Peek – a – Boo Bill – Felt Pop Up Groundhog Puppet Tutorial

The celebration of Groundhog’s Day is
based on the legend that a groundhog will leave his of his burrow
after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow.

If he sees it, he regards it as an
omen of six more weeks of chilly winter weather and returns to his
hole.  But if he doesn’t he stays out and unpacks his
shorts…or something like that.

I named him Bill after Bill Murray
star of Groundhogs day and a super hilarious guy. Make your
own felt groundhog  and shadow puppets and help your little
one welcome spring with a laugh.

You will
need: 

5″ x 8″ Groundhog Brown Felt –
Tobacco* 2″ x 3″ Dark brown Felt for Groundhog belly and
hair – Chocolate* Tiny scrap of White Felt for teeth and Black Felt for nose. 9″ x 12″ Green
Felt for hill – Fresh Cut Grass * 4″ x 4″ Light brown
Felt for soil – Hot Chocolate* 4″ x 6″ scrap grey felt
for shadow – Grey Flannel * * Matching thread. 12
inch dowel and dowel cap Sturdy Paper Party Cup (Plastic will snap
and could create sharp edges) Hot Glue & Glue Gun Black
embroidery thread Felt Glue (Optional) This project was
posted on our Instagram feed live as it was being
made – some parts have since been refined and so some steps will be
shown as sketches of the better way to do something. (Read: I
screwed some stuff up but I fixed it so you won’t)

Before you start cutting
and sewing measure the same size cup you will be using against this
pattern to make sure the pattern will match up – adjust as needed.

Cut: 2 Groundhog bodies from lighter
brown felt 1 Belly and 1 hair piece from Dark Brown Felt 2 soil
pices from brown felt 1 nose from black felt 1 set of teeth from
white felt 2 Grass hills and 3 grass detail pieces from green felt
2 shadow pieces from grey felt For tips on cutting
small pieces see or use Andie’s
Method

Mark out eyes and mouth
lightly onto one of the groundhog shapes. Sew hair, belly,
nose and teeth  onto front it’s helpful to use felt glue tack
down those smaller pieces. It will dry a bit stiff though so it’s
best to use in areas you don’t plan on sewing through
Sew grass to front of one
piece.

Connect grass shape to
soil using a running stitch and matching thread.

Repeat with back side.

Using hot glue glue the
dowel to the head part of the  un-decorated side. Avoid the
edges or using glue any place other than the head. Lay decorated
piece on top  and allow glue to cool.

Stitch around the outsides
of both pieces to connect them using matching thread and an
overcast stitch. Add grass details to each side. You may want to
wait before sewing up the bottom to more easily slide the cup inside.

Cut the center from the
cup you will be using. It’s really important to cut this as cleanly
as possible this will insure Bill can make an easy escape should
it be  too chilly out.

Slide the paper cup into the grass sleeve it should stop itself about halfway up the soil.

Fold the overhang into the cup and secure to the underside with hot glue.

Attach knob to the end of
your dowel with hot glue – (I clearly over glued here.)

To make shadow simply
overcast around the shadow template leaving the bottom open. Happy
Crafting and Happy (almost)  Spring- Andie

Print at full size

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