Make a softie stick ghost puppet with our printable template. This is a simple Halloween sewing project for kids and makes a fun DIY toy. The printable pattern is free.

These guys look cute as Halloween decorations too, prop them in jars or vases around the home, or you could even gift them as a fun non-candy ‘treat’. 

This post was originally published in 2018 as part of the Sew a Softie Halloween tutorial hop organised by Sew-a-softie blog. It’s been updated and republished for today’s audience.

Check out these 30 non-scary ghost crafts kids will love

Sew a cute ghost puppet on a stick! You can make yours cute, friendly, funny, or scary using any combination of the different mouth and eye designs on page 2 of the template.

The ghost puppet doesn’t take long to make, and is easy for little fingers and short attention spans. Plus, it’s always fun for kids to make their own DIY toys, don’t you think?

Ghost books for kids

Would you like to make a ghost puppet too? Here’s how…

How to make a ghost puppet

You will need:

• felt
• embroidery thread
• scissors
• needle and needle-threader
• stuffing
• dowel rod or chopstick
• fabric glue
• This ghost softie template

How to:

1. Print out the template
2. Cut roughly around the ghost shapes and pin to felt, then cut around the lines of the template to get your ghost shapes
3. Thread a length of embroidery thread onto a sewing needle using a needle threader and tie a knot in the tail end
4. Begin sewing around the ghost halfway across the base, about 2cm from the bottom to leave room for a fringe. 
5. Sew most of the way around using running stitch, leaving a small gap to poke the stuffing in
6. Stuff the ghost and poke the dowel rod in. If you like you can use a bit of fabric glue to hold the rod in place but I didn’t do this
7. Sew the remainder of the ghost, and finish by sewing tightly around the dowel rod and tying a knot in the end of the thread.
8. Cut a fringe along the base of the ghost
9. Use page 2 of the template to cut out some eyes and a mouth, or design your own.
10. Glue them on with fabric glue

All done! Now it’s time for a ghostly puppet show.

Don’t forget to check out some of the other fun softies in this series.

More ghost craft ideas you might like:

• Make a ghost pom pom popper
• These yarn ghosts are so cute!
• Make a ghost from a paper roll