Chicken Sweater: Instructions

I never thought, back when I posted a picture of a chicken wearing a sweater, that I would start to get a steady stream of hits from people looking for exactly that. I’ve had people comment asking for more information, and I’ve heard through Terry that others have contacted her directly to ask for instructions.

Since Terry is always swamped, and since it is a lot more efficient if people can find it directly via googling, I’m posting Terry’s instructions from an email she forwarded.

As for the chicken sweater, I don’t have a pattern, but here’s what I do: I use a long sleeved sweater made of stretchy acrylic fabric and cut off part of a sleeve. Measure the length of the chicken’s body from the bottom of the neck to the tail and add a few extra inches to see how much of the sleeve to cut. You can always cut more off if it is too
much. Then hold the sleeve up to the chicken to see approximately where the wings sit, and cut two small holes about the size of a quarter or half dollar on each side for the wings to come out. You can then slide the sleeve over the chicken’s head, pull the wings through the holes and there’s your sweater! I usually roll the top part down like a turtle neck, and roll the back part down and sew it so that it doesn’t hang down at all and get caught in her feet. The important thing is to have really stretchy material to work with so you can pull the wings through without hurting her – you can probably find good sweaters for this at a thrift shop or something.

That’s it! Sounds pretty easy. I’m sure there are other ways it could be done, but if it were me, I’d be all over the solution that didn’t rely any more than necessary on my non-existent sewing skills! For anyone with a bit more talent, I bet you can fiddle with this basic design and come up with variations, if needed or desired.