Tutorial Tuesday

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

I put together this tutorial and without even planning it, the finished product turned into something I fully intend on using around the house. Hopefully, you will find the same use for it.

There is a family of doves living in my garage and I kept thinking that they needed a house. So, with a few pieces of felt, I put together this little felt birdhouse with embroidery on the front. I have no idea if this can be adapted to be a house for birds in reality, but it is housing something for me now, that makes me feel like this is the best idea I have had, yet! You'll see below.

To make this little house you'll need:
-2 felt sheets at 12x12 inches
-embroidery floss
-scissors
-measuring tape or a ruler

I found sheets of felt by Feltworks at Hobby Lobby. If there is no Hobby Lobby near you, I found the same felt online here.

Step 1: To begin, take one sheet of felt and cut it into 4 squares measuring 5.5 inches a piece. These will be the sides and the roof. Take the other sheet and cut two pieces at 5.5 x 9.5 inches a piece, then cut the top edge to create the slope or angle. Those top sides should be 4.5 each. These will be the front and back panels of the house.

Step 2: Embroider the piece of felt that will be the front part of the house. I free-handed the flowers and vine-type things, but they are available for you here. I found I didn't need a hoop for this because the felt was thick enough to hold a taut as I stitched.

Step 3: Once you have embroidered the front piece of the house, it's time to add the bird hole. I found an eyeshadow pot that was just the size I needed. I lightly traced it onto the felt and stitched through the line.

Once the circle has been stitched, cut through the felt and as closely along the stitches as possible without cutting the stitches.

Step 4: Now the front, back and sides of the house can be stitched together. I used a blanket stitch to attach them to one another. 

Continue with this stitch to attach all sides together. Your house should start to look something like this.

Step 5: Now it's time to add the roof to the top of the house. Take two pieces of the 5.5x5.5 felt and attach them at one edge with a blanket stitch. This will be the top edge of the house. 

Step 6: Attach the roof to the rest of the house using the same blanket stitch to connect all the edges of the roof piece with the body of the house. 

As I was working on the house, I used a tissue box to rest the house on. Which is what made me realize that this little house is the perfect tissue box cover!

If you don't want to use this house as a tissue box cover, you can attach a bottom in the same way you attached the sides and roof. This will require an extra piece of 5.5x5.5 felt. Then string some floss or ribbon through the top and it can hang from a small hook or nail. 

I hope you enjoy this little birdhouse!