Pantyhose Potato Heads

I'm old enough to remember the original Mr. Potato Head. There was no plastic potato with strategically-placed holes where you could insert the blunt plastic rods that held facial features. Instead, you borrowed a potato from the kitchen and impaled sharp spikes into it to hold the eyes and mouth in place.

The potato heads in this Instructable are neither hard plastic nor real spuds. They are tubes cut from pantyhose, stuffed with fiberfill, and stitched to create facial features.

A pair of pantyhose - One pair of Queen Size can make 4-6 potato heads

Sewing thread - for average shade- s darker hose might need darker thread

Sewing needle - I used a curved quilting needle

Scissors

Fiberfill - for filling the pantyhose segment. I used repurposed fluff from the unused sections of the stuffed plush animals I used to make my Frankenstuffed Feejee Mermaid.

OPTIONAL - doll eye buttons, rouge for cheeks and shading

Lay out the pantyhose and cut off the heavier toe section.

Make another cut 6-8 inches along the leg, and tie one end, as close to the end of the segment as possible.

Start stuffing fiberfill into the pantyhose section , more and more, until it's semi-firm.

Tie off the open end.

WEIRD IDEA

If you want to make your potato head as a shrunken head, you could leave the extra hose attached for hanging.

Stitch a circle around the knot where you tied off the pantyhose.

Press the knot into the fiberfill and tighten the circle until it narrows and closes up over the knot, so it doesn't stick out. Tie off the thread.

Repeat the procedure to cover the other knot.

Potatoes are lumpy, and they have the "eyes" where new potato plants sprout. To simulate this, randomly make small stitches and push the needle to other parts of your potato, tightening the thread as you go to make indentations in the surface.

Gather a lump of the fiberfill stuffing and sew a running stitch around the area, but do not tighten the thread as much as you did over the end knots. This will give you a nice lump of a nose.

bring the needle out below and to the side of the nose, and stitch a curve going down and up to the other side of the nose. Tighten it, and you have a nice smile on the face.

OF COURSE - If you want a grumpy potato head, stitch a curve going up and down to give the face a frown.

Now, it's time for the eyes.

METHOD 1 - Sew a running stitch in a teardrop pattern. Tighten it lightly. Repeat for the other eye.

METHOD 2 - Knot the thread around the shank of a doll eye. Run the needle through the stuffing to the other side of the nose, and affix another eye.

Pinch a wad of stuffing through the fabric. Stitch tightly in a slight curve. Tie off, Run the needle through the fiberfill to the other side of the head, and repeat for the other ear.

Now you have a Pantyhose Potato Head!

HOWEVER - If you want, you can make garden-variety Pantyhose Potatoes. Follow the directions up through Step 4, and it will look like a potato, period. In fact, you could make a basket of "potatoes," with one "potato head" as a surprise!

This was my first experimental Pantyhose Potato Head. I made a major mistake. I left the toe of the pantyhose as part of the head, and the darker fabric is very visible. Don't do this!

I hope you enjoy this Instructable, and I hope you will give it a try and post your projects...but don't cut up your mother's best pantyhose!

This Instructable was made for the 2020 Potato Speed Challenge. Vote early and vote often!