Introducing Farmer George

Yesterday I made my first full-size scarecrow. The Internet has a great many suggestions as to how to go about this: some are very complicated and involve a jointed wooden frame with fully poseable arms and legs; others are made from a simple cross-shaped wooden armature formed from two lenths of timber lashed together and stuffed out with plastic sacks filled with scrunched up newspaper or straw.

‘Farmer George’ is in an intermediate position between these two extremes. He has an armature made from my own ‘secret weapon’, which is cellular foam pipe insulation. This is usually used to protect pipes from freezing but it is also brilliant for scarecrow-making. It is sufficiently robust to support a lightweight body but it is easy to cut to length and work with and it will bend to allow you to pose your finished scarecrow. Best of all you can sew into it, making it easy to secure body parts to one another and clothing to the body. We had some tucked away in the garage, but you can buy pipe insulation from local DIY stores. Here’s how I made Farmer George.

Head

I used a jute composting sack for George’s head. Hessian would do just as well. The sack was quite large so I folded it in half and tucked the excess material inside, so that the head had two thicknesses of jute, which made it stronger. I put a plastic bag into the sack, to waterproof the inside, and stuffed the plastic bag with scrunched up newspaper. A copy of the MK Citizen (our local tabloid) will give the right amount of scrunched up newspaper to fill up the bag and make a firm head.

Next, I pushed a length of cellular foam pipe insulation well down inside the centre of the plastic bag, before tying the bag up so that the newspaper was sealed inside. Then I stitched around the outer jute sack with a length of strong garden twine, using a large darning needle with a big eye. I pulled the twine tight around the scarecrow’s neck, that is, round the protruding part of the pipe. I stitched right through the pipe and the sack, both from back to front and from side to side, so that the head was well anchored to the pipe and could not easily be pulled off.

Next, I stitched on two large button eyes, secured to the sacking with strong quilting thread, a button nose, and a mouth made from a length of red ribbon. The eyebrows were made from doll hair, also stitched on with quilting thread, but wool would do just as well.

Finally, I folded down the ‘tails’ of excess material left over from the bottom hem of the bag, and stitched them to the sides of the scarecrow’s head with quilting thread, so that they resembled ears. George’s head is quite crude and his features are unsophisticated. For a future project, I’ll make a head from a cotton bag and paint the features on. 

For George’s hat, I used an old straw hat. I stitched black doll hair around the inside brim lining, securing it with strong quilting thread. Wool or raffia would make a good substitute. I attached the hat to the head by sewing right through both hand and head with a long needle and a double thickness of quilting thread. I used a button to spread the load at the centre of the crown, so that the thread would not pull through the brittle hat straw. I also stitched right around the brim, securing it firmly to the head, so that it should not be torn off by the wind. Then I set the head to one side whilst I made the scarecrow’s  body.

Upper Body

To make an arm I took a length of pipe insulation measuring about 30 cm longer than George’s sleeve would eventually be, and sewed an old gardening glove firmly onto the ‘hand’ end, using quilting thread. For greater realism, check that the glove’s thumb faces upwards. Next, I attached a black plastic dustbin sack tightly to the wrist with parcel take (or duct tape), stuffed the sack with scrunched up newspaper (8 pages will do the job nicely) and sealed off the sack tightly at the top with parcel tape to fully contain the paper and make George’s arm rainproof. I made a second arm in exactly the same way.

I then overlapped the two arms at the shoulders and sealed them together with duct take (stronger than parcel tape), leaving a small gap in the centre that I stuffed George’s neck through, thus securing the head to the body.

Before attaching the head to the body, I put a black plastic sack over George’s torso pipe (the bit sticking down from the head) and secured it tightly at the neck end with parcel tape, so that I could stuff his upper body with paper once I’d pushed it between his shoulders. A copy of a quality Sunday paper will provide enough newspaper to complete your scarecrow’s body and legs! George was stuffed with the Sunday Times.

Once your scarecrow is plump, secure the open end of the bin sack tightly around the waist with parcel tape to prevent the newspaper falling out. Dress with old clothing (I used an old T-short and jumper but a shirt and waistcoat or jacket would do just as well) and set the upper body to one side until later. George is sitting in my Husband's favourite chair, patiently reading a book whilst I make his legs!

Lower body and Legs

Take two longer lengths of pipe insulation for the legs. Sew shoes or boots to the foot end of each leg. I used a pair of my husband’s old Converse Chuck Taylors. Cover the ankle end of the pipe with a black plasic bin sack, and stuff with newspaper as for the arms. Because farmer George was quite tall, I used two sacks, for the calf and thigh respectively.

Tape two short, 30-40 cm lengths of pipe together with duct tape to make your scarecrow’s hips. Push the top of each leg pipe through and sew or tape the legs firmly to the hips. Put your scarecrow’s trousers on.

Final Assembly

Now comes the tricky bit: attaching the body to the legs. Push the waist end of the upper body between the scarecrow’s legs, at the hips and sew or tape together firmly. You could push a piece of wooden dowel down the torso/head pipe to stiffen the core if you so wish, and tuck the other end down one of the trouser pipes, but be aware that this will make your scarecrow stiff at the waist. George is being modelled here by husband, David. Hopefully, it is obvious who is who!

As George will be put in a public place outside our house to advertise Loughton’s scarecrow trail, I sewed George’s t-shirt firmly to the waistband of his trousers with a doubled length of quilting thread all the way around his waist, to ensure that he could not easily be dismembered. This completed my scarecrow.

Putting George in Place

George has now been posed on the main road through Loughton village. He can be seen climbing a small blackthorn tree near our back fence. His arms and legs have been attached to the tree’s branches with long plastic cable ties. These are easy to do up but very hard to undo again. As its name suggests, the blackthorn has sharp thorns that will hopefully give George some protection from pranksters. He should gradually merge into the hedge as the tree sprouts into leaf. 

George took me four hours to make and half an hour to place in his tree. I hope he will survive un-vandalised to advertise the trail to Loughton's residents and passers by. I'll keep you posted!