sewing & craft projects

MATERIALS LIST

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fabric 13x25cm, for the body

fabric 8x12cm, for the wings

selection of fabric scraps, to complete the wings and red breast

felt 3x5cm, for the beak

felt 2x4cm, for the eyes

2 small buttons for the eyes

2 buttons to decorate the wings

red sewing thread

sewing thread to match your chosen body fabric

cream embroidery thread (I used pearl cotton 12)

40cm craft wire 18 gauge (for the feet)

toy stuffing

 

plus the usual needle, pins, scissors etc plus pliers for working the wire and some glue

1. Using the sewing thread that matches your body fabric, stitch a running stitch all the way around the edge of the body circle, roughly half a cm in from the fabric edge. Gently pull the long end of the thread to begin to gather the circle. Before it is fully gathered, pop in the toy stuffing, continue to pull the long thread to gather up the fabric and add a few stitches to close and secure the hole.

 

2. Working with the fabric scraps, begin to cover over the gathered up hole through which the stuffing was placed by appliquéing randomly cut scraps to create the Robin’s red breast. Attach each patch with random straight stitches using the red sewing thread.

 

3. Lightly tack each wing in place on either side of the Robin, still using the red sewing thread. Add another patch of randomly cut fabric to the top of each, again appliquéing each on with random straight stitches, this time switch to the cream embroidery cotton. Cut a small patch of fabric from your scraps and sit it on top of the felt tail. Stitch both to the rear of the Robin.

 

4. Still using the cream embroidery thread, fold the beak in half, and attach to the face. Fix the eyes in place by sewing a small button to the center of each of the felt circles. To finish, add a few additional random straight stitches to the red breast area.

 

5. Bend the length of craft wire to make the feet following the diagram, and trim off any excess wire. Now, this is where it can get a bit fiddly! Glue the centre section of the wire feet to the underside of your Robin and add some pins to hold it place while the glue dries. Remove the pins, and stitch on another fabric patch to hide the glued area. Just remember, you may need to adjust the feet and legs a little to get your Robin to stand upright.