Sew a felt lovebird softie! A simple beginning sewing project for children and adults of all ages. Use the printable pattern to teach children how to sew a softie by hand. A pair of lovebirds make a cute hand sewn gift idea kids can make for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or Father’s Day!
Sew a pair of lovebirds with this beginning sewing project for kids and adults. These sweet felt lovebirds were created in honor of the “Sew a Softie” initiative. Join by learning to sew a softie with your child, teaching your child how to sew, or inviting your child to become an ambassador to other children learning how to hand sew. Learn more about Sew a Softie HERE!
Related: How to Sew a Pocket Pet Mouse
Related: How to Sew a Button Apple Tree
Felt Lovebird Hand Sewing Supplies
- lovebird sewing pattern printable
- Heavyweight cardstock
- Cotton embroidery thread or floss or a high quality 50 weight cotton thread
- Acrylic felt, wool blend felt, or 100% wool felt
- Organic cotton stuffing or wool stuffing
- Small sewing scissors (good sewing scissors make it easy to cut felt, but don’t let children cut paper with them!)
- Disappearing ink fabric pen or pens
- Large eye sewing needles
More of our favorite sewing supplies can be found HERE!
Related: Hand Painted Stained Glass Love Birds
How to Sew a Felt Lovebird by Hand Step by Step Directions
My daughter and I LOVE designing and sewing softies together. We made a lovebird beginning sewing pattern to use as a printable template to make sewing a softie easy!
You may also enjoy sewing narwhal softies or a felt mouse plush toy.
Read through these directions before starting to sew a lovebird felt softie. If your child has never sewn by hand before, try our burlap and yarn beginning sewing tutorial, or teaching children how to sew a running stitch.
Related: Heart Sewing Projects for Beginners
Step 1 – Download and print free lovebird sewing template onto cardstock.
Print the lovebird sewing template onto cardstock or draw your own lovebird softie pattern. Cardstock creates a nice thick beginning sewing pattern that can be easily traced with a disappearing ink pen.
Step 2 – Cut the lovebird and heart wing out of the free printable lovebird template.
Use a pair of Small sewing scissors to cut the lovebird and heart-shaped wing out of the free printable lovebird beginning sewing pattern for each lovebird.
We used the same heart to make the fin of our narwhal plush toy!
Step 3 – Use a disappearing ink pen to trace the lovebird and wing template onto the felt.
Use a fabric pen with disappearing ink to trace two lovebirds and two hearts in one color and another pair of lovebirds and wings in a complementary or contrasting color to make each lovebird plush toy pair.
Don’t forget to flip the lovebird and heart wing pattern over to trace the other side so you have 2 lovebirds and wings in the same color that mirror each other to make each lovebird felt softie.
Disappearing ink will disappear in about 24 to 48 hours, or it can be rinsed with water to be removed. Cut the lovebirds and lovebird wings out of the felt after you trace the lovebird pattern or the lovebird pattern might disappear before you have a chance to cut it out!
Step 4 – Sew a felt wing onto each felt lovebird.
Thread a large eye sewing needle with embroidery thread or a high quality 50 weight cotton thread in contrasting or complementary colors to use to sew each lovebird pair. Use a whipstitch or a running stitch to sew each felt heart wing onto each felt lovebird half. A handsewn running stitch is pictured.
Make sure that you sew the proper felt wing on the proper side of the felt lovebird so that when the two sides of the felt lovebird are sewn together the hearts are on the outside with the tip of the heart pointing towards the tail.
Step 5 – Use disappearing ink to draw an eye on both sides of the lovebird felt softie.
Use a disappearing ink pen to make a dot or a “U” shape with lashes to create an eye for each side of the felt lovebird.
Step 6 – Sew the eyes on felt lovebird halves.
We sewed a closed eye with lashes for each felt lovebird. Alternatively, you can sew a french knot, use satin stitch to sew a solid eye, sew on a small button or use a small seed bead to create an eye for each side of the lovebird felt softie.
Step 7 – Sew the sides of the lovebird felt softie together.
- Thread a large eye sewing needle with embroidery thread or a high quality 50 weight cotton thread
. - Use a whipstitch, running stitch, or blanket stitch to bind both sides of the lovebird to each other. We have found that children have the easiest time hand sewing whipstitch when they are learning to bind softies together. My daughter and I used the blanket stitch to bind the lovebird softies pictured.
- Make sure to bind the lovebird together with the wing sides out.
- Leave a 1 to 2-inch opening to add stuffing to each lovebird before sewing it shut.
Step 8 – Fill the lovebird felt softie with wool or organic cotton stuffing.
We love using wool felt and wool stuffing or organic cotton stuffing to stuff our handsewn softies because of the quality of the ingredients. Real and natural materials provide a wonderful sensory experience for the developing child.
Step 9 – Finish sewing the felt lovebird softie together by hand.
Use the same type of hand-sewn embroidery stitch that you began sewing your lovebird with in order to finish your felt lovebird plush toy.
In other words, if you began binding your lovebird softie together with a blanket stitch, close up the remaining hole using a blanket stitch. If you started with a whipstitch finish with a whipstitch, and if you started with a running stitch, finish with running stitch. A blanket stitch is shown in the pictures.
Related: Thumbprint Heart Glass Magnets
Lovebird Felt Softie Beginning Sewing Tutorial for Children and Adults of all Ages
Learning to sew is a wonderful fine motor activity for the developing child. If your child has never tried hand sewing, start with our simple sewing tutorial using burlap and yarn, or teach your kids how to sew a running stitch by hand.
You can also make your own lacing cards out of sturdy fall leaves. Learn how in our fall leaf lacing beginning sewing project for kids.
You might also enjoy sewing a narwhal plush toy or a felt mouse. Have the kids sew their own pocket pal!
You may also like this collection of easy heart sewing projects for beginners.
Learn more about Rhythms of Play HERE!
I Love your love birds, they are so sweet
Thank you, Julie! My daughter and I had a wonderful time designing the pattern and sewing them together. 🙂