Is it a bird . . . ?

Yup!

tilda hen toy in linen

Meet Elsie the chicken,  or ‘chook’ as my friend might say! Elsie – well, not Elise in particular – but a chicken toy of sorts was going to be a gift for my friend Elina way back in June when we were invited to her summer garden party.

We were so looking forward to going and spending a lovely afternoon in Oxford at a quintessential English garden party. I even had plans on a rose-print tea dress, but the date was usurped by my daughter’s own birthday celebrations and so, in the end, we missed out on what looked to be such a gorgeous event.

Whilst flicking through the photos of the party on Facebook, I clocked a great picture of Elsie the (real) chicken in Elina’s garden. Fabulous reference! Just because we didn’t go, didn’t mean I couldn’t still send her a chicken!

tilda linen hen

And so armed with my copy of Tilda’s Crafting Springtime Gifts, (The self same book that inspired my Tilda bunnies!) a small pile of linen and a big bag of stuffing, I set to work.

A fiddly little thing to put together but nonetheless hugely rewarding. I love that you sew around the shapes before cutting them out, with a small seam allowance. Makes for much more accuracy. There was still lots of hand sewing, however, which, once I’d relaxed about it and told myself I had all the time in the world,  was actually enjoyable. And in case I haven’t mentioned it in a while…. I love linen! I love the way it moulds and feels and creates something that feels instantly nostalgic!

Collage of tilda hen

I’m so glad that real Elsie is white because it’s so difficult finding a light brown linen! She started to look like a duck at one point but of course, her ‘tiara’ and ‘wobbly bits’ under the chin are all she needs to confirm her identity, hey?! I should have used red really, for her contrasting details but the orange linen looked far too good to ignore… artistic license and all that!

I do hope that Elina will like her. I hope too that Elsie arrives before she notices this post too! I’m just far too impatient these days!