To gaze upon a swan swimming across calm and glistening water is to witness beauty, grace and elegance in its avian form. This swan plush DIY interprets the regal bird a bit more playfully. Rudimentary sewing skills, some felt, tulle and a few other supplies are all it takes to whip up one of these mini-pillow-stuffed-animal mash-ups.
This stuffed swan gets a bit cheeky with a royal crown, fetching eyelashes and a tulle tutu. The diminutive bird is unmistakable, with her playful expression and unmistakably long and curvy neck. She’d be right at home in a pillow pile on your favorite chair, perched on a bookshelf or holding court with other cuddly toys on a child’s bed. She could also welcome a visitor in a guest room. Wherever she lands, people will gravitate toward her.
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Materials
- Double layer of 12-by-12 gray felt squares
- Dark blue or black marker
- Scissors
- Double layer of 6-by-6 canary yellow felt
- 2-by-2 piece of thick, glittery white paper or poster board
- Fabric glue
- Two small sets of eyelashes cut from black felt
- Pillow stuffing
- Sewing needle
- Gray thread
- Cutting tool
- Roll of violet tulle
- Ruler or measuring tape
- Scissors
- Bowl of straight pins
- Sewing machine
- Spool of white or violet thread
- Double layer of 12-by-12 gray felt squares
- Dark blue or black marker
- Scissors
- Double layer of 6-by-6 canary yellow felt
- 2-by-2 piece of thick, glittery white paper or poster board
- Fabric glue
- Two small sets of eyelashes cut from black felt
- Pillow stuffing
- Sewing needle
- Gray thread
- Cutting tool
- Roll of violet tulle
- Ruler or measuring tape
- Scissors
- Bowl of straight pins
- Sewing machine
- Spool of white or violet thread
DIY Everywhere
Instructions
1. Put the gray felt on the work surface.
1. Put the gray felt on the work surface.
2. Draw a simplified swan shape on the felt with the marker.
3. Cut out the swan shape from the felt with the scissors.
4. Place the canary felt directly next to the head portion of the swan, and using that as the guide, draw a beak form on the felt with the marker.
5. Cut out the beak shape.
6. Cut three points on the top vertical edge of the white paper or poster board to help form the crown.
7. Shape the paper into a tubular three-dimensional crown.
8. Connect the crown's vertical ends with fabric glue so it stays in the shape of a tube.
9. Hand stitch the beak to the head of the swan with the needle and gray thread.
10. Hand stitch the two layers of swan-shaped gray felt together, but leave an opening on the top of the swan’s back.
11. Fill the swan with the stuffing material through the opening until it is plump.
12. Sew closed the opening on the swan's back that you filled with pillow stuffing. Use gray thread.
13. Knot the thread and trim with the cutting tool.
14. Stitch the bottom of the white crown to the top of the swan’s head using a needle and white thread.
15. Knot the thread and trim the excess with the cutting tool.
16. Place a thin line of glue on one of the black felt eyelash strips.
17. Affix it to one side of the head of the swan, underneath and a little in front of the crown.
18. Apply glue to the other eyelash strip, and affix it to the other side of the swan’s head.
19. Measure and cut enough violet tulle to make four 6-by-6 layers.
20. Attach the layers to each other with three pins placed on one end of the layers.
21. Machine stitch the pinned edges together with white or violet thread, removing each pin as you go.
22. Pull the end of the piece of thread at one end of the sewn edge of the violet tulle so it cinches and gathers.
23. Thread the needle with black thread and place the violet tulle wing down on one side of the swan so that its wider end is facing toward the back of the swan.
24. Fold over the tulle over so it goes over the cinched end of the wing.
25. Hand stitch that cinched edge, using the black thread, onto one side of the middle of the swan’s torso.
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26. Knot the thread and trim with the cutting tool.