red bird ornament

I was feeling cozy and crafty in my snug house yesterday, and so in the midst of thinking of the season of lights and trees, I got to cutting and sewing, and designed this simple red bird ornament. It was made from everything I already had in the house – a little bit of repurposed material and a few scraps. While selling at the winter fair a few weekends back, I stopped by my favorite felt booth where I bought more of this seller’s beautiful seconds. I happen to love her seconds more than her firsts; they seem to have the happiest mistakes. The blue bird below is made with some of her felt. Gosh, I wish I remembered her business name, so I could share.

One of my favorite parts about this little tweeter is her scrappy, fabric ties. It offers a chance to use tiny bits of fabric that I wasn’t ready to part with. It seems to me that these ornaments could be made in any shape and size. Kids can design and cut out their own shapes, and an adult can help turn it into an ornament. I plan on having Chick draw stars on yellow felt, so we can make a string of them to hang over our fireplace. More on that next week.

Materials:
wool felt scraps
design template (simple shapes like stars, circles, or apples would word well)
thin cereal box board (or simply use kraft cardstock)
scraps of fabric
sewing machine or needle and thread
embroidery floss and needle

How To:

1. Draw and cut out a simple design on cereal box board or kraft cardstock.
2. Trace the template onto a piece of wool felt.
3. Cut out the felt designs.
4. Cut fabric ties from scrap fabric, and iron them flat.
5. Lay the felt design onto a piece of cereal box board, and sandwich the fabric ties in between, and pin them together. (see below)

6. Insert a heavy duty needle into your sewing machine, and sew the felt shape and fabric ties onto the cereal board. Below is a picture after it has been sewn.

7. Use sharp, paper scissors to carefully trim the cereal box board being sure not to cut the stitching. Below is a picture of what the back will look like after you are done trimming.

8. Using a sharp embroidery needle, make a french knot where the eye should be.

9. Hang on a tree. Or, a door knob. Or, a hook. Or, give it to someone you love.

10. Wouldn’t a whole flock be nice?

May you find rest and cheer in the coming days.

xo e

p.s. I just received an question in an email, and I figured I would answer it here. I used cereal box on the back, rather than another piece of felt, because I am working on a technique, which will result in a simple shapes felt garland (as mentioned above). The cereal box allows me to use 100% beautiful wool, without having to use it on the back as well. I tend to be a bit thrifty when it comes to beautiful felt.