Chicken Sweater Tutorial

It has been COLD here in the South!  My poor little girls have been cold, despite their insulated coop and thick layer of fluff.  Thankfully it is warmer now, but we aren't safe from the chilly weather for 2 more months.  I didn't have enough time to crochet them sweaters, so I made them out of fleece.  It only takes about 15-20 minutes to make one and you don't have to include the ruffle.  My girls are a little silly and wanted a bit of frou-frou to their sweaters.  How do you like Albinia in her hat?  She insisted on it for her shoot.  I told her straw wasn't for winter wear and she should save it for Easter at the earliest, but it was impossible to talk sense into her.  Oh well, at least her sweater is a nice Easter color.

Read all of step 1 and the Cautions at the end before starting.

Albinia's workin' that thing!

Step 1:  To make the sweater measure around your chicken at the thickest point from its back and around its chest.  Measure how long you want the sweater to be.  Mine was 6" for a Silkie Bantam.  I cut my sweater in a trapezoid shape that tapered up by 2.5 inches on each side.  Do not sew it into a tube yet.  It looked like this:

(However, this is not necessary. You can just sew up a tube that is a rectangle made of the the thickest point wide and the length you want.  Then, skip to step three.)

Step 2:  (pic 1) To make the ruffle cut a 2 inch wide strip 2x as long as the neck opening.  (In my case I made a 20 inch strip for the 10 inch side.)  To gather the ruffle put your stitch length on the widest setting (4.5mm on my machine) and sew straight across.  Gently pull the thread as you push the fabric together to be as long as the neck opening (10 inches for mine). Sew it onto the neck opening.  Sew the edges of the ruffle together, then turn it inside out and sew the tube together.

Step 3:  (pic 2) Put the tube on your chicken. Use a marker to mark where you need to cut out your wings.  Pin the excess on the center seam on the chest of your chicken.  (Think, "Project Runway" for chickens having their fitting before sending them down the runway.)

Step 4: (pic 3) Sew up the up the excess that you pinned on the chickens chest.  (Turn it Rightside out and sew up the ruffle edge to match the new opening size.)

Step 5: (pic 4) Trim off the excess and cut the wing holes.  Put it on you chicken.  Keep your scissors nearby in case you need to make the wing hole opening a little larger.

Now you have a warm and happy chicken!

Cautions:
Do not use a fabric with a print or pattern to make sweaters.
Do not tie little ribbons or sew embellishments on the sweaters.
Do not put them back into the coop with their hats on.
Chicken are very curious and will peck at the print, ribbons, or embellishment to see what it is.  They could injure their coopmate or themselves in doing so.

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