Polish The Stars: Hanging Zero the Ghost Dog Tutorial

Since my Etsy shop is closing down and I will no longer be selling my Hanging Zero the Ghost Dog I thought that I would update my tutorial to make it easier for you to make your own. It now has pictures of each step and a pattern to print out!

Start with 36" wide bleached muslin. Cut to 24" long. Trim off one of the salvaged edges (left side in the photo). Then cut the middle square down to 24"x24". This will leave you with about a 12"x24" piece (on the right side). Set aside the two side pieces.

Take the middle square and cut a 1" diagonal slot in the middle (about 17" down).

Print out this pattern onto heavy cardstock and cut out along the lines.

Grab your 24x12" piece and trace the head pattern then flip the pattern over and trace the head again facing the opposite direction. Trace two of the ears. Cut out just inside the lines so that you don't have any markings on your fabric.

Place the two head pieces together with the best looking side face to face in the middle. Sew together with a 1/4" seam leaving the neck open. Use a thin dowel rod or pencil (eraser side) to turn it inside out and stuff with fiber fill.

Slide the neck into the slot of the large body square and pull through the bottom about 1/2". Fold the body in half so that the stuffed head is in between the two sides of the body and just the neck is sticking out. Sew the slot closed, going back and forth over it two or three times to make sure it is secure.

When you flip the body down, it should look like the photo above.

Use either white grossgrain ribbon or the strip of salvaged edge saved from the first step and tie it around the neck just above the sewn line.

Flip it upside down and spread open the body to expose the neck that is poking out slightly. Position the body so that one corner is pointed in the same direction as the nose. Use more grossgrain ribbon or salvaged edge strip to tie the neck over the knot from the previous step.

When you flip the body back down, the neck should look like the photo above with none of the ribbon showing.

Take one of the ears and cut a piece of galvanized wire with an excess of 2" on each side at the bottom.

Use hot glue to fold the fabric over the wire. Trim the bottom wires to about 1".

Poke the 1" wire pieces through the head and secure with more hot glue. Bend the ears into desired shape. Cut two of the eyes out of black felt and glue in place. Glue a 1" - 1 1/2" orange pom pom onto the tip of the nose. Sew 24" pieces of clear thread or fishing line into the top of the head, two side corners of the body, and back corner of the body.

Tie the thread from the head onto a hook or nail in the ceiling and attach the strings from the body to a nearby wall. Leave the front corner of the body hanging down.

If you want, you could also cut a 1" strip of red felt or leather and wrap it around the neck as a collar and attach a name tag with "Zero" written on it. :)