Mr. McGregor’s Scarecrow

A tutorial on how to make Mr. McGregor’s scarecrow.

All my life I have loved The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. It is a childhood classic that I have read to all my children and now to my grand children.

It is out of love for this author and book series that I created my version of little Peter’s life lesson.

A lesson where Peter ignores his Mother’s warnings and defiantly disobeys struggling to escape death. A fate that his own father was not able to escape. 

Peter’s struggle is my own battle as well. For I too have disobeyed and have struggled to escape death.

Here is how I made this remembrance.

1. Collect all the pieces needed. A boys size 5/6 dress shirt in bunny blue. A quaint hat. Three brass buttons. Toddler shoes. Jute or string. Red yarn. A straight limb or sapling. Plastic birds.
   

   

   
2. Make a pompom for the top of the hat.
   

   

   

   

   

   Cut out two circles from card board the size you want the pompom. Poke a hole in the center. Use a needle or pin to thread the yarn through both pieces of cardboard. Do this until it is full. Cut the yarn using the crack between the cardboard as a guide. Tie with a string and connect to center of hat.

3. If the shoes are a color that will not match the end design, paint them. I used a bright blue mixed with black to get a deep black blue color. I removed the shoe strings and painted them also.
   

   

   

    

4. Take some white chalk and draw the alterations onto the blue shirt. I wanted it to look like Beatrix Potters illustration.
   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   Remove all the company tags and carefully cut off the small buttons.Gently wipe away the chalk marks with a damp cloth. Sew or pin on three brass buttons.

5. Assemble. Insert the cross stick into the shirt before you screw the branches together. Otherwise the shirt may not go on.  Use twine to cover the screw. I stuffed some plastic grocery bags into the arms to add a little puffiness and some straw. Use twine to hang the shoes in place. Place the hat on the top. I secured mine with twine. Add some birds to finish for a colorful garden decoration that is sure to ignite the imagination in all of us!
   

   

   

   

   

(Top Illustration was created by Beatrix Potter)

Tip: All items used for this project were purchased from yard sales, or I already had it on hand.