black thread and sew on piggy's nose. Hide the knot under where the button will be.


Go up through one hole and down through the one below to make a "nostril." Pull your needle out underneath your button, as shown in the photo.


You will then poke the needle into piggy's body and across and come back up where the first button's hole is, then out through the hole.. Repeat a few stitches, then do the same on the other side.


STEP FIVE: After piggy's nose was secure, I tied a knot under the button, then stuck the needle down through piggy's face right next to the knot and came back up where I wanted his eye to be. I looped a stitch a few times to make his eye, moved on to do the next, then went back down through piggy's face and up under his button nose to hide the final knot.
Done!


STEP SIX: Wolfie! Sew around his body pattern the same way you did with the piggy in Step One. Then cut a rectangle of fleece approximately 5"x3". Sew the rick-rack about 1/3 of the way over down the long side of the rectangle. (If you don't have white rick-rack, you can cut a zig-zag strip of felt.)


Fold your rectangle as shown in the photo, and stitch straight down across that corner triangle about 1/2" from (and parallel to) the line of stitching that is holding on his rick-rack teeth. Repeat on the other side of the rectangle.


Open, and fold right-sides together. You will now stitch a line along the bottom of your rectangle (the side where the rick-rack is CLOSER to the edge) to create the bottom of wolfie's chin.


It will look like this.

STEP SEVEN: Turn wolfie's snout right side out and stuff it with a small amount of fiberfil.

STEP EIGHT: Attach wolfie's snout to his head.

Ta-Da! Now you just need to add eyes and a nose. For one of the wolves I made, I stitched little yellow eyes the same way I did the pigs' eyes. Attach a black bead for his nose.

(For this guy I found some tiny little stuffed animal "safety eyes" I've had for years. For his nose I didn't have a black bead, so I cut a small scrap of black fleece in a circle, handstitched loosely around the edge and pulled it tight, then stuffed it with a teeny little bit of fiberfil.)


Now you just need to build some houses, and you'll be ready for some 3 Little Pigs storytime action!

UPDATE: I've also got Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, and Red Riding Hood is coming soon!! (Find Red's Grandma here!)