Now that we are almost into December, I have launched myself into Christmas crafting with a felt bird Christmas decoration.

The problem I find with Christmas crafting is that the kind of thing you can make is more limited than the rest of the year. It’s fun to make things at Christmas, but how to make something that is different to what you have made in previous years so that you don’t just end up with more of the same?

Some Scandinavian fabric bought recently provided me with the inspiration I needed! This felt bird is easy to make and doesn’t require a sewing machine.

If you would like to buy a kit to make these birds, either for yourself or for someone else, you can get one here.

How To Make a Felt Bird Decoration

I’ve included links to Hobbycraft for the stuff you need, in case you don’t have the stuff already and, like me, you prefer to shop without leaving the house! They are affiliate links.

You Will Need: red felt and white felt, bird template, buttons (2 each of 2 styles unless you don’t mind the sides not matching), embroidery thread in red and white, needle, a small amount of polyester filling (optional), ribbon.

The templates for this are available here as part of the Christmas bundle.

1. Make or print out your bird template. You will need 2 birds, 2 hearts to go on the centre of the bird and 2 smaller hearts for the tail (you could leave those off if you wanted).

2. Cut out the felt pieces. You will need 2 of the bird pieces in one colour, then the hearts in the 2nd colour.

3. Pin one of the larger hearts to the centre of one of the birds. Using blanket stitch, sew the heart to the bird.

To sew blanket stitch, put the needle through the felt wrong side to right side, then back through the right side to make a loop. Don’t pull it tight yet! Bring the thread up from the wrong side to the right side of the bird at the edge of the heart, not through the heart. Bring the thread through the loop. Now pull it tight. Put the needle through from the right side. Bring it through the loop from the wrong side and pull it tight. Keep going in this way, through the right side to make a loop, back up through the bird, through the back of the loop and pull it tight. The top of the stitch should sit on the edge of the heart.

4. Sew one of the buttons to the centre of the heart.

5. Sew another button to the bird’s head to make an eye.

6. Sew the little heart to the bird’s tail area. I just used a couple of stitches in the middle of the hearts; doing anything else would have been just too fiddly.

7. Repeat with the other bird, but check that the bird is the other way round before you start!

8. Pin the birds with the wrong sides together. You might want to put a little bit of polyester filling in the middle to give it some shape, but it doesn’t matter if not. I didn’t. Using blanket stitch in contrasting thread, sew the birds together.

9. Attach a length of ribbon folded in half.

And if you would like to buy a kit to make these birds, you can do so here.

You might also like these posts:

GIngham Heart Christmas Decorations

Felt Cookie Cutter Christmas Decorations

Fabric Christmas Decorations