DIY Felt Swan Ornament (Pattern + Video)

My newest design for a DIY felt swan ornament (pattern and video tutorial) is inspired by the swans that have come to visit our bay for the last few years.

Every year the flock is slightly larger and I love hearing their surprisingly inelegant honking at night.  The swans arrive in the spring, grace our shores for a few weeks, and then move on.  I wish they’d stay (and hatch their little cygnets here!!), but every now and then I do catch a glimpse of a pair with an odd looking teenage swan or two doing a little overnighter before migrating south again in the fall.

Now they can spend every winter on our trees!

Felt Swan Ornament Supplies:

• My Felt Swan Ornament Pattern
• Soft White Felt (not the stiff/rigid kind)
• Soft Black Felt (for the beak – this set has white and black)
• White Thread (I like Coats & Clark Hand Quilting Thread – it’s thin enough for beading, but strong enough to sew the ornament together)
• Green Heavy Duty Thread (optional – for hanging)
• Black Thread (for the beak and stitching on the eye bead)
• 3 mm Black Bead (for the eye)
• White Sequins
• Faceted Glass Beads (optional – or you can use seed beads, etc)
• Poly-fil or Wool Batting/Stuffing
• Beading Needle
• Hand Sewing Needle
• Short Fabric Scissors
• Printer
• Fine Tipped Sharpie + Printer Paper OR Gypsy Quilter Freezer Paper OR Stick N Stitch Self Adhesive Wash Away Stabilizer
• Stuffing Tool (optional)

Find more DIY felt ornament supply suggestions here.  But please note that you do NOT need to purchase everything on this list.  For example: you can skip beading or add embroidered details instead, if you have those supplies already.  Repurpose stuffing from old pillows or use felt/fabric scraps to stuff the ornaments.  Stick to a sharpie for tracing and use that same sharpie to stuff the ornaments, if you don’t want to purchase the stick on stabilizer or stuffing tool.  You can make these felt ornaments with very minimal supplies.  I’ve linked everything I’ve used, but don’t feel pressured to buy it all – or buy it all at once.  Making DIY felt animal ornaments CAN be a very economical craft.

How to Use My Felt Swan Ornament Pattern:

This pattern is a digital download, available to use immediately.  It’s scaled to 8.5 x 11″ and can be printed with any printer onto any paper, cut out, and traced.  Alternatively, you can purchase Gypsy Quilter Freezer Paper OR Stick N Stitch Self Adhesive Wash Away Stabilizer.  You can then print the pattern onto either material and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.  Here’s a rundown of each method:

• Printer Paper: Print the pattern onto any printer paper, cut out the shapes, and then trace them onto your felt with a thin sharpie. Cut out the felt shapes.
• Freezer Paper: Print the pattern onto freezer paper, cut out the shapes, iron them onto the felt and then cut out around the template.  Remove the freezer paper.  Benefit: it’s a steadier process than simply tracing and you don’t need to draw on the felt.
• Wash Away Stabilizer: Print the pattern onto stabilizer, roughly cut out the shapes, then stick them onto the felt.  Then dissolve the stabilizer with water and let the felt dry.

For this pattern, because I haven’t marked any spots for beading (unlike my other felt ornament patterns), so you could definitely use the freezer paper!  It’s normally not my preference as a recommendation, because of how I design my patterns, but for this one it would work better than the stabilizer.

Pattern Usage Rights:

Please note: this pattern is copyright protected and is for your PERSONAL USE ONLY.  It is not licensed to be shared online, used for commercial purposes, or sold.

How to Make a DIY Swan Felt Ornament:

1. Print out my felt swan ornament pattern.
2. If using plain paper: cut out all of the shapes and trace onto felt with a fine tipped permanent marker.
3. Cut out all shapes, inside the marker lines, with short fabric shears.
4. If using Freezer Paper or Wash Away Stabilizer: cut out all shapes first, then either iron/stick onto felt.
5. Cut out the shapes, following the pattern, with short fabric shears.
6. Remove the freezer paper or wash away stabilizer at this point
7. Thread a beading needle with white thread, for the following steps:
8. Stitch on rows of sequins or beads along the front of the wing (the smaller piece).
9. Using a blanket stitch, sew together the front and back of the wing, along the top.
10. Continue sewing along the bottom of the top piece of the wing, using a decorative edge beading stitch – leaving the bottom open.
11. Stuff the wing with poly-fill.
12. Sew the wing closed, along the bottom edge, with a simple running stitch.
13. Use the same decorating edge beading stitch along the bottom of the back of the wing.
14. Set the wing aside.
15. Switch to a hand sewing needle:
16. Using a blanket stitch, sew together the front and back of the swan body, starting with the head shape.
17. Stuff the head shape with poly-fil, and then continue to stuff and sew the body closed.
18. Repeat until the ornament is fully stuffed, and you’ve sewn the ornament fully closed.
19. Once you have sewn the bird closed, knot the thread to secure it, bury the end and trim the thread.
20. Tack the wing to the swan body, stitching along the bottom of the wing with a running stitch.
21. Flip over the ornament and use a whipstitch to secure the wing at the back, as well.
22. Still using a hand sewing needle, switch to black thread for the next step:
23. Stitch on the front of the beak, affixing to the swan head, in a few points.
24. Then continue to stitch the front of the beak, stitching on the back at the same time with each pass of the needle through the head.
25. Then stitch along the length of the beak with a blanket stitch to sew it closed.
26. Stitch on the eye bead, knot, and bury the thread.
27. Still using a hand sewing needle, switch to green thread for the next step:
28. To hang, use a needle to string (preferably green) thread across the back.
29. Form a loop with the thread and secure with a knot.

Felt Swan Video Tutorial:

Detailed Tutorial for How to Sew a Felt Swan Christmas Tree Ornament:

Cut Out the Pattern, Transfer to Felt + Cut Out the Pieces:

Print my swan felt ornament pattern and follow your preferred method for transferring it to felt.  For this pattern, I recommend freezer paper.  Then cut out all of the pattern pieces and remove the templates (if used).

Stitch Sequins/Beads onto the Wing Front:

The first step will be to stitch sequins – or beads, if you prefer – onto the front of the wing.  We do this now, so all of the stitches with be hidden inside the wing once the swan is sewn together.  Check out my video, below, to learn how to stitch on beads and sequins.  But the general steps are this: position a sequin, bring your needle up through the hole, and then push it back down where the top edge of the sequin meets the felt.  Repeat, positioning the next sequin to hide the thread stitch.  I stitched on a row of sequins at a time, knotted off my thread (did NOT cut it), and then continued with the next row.  But you can decorate your swan wing as you’d like, with fewer sequins or beads instead.  I added a smattering of faceted glass beads to one of my swans.

When I was finished, this is what the front and back of the wing looked like:

And here’s a look at one of my prototypes (hence the odd beak), just so you can see a little variation in the beadwork that you can do on the wing front:

How to Stitch on Beads + Sequins:

Sew Together Wing Front and Wing Back – Only Along the Top:

With the front of the wing bedazzled, it’s time to lightly stuff it with batting and stitch it closed, adding edge beading (if desired).  We’re going to start by sewing together the wing front and wing back, along the top, using a blanket stitch and a beading needle.  In the video below, I show you how to do a blanket stitch.  But I will demonstrate in the photos as well.  To start a blanket stitch, I bring my needle through the front piece of felt only, loop it around, and then bring it through both layers of felt.  I push my needle through the loop I have created and that is my first stitch.  Then bring the needle up through both layers of felt, creating a loop, and pushing the needle back through that loop:

How to Sew Felt Ornaments Closed with a Blanket Stitch:

Edge Bead the Wing Front and Back:

Once you’ve sewn along the top, sewing together the top of the wing front to the top of the wing back, you can switch gears and do some edge beading.  This is why I say to already be using a beading needle because then you can switch right to edge beading without switching needles.  I designed the placement of the edge beading to look like the delicate ends of feathers.  It adds some sparkle to the ornament but, if you’re a beginner or in a hurry, you can skip this step and continue with sewing the wing closed.  To do the edge beading (which is also included in the video tutorial, above), thread on 5 seed beads, bring your need up through the back of the felt, and then push it through the last seed bead.  Then thread on 4 more seed beads and repeat.  It’s like you’re making a blanket stitch, but working a bead into it.  At this point, you are only stitching onto the front piece of the wing – do not stitch the pieces together yet:

Stuff and Sew the Wing Closed:

At this point, add a small amount of batting to the wing (just enough to give it some shape, so it doesn’t flop over) and then stitch it closed.  I used a running stitch, close to where I did the edge beading, to sew the wing closed by sewing through both layers of felt.

At this point, it’s easy to edge bead the wing back along the edge (replicating the edge beading steps above) or you’re welcome to do it earlier in the process when you did the other edge beading.  Here’s a look at the completed wing:

Stuff and Sew Together the Swan Body:

Set aside the wing, for now, and sew together the swan body using a blanket stitch.  I start with sewing the head, which is tricker to stuff, and then continuing my way around the body.  I sew a bit, adding batting, sew a bit, repeat, until the ornament is fully stuffed and fully sewn closed.

Stitch the Wing onto the Swan Body:

At this point you’ll have a stuffed swan body and a stuffed swan wing so it’s time to sew those two together.  I sewed along the front, along the bottom edge of the wing, tacking the wing to the body with small, discrete stitches.  Then I used a whipstitch along the back to further secure the wing.  This isn’t a stuffed toy, the stitches needn’t be load bearing – basically, you just want it to keep it’s shape nicely so the wing sits nice and erect.

Sew on the Beak and Eye:

As the final step, stitching on the beak and eye.  Match up the beak pieces (which are mirror images) and position at the snoot end end of the head.  I find it easiest to quickly tack on the front, with a few anchoring stitching, so I know it’s aligned and looks nice.  Then I hold the back piece on, and stitch back and forth, sewing them simultaneously along the edges.  Then I blanket stitch, with tiny stitches, along the entire perimeter of the beak before stitching on the eye bead and knotting/trimming the thread at the back (bury the thread under the black felt before trimming).

Add a Thread for Hanging:

Add a thread at the back for hanging, and you have completed your felt swan Christmas ornament!

Finished DIY Felt Swan Ornament:

More DIY Felt Ornament Tutorials + Patterns:

Find all of my DIY felt ornament patterns here, and check out these other blog posts for more DIY felt ornament tutorials:

• DIY Felt Seal Ornament Tutorial (with pattern)
• DIY Felt Fox Ornament Tutorial (with pattern)
• DIY Felt Polar Bear Ornament Tutorial (with pattern)
• DIY Felt Bunny Ornament Tutorial (with pattern)
• DIY Felt Ptarmigan Bird Ornament Tutorial (with Pattern)
• DIY Felt Gingerbread House Ornament Tutorial (with pattern)
• DIY Beaded Felt Moon Ornament Tutorial
• DIY Beaded Felt Heart Ornament Tutorial
• DIY Felt Cookies Ornaments Tutorial (with pattern)