Fig. 3.—Showing outline of horse and part to be stitched.
Purchase three yards of cotton cloth, at 6 cents per yard. Fold the material in the center, thus making a double piece 11⁄2 yards long. With a pencil or piece of chalk sketch the outlines of the head and back of a horse upon it, as shown in [Fig. 3]. Then take a pair of scissors and carefully cut out the stuff. The result will be two horse-shaped pieces of calico of exactly similar proportions.
At this stage, if the young showman is wise, he will place the operations in the hands of his mother or sister, for the two patterns must be stitched together along the edges, to the points marked A and B, [Fig. 3]. This done, the whole affair should be turned inside out.
Next obtain a quantity of rags or shavings, or purchase some excelsior from an upholsterer’s, and stuff first the head and then the haunches of the “horse.” The two unsewn pieces of cloth in the center remain empty. One of them must be cut in half, and the two sections thus obtained folded and stitched into the form of two small bolsters and stuffed with flock (A, B, [Fig. 4]).
Fig. 4.—Opening in horse for rider; tapes at A and B to be tied.
The remaining side should be similarly treated, only in this case it must not be cut in half, but remain intact. The result will be the head and haunches of a horse, with two “sausage-shaped” flanks in the center ([Fig. 4]).
Other Decorations
The “noble thorough-bred” is now ready for its final decorations.
Unravel some coarse rope and sew it along the neck of the horse to represent the mane. Another piece, unraveled at one end only, does duty for a tail. The ears are constructed by cutting a piece of calico, folded in the form of a sugar bag, perpendicularly down the center, and stitching the two halves into position on the head.