The Big Autumn Reveal: Meet “Patch” and “Pumpkin”, My Upcycled Handcrafted Scarecrows!

If you have been following along with my videos earlier this month, you will remember that we spent some time prepping and cutting up an old t-shirt and a wonderful autumn-checked button-up shirt. Well, the scissors have been snipping, the sewing machine has been humming, and today is finally the day for the big reveal!
Please give a warm autumn welcome to Patch and Pumpkin—my brand-new pair of handcrafted, upcycled scarecrows! Working through the creative process on these two has been the most incredible experience. You can see them up close in all their glory in my latest video (watch the full reveal on YouTube), and today I am breaking down how every single scrap, button, and seam from our prepped shirts came together to bring them to life!

Building the Base: Canvas and HeatnBond Magic
For the actual bodies of Patch and Pumpkin, I started with a sturdy, plain canvas material (rather than upcycled canvas bags this time around).

Do you remember how I kept the entire front button placket intact when we cut up my husband’s old checked shirt? Here is how I used it: instead of just sewing a loose shirt over the body, I used HeatnBond to fuse that entire front shirt panel—buttons and all!—directly onto the canvas body before cutting it out. I am absolutely thrilled with how this turned out. It gave the body wonderful structure while keeping that authentic buttoned-shirt front right down the centre!

Zero-Waste Wardrobe: How Every Scrap Found a Home
My favourite part of upcycling is seeing how different family cast-offs can marry together into a cohesive colour palette. Alongside the old t-shirt and my husband’s checked button-down, my son brought home a pair of trousers he didn’t like anymore, and the colours pulled everything together like a dream!
Here is how we used every last bit of those garments without having to fuss over raw edges:

• Patch’s Collar & Bow Tie: That shirt collar we carefully harvested with the extra seam allowance became Patch’s actual collar, smartly paired with a dapper bow tie made from our old t-shirt fabric!
• Overalls & Full-Bodied Hats: I used my son’s unwanted trousers to craft Patch’s overalls as well as both of their structured hats. For the hats, I made a separate cap piece and attached it to the base to give them a lovely, full-bodied shape.
• Pumpkin’s Dress & Apron: Pumpkin’s outfit is a gorgeous mash-up of the t-shirt and checked shirt. Better yet, I used the bottom cuffs of the trousers for the band of her dress, and I used the curved back hem of the button-up shirt for her skirt and apron! Because the shirt tail naturally dipped down in the centre and curved up at the sides, it created the sweetest curved apron edge—with a pre-finished hem ready to go!
• The Harvest Leaf Bag: While I sometimes leave pockets on the shirt panel, this time I unpicked the chest pockets from the front of the shirt (which gave me even more base fabric to work with!) and turned an actual shirt pocket into a miniature leaf-collecting bag!

Quirky Hair, Stitched Faces, and Tiny Boots
Half the fun of soft sculpture is digging through your craft stash to find unexpected textures for the details:

• Tassel & Wool Hair: For Patch’s hair, I rescued a batch of old tassels I had made ages ago for a chair project that I never ended up using. I simply fastened them to the top of his head and arranged them around his face! For Pumpkin, I used a lovely technique of sewing individual strands of cosy wool directly onto the head.
• Sweet Expressions: Their faces were such a joy to bring to life with simple hand-stitching, finished off with a fine pen for a scattering of tiny freckles and a touch of blush on their cheeks.
• Garden-Ready Boots: Both Patch and Pumpkin are sporting matching miniature boots made from a sturdy piece of upholstery fabric, paired with cosy socks crafted from old t-shirt sleeves! (Between you and me, neither one of them actually wants to go out into the garden now because they refuse to get their smart new boots dirty!)

The Finishing Touches: I-Cord Flowers, Shiny Leaves, and Signature Hearts
To deck them out for the season—bridging the gap between Thanksgiving and Halloween in the richest autumn tones—I went all out on the embellishments:

• Scrap Fabric & I-Cord Flowers: I made custom flowers using tiny leftover fabric snippets from a fish pattern I previously used for my outdoor chairs! For the stems, I used knitted wool i-cord and threaded a piece of floral wire right through the centre so I could bend and mould the stems into shape, finishing the backs with felt and leaves.
• Fabric-Covered Buttons: To tie all the fabrics together, I covered buttons in the checked shirt and t-shirt fabrics, placing them on the overalls, the flower centres, and the hats.
• Glossy Autumn Leaves: I took simple bargain-store craft leaves and painted them with glossy acrylic paint to give them a rich, autumnal sheen.
• Signature Bows & Hearts: Of course, it wouldn’t be a Fran’s Friends creation without my signature hearts! I even tried out a brand-new bow-making technique on the back of Pumpkin’s outfit and hat, embellished with my usual little hearts.

Mini Tutorials Coming Soon!
I needed a big, joyful project to keep my hands busy this October, and Patch and Pumpkin certainly accomplished that! Because there were so many fun little techniques involved—from the wired i-cord flower stems and fabric-covered buttons to the new bow technique and upholstery boots—I am going to film a whole series of bite-sized mini tutorials very soon to show you exactly how I made all the individual components.
Until then, Patch and Pumpkin will be keeping their clean boots firmly indoors! Which detail on this autumn pair is your favourite? Let me know in the comments below—what will you create next?