DIY Birdie Purse

It's always fun to try something new! Today I was sewing with felt for the first time and I was amazed how easy it is to work with this material. It's soft, a little stretchy and the edges don't fray, you can even glue the pieces together! Which I did, actually, but only the smallest pieces.
I don't really remember how I got the idea of making a birdie purse. It had to be an odd combination of a stack of felt, an orange zipper that crossed my way while looking through boxes and looking at cute birds on the Internet. However, I'm glad I had the idea because this little purse is all the cuteness I can handle. The perfect little thing to carry my money or keys around in! It's probably a great gift idea for kids, too. That's why I put it in the "for kids" section on the "Tutorials" page.

If you want to make your own birdie purse (which I highly recommend just because it's adorable!), I hope you enjoy the pattern I made for you and uploaded to Scribd.

Supplies: Orange, black, red, white, pink and light pink felt. A short orange zipper. Scissors, pencil and textile glue. Needle and thread (and, optional, a sewing machine). Some pins.

[1] Print out the pattern, transfer to the felt and cut out all pieces. The piece of felt for the side has to have the same width as your zipper and the total length of zipper plus felt strip equals the circumference of the bird's body.
[2] Sew zipper and felt strip together: Put the two pieces right sides together and sew them together near the base of the zipper.
[3] Arrange the belly and the feathers like in the picture. You can sew the belly onto the body now, but I found it easier to do it later on (see step 6). Fixate all pieces with pins. Then decide where you want the zipper to start and which direction to go. Then place the side piece on top of the body piece, right sides together, and fixate the point where you want to start sewing with a pin, so that the edges of the body and side pieces align.
[4] Sew on the side piece. Make sure the edges of the two layers always align while you sew them together. Then sew on the back piece in the same manner.
[5] Open the zipper and turn the purse right sides out. It should look somehow like in the picture above.
[6] Now sew on the belly with short stitches. Glue on the beak, cheeks and eyes and let dry.

Now your birdie purse is ready to be filled with little things and fill your life with cuteness in return! What a great last sentence that was...

Birdie Purse by Kathie