TinselBells

Enjoy using my free felt Robin pattern template along with a step by step photo tutorial to sew up some easy bird themed ornaments. I love to craft for Christmas all year round and it pays to make gifts and decorations well in advance.

This red Robin bird design is easy to make and ideal for beginner sewers and upwards. Turn these into hanging ornaments, festive garlands, brooch pins and even make cards using this cute little pattern.

My daughter and I have successfully used this little design as teacher appreciation gifts because they can be sewn up quite quickly, especially if you get into batch cutting the felt and stitching. Come see how to make these felt Robin birds.

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Free Felt Robin Pattern Template and Tutorial for Festive Sewing

Felt is a particularly easy craft fabric to work with. It is an ideal choice for kids who are starting to sew and anyone who is a beginner. Here's what you need:

What You Need to Make Felt Robins:

• Small felt pieces in your chosen colors
• Embroidery floss or sewing threads
• Sewing needle
• Scissors
• Sewing pins
• A temporary fabric marking tool
• Fiber fill toy stuffing
• Optional accessories: beads, buttons, ribbon
• Get my free bird template pattern here on my craft site.

Why not keep the costs of your Christmas gifts down by batch making some of these sweet birds as little extras. Start your sewing preparation early enough and you'll be able to create lots of inexpensive handmade felt goodies to give away.

Step 1: Print Off Your Free Template

The printable pattern template gives you two different size options in small and large to make the Christmas Robin. The small version is approx 3 inches tall once made and the large version 4 inches.

Print the free felt Robin pattern template onto paper or card. Cut out the pattern pieces for the size that you prefer and use those to onto your felt.

If you are planning to sew up a lot of these felt birds, it may be more productive to make cardboard templates that you can draw around multiple times.

Either print the free pattern templates onto a sheet of card or, alternatively, print onto paper and then glue the pattern onto card. You can use any spare card for this such as cereal box packets and even old Christmas cards which you are getting rid of.

Use a hole punch to mark out the bird's eye on the template. This will make it quicker to mark when using the template more than once.

Step 2: Cut Out All the Felt Pieces

Use the free printed Robin bird pattern to cut out all the felt pieces that you need. My preferred method is to trace around the pattern pieces on the felt with a temporary fabric marker.

Cut out two pieces of felt for the main body (pattern piece A) of the Robin bird. One of these is for the front of the bird and one for the back. I like to use a pale cream color for the main body of the bird but you could also use a shade of brown for a slightly more realistic version.

You will need a wing piece which is pattern piece B. I found a piece of dark brown fabric for this to give a different texture to the felt.

Finally, cut either C or D from red felt. C is a whole circle that you can cut down to size once you have stitched this piece in place on the bird. D is already cut to shape for you but you will need to position it carefully to get this to line up neatly.

Step 3: Sew on the Robin's Red Chest

Add on the red circle of felt (either C or D as explained in step 2) to the front of the Robin bird to make its red chest.

If using part C from the pattern, as I am, you need to place the red circle so that most of it is positioned on the bird as shown but with a small part of the circle left overhanging. You can cut this unwanted part away later, once you've stitched the red chest down. Alternatively, use part D which is already cut to shape. Whichever is easier for you.

I used a simple running stitch with a couple of strands of matching red embroidery floss to sew the red chest into place. The wing piece will cover some of this so a simple running stitch works fine.

If you don't want to add a wing piece on, then you could make use of a more decorative stitch such as fly stitch, blanket stitch or chain stitch to show this area off. Use whatever stitch you are comfortable sewing.

Since the edges of felt do not fray, you can concentrate on more decorative sewing for the parts which do not need a strong stitch to secure them.

Step 4: Sewing on the Robin Bird's Wing and Eye

Position the wing piece (B) on the front of the bird and sew around it when you're happy with its position.

I found a nice chunky piece of brown corduroy fabric which works wonderfully to create a bit of texture. You can use any piece of fabric though you may wish to add some fray check around the edges if it is not felt.

For sewing around the wing, I chose blanket stitch and used 4 matching color threads of floss.

Once you have the wing in place, add on an eye for the bird. I love to use buttons for this but you can use a bead, a sequin, a French knot or even a small circle of felt.

Step 5: Add on a Ribbon Loop for Hanging

I've now finished all the detail that I want on the front of my festive Christmas Robin bird. You could additionally add in some beads, sequins, embroidery or something else to make your own design totally unique.

For turning this bird design into a hanging ornament, you will need some ribbon or cord. I prefer to use some ribbon and I try to pick ribbon which matches with the colors and this festive theme.

Fold the ribbon in half and pin it into place temporarily on the inside of the front pattern piece for the bird.

Note that the pin needs to be on the outside of the felt so that you can remove it easily after sewing. If you don't want to make this felt Robin into a hanging ornament, simply skip this step.

Making a felt bird keychain is a similar process because you simply loop some ribbon around your keychain finding and then fix it in the exact same place as I have shown for the ornament.

⭐ How long does the loop of ribbon need to be? You choose. I prefer to have a small loop of ribbon coming out at the top of my felt plush ornaments. If I need to hang my design on a Christmas tree with its bulky branches, then I can thread twine through the ribbon loop and tie it on. Alternatively, there are wire hangers which do the job well. You may prefer to have a long loop and you may also prefer to use cord or twine instead of ribbon.

You can also make it into a felt brooch pin instead. For a brooch pin, you need to sew the brooch pin onto the reverse on the back piece of your bird before you sew the front and the back of the bird together.

Step 6: Start Sewing Around the Felt Bird

Place the front of the Robin bird onto the back piece of felt (A) and start to sew around the edges of the design.

I like to start just after the red chest, which is approximately the bottom middle of the design. Because the two parts need to be sewn together securely, I use a backstitch. A more decorative blanket stitch around the edges can also look good.

Sew around the top of the felt bird (securing the ribbon loop in place) and then stop once you've sewn the top part of the beak.

Step 7: Start to Fill Your Felt Plush Robin Bird

You could simply place the two robin pieces (front and back) on top of each other and then sew around the edges to fasten them together. Some people prefer to do this to create flat felt ornaments. For my own taste, flat ornaments don't normally look as good.

Some suitable toy stuffing is what you need if you want to turn a flat felt Robin bird into a nice plump one. Although you should ideally not wash felt projects, the type of polyester filling that you normally use to stuff your design is actually washable and can be used to make plush toys, pillows and more.

To make a plush Robin bird, you need to start adding in small pieces of toy stuffing or fiber fill into your robin. You can use the end of a pencil or pen to really push the filling in and pack it out to make it plump.

Step 8: Finish Sewing the Felt Robin Bird

Continue sewing and filling your felt Robin all the way to the end. You may wish to adopt a stuff and sew technique where you stuff a little and then sew up a little more until the end.

You can sew under the red chest area as I've done or sew right over the top. Either way, your bird needs to be sewn completely closed.

To finish off, I sewed on a gold and red colored ribbon bow. Now this little birdie is ready to wrap as a small gift or add to your festive Holiday tree.

The European or English Robin (completely different to the American bird with the same name) is a really traditional and endearing symbol of Christmas and the festive Holiday season.

I love lots of bird crafts and I've used this same template over and over the years to make cards as well as felt and fabric items. It's just so simple and cute.

Of course you don't need to make a Robin bird either. Just ignore the circle section to make the red chest and you can make other felt songbirds instead quite easily.

You can print this out at different sizes for your crafting needs. Alternatively, use this design as inspiration to make your own bird design for your festive craft projects.

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Page Last Updated: September 09th, 2018