I made a little felt bird in flight and I thought you might like to make one, too. These birds are pretty as ornaments for the holidays, or make several and hang them from a branch to make a mobile. They’re pretty simple to make with a few scraps of felt and some embroidery floss, although they are small so a bit fiddly. Just take your time and enjoy the process!
Here are some birds made up in different colors, but all monochrome.
To make a white bird, you’ll need:
A scrap of wool-blend felt, about 6 inches x 12 inches
A tiny scrap of brown wool-blend felt for the beak, about 2 inches x 2 inches
Embroidery floss in black, about 18 inches
Fiberfill stuffing, about 1 ounce
Coordinating all-purpose thread
Monofilament or metallic thread to make a loop for hanging
Okay, let’s get started!
Download the pattern template, print and cut out. From felt, cut two body pieces, adding a 1/4 inch seam allowance and cut two wings and one tail (no seam allowances needed).
Mark and cut a small slit in each body piece. I like to use a pair of small embroidery scissors for this, or a blade.
Make two small folds each wing pieces, like a tuck, and press to hold.
Insert a wing into a body through the slit. Pin. Stitch across to close the slit, catching the edge of the wing in the process. Repeat for the other body and wing, making a mirror image.
Fold the wings up inside the body to keep them out of the way for this next step. Pin the body pieces together. Set your machine to a small stitch length (I set mine to 2 which is 13 stitches per inch) and stitch around the body, starting and stopping under the tail.
Trim the seam allowance to 1/8 inch. Clip the curves. Turn the bird right side out and stuff firmly. (Turning can be fiddly! I like to use hemostats for this.) Close the opening with ladder stitch (see my post here for more on how to close an opening neatly).
Press the wings with a warm iron to smooth them out. Pin the tail to the underside of the bird, hiding where the opening was. Stitch in place by hand using small backstitches.
Fold the brown felt in half and press. Place the base of the beak triangle on the fold and cut out (no seam allowance needed). Put a bead of glue along the fold and press the beak to the bird, pinning it in place until the glue dries.
Draw circles for the eyes with a disappearing fabric marker. Use one strand of black embroidery floss to stitch the eyes with satin stitch.
Thread a needle with a single strand of monofilament or metallic thread and take a stitch through the bird’s back. Tie off the thread, forming a loop for hanging.
Set your bird free! I like to decorate a tree branch with some felt leaves and flowers and hang the bird from there just to make it extra pretty. Enjoy!
What a lovely share! Thanks, Abby. I may be able to amuse the Scrapling with this one. 😉
Hi Abby,
Your little bird is lovely!
I’m looking forward to making one of these in a nice colour from my stash.
I just printed the templates, and they look like they might be a little too small. I don’t think I scaled them when I printed them.
The beak measures 1/4″ from fold to tip on the pattern sheet I printed out.
Is this correct?
Hi Claire,
Yep, they are small! The beak is indeed 1/4 inch from fold to tip.
The finished bird fits nicely in the palm of my hand. It makes a great ornament or you can make several and hang them as a mobile.
Small = quick! Go for it.
Thank you so much! I’m off to have some fun now, Bethx
Oh, what a lovely bird! Thank you so much for the pattern.
How sweet and lovely! Thank you for the free pattern and tutorial! 🙂
Jennifer
I have your lovely book and enjoy it immensely! Thank you for sharing one more bird.
Thank you Abby. This is charming, and just the little project I need right now.
I got your book last week, and I am so impressed with it. The opening sections on materials and techniques are really clear and you anticipate all sorts of questions. I can tell how much experimentation, trial and error lies behind the tips and details.
It’s my autumn treasure, for evenings indoors with the sewing machine. Love the quail and the lark – and that flamingo!! But my favourite is the wader.
From our apartment building, looking out across rooftops, I often watch the comings and goings of magpies, housemartins and sparrows. The magpies use the sloping roofs as runways, while the sparrows, and an occasional collared dove, perch on the various TV aerials that constitute our rooftop trees. I’m thinking blue-black viscose for a magpie, tail-up (Thanks for tail techniques.)and maybe a trio of sparrows on an aerial, or a row of martins on a telephone cable. I’m nothing if not ambitious! Thank you for your inspiration, and congratulations on a handsome and really useful book.
Thank you! My daughter is always trying to play with the spring bird that you made and now I can make her one of her own.
Thank you so much for this lovely comment, Noelle! Happy birdmaking!
Thanks for sharing, so lovely!
Hi,
I posted this darling bird tutorial on Craft Gossip:
http://whileshenaps.typepad.com/whileshenaps/2011/08/little-bird-in-flight-a-free-sewing-pattern.html
Thanks for sharing 🙂 Please stop by and leave a comment.
Linda
Linda
This is adorable. Thank you for sharing.
Bonsoir,
merci beaucoup pour le partage, les oiseaux sont adorables et faciles à faire.
bonne soirée
sarvenaz
You are a generous artist…I own and love your book. Thank you for this new pattern, I know someone who will love this little bird!
Happy birdmaking to you!
Hello While She Naps,
The blog ‘Benzie: A fanfare of felt’ would love to include a photo of your ‘Bird in flight’ tutorial and a link directing our readers to your site. Benzie is a crafter and a supplier of Merino wool blend felt. We are always looking for creative ways our readers can use felt for their personal crafting.
We are featuring a selection of felt bird tutorials for the month of January and especially enjoy your ‘Bird in flight’. The photo and link will go live on Monday, January 9th, 2012. If you prefer that we don’t include your bird tutorial in our blog post, please reply before the post date.
Thank you for your time,
Jen Van Oosbree
Benzie Monthly Contributor
blog: http://benziedesign.blogspot.com/
felt: http://www.benziebazaar.etsy.com
Many thanks for sharing.
I am a soft furnishing stylist and have lots of excess fabric. I provide extra income to displaced settlers in our city by designing hanging stuff toys, we call, “Good Day” chimes.
Now we can make better birds with your kindness.
That sounds so lovely, Rebecca. I'm really glad this pattern is helpful to you!
I am using this pattern to make nursery mobiles for my twin granddaughters, due next month. thanks so much for sharing it!
Wow! That's terrific! And congratulations on twin granddaughters! How exciting is that! If you take a photo of the mobile you make please email it to me! I'd love to post it on the Abby Glassenberg Design Facebook page!
Good afternoon! I look for the author of this DIY http://marrietta.ru/post272677348/ , is it you?
Hi Olya,
Yes, this artist has made a bird using my free felt bird pattern. She did a lovely job, too!
Abby
Abby thanks for tutorial, so cute, bye bye Wal
Looks like a cute project. My only suggestion would be to embroider the eye before sewing the bird together. I think it would be easier that way.
I love your birds! Thanks for sharing.
Happy Holidays!
I liked the birds so I tried to download the pictures .The only one bright and sharp was the 3 birds together. The others were too light because of the background. Also the instructions printed out so small I cannot read them . I will try to blow up that part and see what happens. My wife makes crafts and I sometimes help. Yes I can sew , I learned over 70 years ago.
Thank you for sharing Abby. This will be the perfect gift for my secret pal.