Stitched Semicircle Bird

Stitched Semicircle Birds

Supplies

1. Felt in 2-3 colours for body, beak and if required wings

2. Embroidery threads
3. Yarn for legs and tail
4. Beads or buttons for eyes
5. Circle template – you can draw round a plate or jar lid that’s about the right size to make the bird’s body
6. Toy stuffing 


Method

1.  Body 
Cut a circle of felt 10-15cm (4-6 inches) in diameter.
Fold into to make a semicircle – this will be your bird’s body.

2. Beak 
Cut a square of felt to form the beak with sides 2.5-4cm (1-1.5 inches) depending how big a bird you are making.
Fold the square along the diagonal and stitch together down one of the sides and along the fold. 

3. Tail 
Cut 20-30 cm (8-12 inches) of 5-6 lengths of yarn for the tail.  They can be 5-6 lengths of the same yarn or they can be different.
Lay all the yarns together, fold in half and knot all the cut ends together.

4. Legs 
Make some legs 15-20cm long (6-8 inches).  The legs are made as a continuous piece.   The legs can be made by plaiting several pieces of yarn together, by making stitched cords or by making twisted cords.  Put a double knot in each end of the leg piece to form the feet.

5. Wings 
Either cut out 2 wings shapes from a contrasting colour of felt and stitch in place, one on each side of the body using whatever stitch you like or mark out some wing shapes using decorative stitching. 


Making up

Before sewing your bird together, you may want to add some decorative stitching although if you decide later you would like some you can add it after your bird has been made.

With the folded semicircle ready:

1. Tuck the right angle of the beak into the bird’s body so that the beak and the bird’s body form a straight line.  The two stitched lines on the beak should be visible.  Pin in place.

2. Fold the leg piece in half and tuck the top of the fold into the body at the centre bottom so the two legs dangle out. Pin in place.

3. Using a running stitch, start stitching from behind the bird’s legs and stitch towards the beak, then return filling in the missing stitches till you get back to where you started.

4. Stuff the bird with toy stuffing.

5. Tuck the tail into the body at the opposite side of the body to the beak with the knotted end inside the body. Pin in place.

6. Add any extra stuffing needed.

7. Carry on stitching in running stitch from behind the legs up to the tail and then fill in the missing stitches till you get back to where you started. 

8. Finish off by doing a few extra stitches on top of each other to secure your stitching.

9. Sew on a couple of beads or buttons for the eyes.

For instructions on how to make Twisted Cords click here.