Patience the Parrot Hand Puppet

Using the template cut out all the required pieces.

For the wings cut two of the main pieces of wing (dashed line on the template) and then in various colours cut out the feathers. Using fabric glue fix the feathers in place, starting at the bottom of the wing overlapping the feathers until you reach the top.

Fold the mouth piece in half and stitch along the folded edge with a running stitch, this prevents the mouth opening too wide and getting stuck.

Sew the bottom lip to the body (B to B), then the top lip to the beak (A to A).

Lay the body on top of the back and line up the beak with the face (C to C), overlapping the felt by about 1 cm. The body will be longer than the back at the base of the puppet.

Stitch the beak to the face.

Attach the eyes, you could use buttons, felt shapes, beads or teddy bear eyes. Where you place the eyes really alters the character of the puppet.

Start sewing each side of the body together, inserting the wings about 5 cm down from the mouth.

Decorate your puppet by making hats, necklaces, glasses or other accessories of your choice.