Add a touch of seaside charm to your home with a felt starfish! These cute soft toys are so fun and easy to make using our FREE felt starfish pattern.
This felt craft is perfect for sewing beginners, and you only need a few simple supplies! Gather up some felt and beads in your favourite colour and follow along with our helpful step-by-step instructions. Let’s dive in to make this adorable summer craft!
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How to Make Felt Starfish
Materials:
- FREE Printable Felt Starfish Pattern
- Felt (yellow, or colour of choice)
- Sewing thread (colour matching felt)
- Polyester fiber fill
- Seed beads (11/0 size)
Equipment:
Watch the step-by-step video tutorial:
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
- Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Cut out the felt starfish pieces
- Print our free felt starfish pattern (find the link in the materials list above!) and cut out the shape.
- Hold the pattern piece on top of the felt to cut it out.You can also pin the pattern to the felt to make it easier to cut, or trace around the template with chalk or a gel pen.Be sure to cut 2 pieces — the front and back of the starfish.
Step 3: Sew beaded ridges on the starfish
- We’ll start by working on one of the stars, so set the other piece of felt to the side for now.Insert a threaded needle into the center of the star.
- Pull the thread through, leaving a 2 inch tail, and flip the star over.
- Thread a seed bead onto the needle. Insert the needle right above your first stitch.
- Pull the needle and thread through to the back until the bead sits flat on the felt. Don’t pull too tightly, or the felt might pucker.Tie the thread in a double knot on the back to secure the bead in place. Cut off the excess thread from the tail.
- Bring your needle back through to the front about 1/4 inch away from the bead. Add another bead to the needle and pull the thread through.Repeat, making a line of beads up the arm of the starfish.
- Flip the star over so you’re looking at the back.Make a very shallow running stitch to get back to the center of the star. Make your stitches near the ones from the beads and only go part way through the felt. You shouldn’t be able to see the thread from the front of the star.
- Flip the star back over and repeat Step 3 until you have lines of beads going to all 5 points of the star.
Step 4: Sew the starfish together
- Set the beaded star on top of the empty felt star. Align the edges.
- Begin sewing the edges of the starfish together with a blanket stitch.Bring your needle up through both layers of felt, about 1/8 inch from the edge. Pull the thread almost all the way through and tie the front thread to the tail in a double knot.Tuck the excess thread between the two layers of felt and bring your needle back up about 1/4 inch away from the last stitch.Before you pull your needle all the way through, wrap the thread around the needle.
- Repeat the blanket stitch around the outside of the starfish, stopping when there’s about 1 to 2 inches left.
Step 5: Stuff the starfish and close it off
- Add stuffing to the starfish, pushing it down. Use a pencil or a knitting needle to reach all of the points, if needed.Continue until the starfish is evenly and firmly stuffed.
- Close off the starfish, continuing the blanket stitch. Finish off your thread by going through the last stitch 3 times.Then push the needle down at the seam and bring it up through the top layer of felt. Cut off the excess thread and pinch the felt to hide the thread inside.
- Your felt starfish is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- You can pin the two pieces of felt together while sewing them to ensure the edges stay nicely aligned.
- Add summer vibes to your sewing room by using this felt starfish as a pincushion!
Get our free printable felt starfish pattern:
The link and picture below will take you to our free, printable felt starfish pattern! The PDF file will open in a new window. Then simply print the template on 8.5 x 11 (letter size) printer paper.
>>> Felt Starfish Pattern <<<
Do I have to sew the felt starfish?
We prefer the look of the felt starfish when it’s sewn (especially the beads). But if you just want a quick and simple craft, you can use hot glue to attach the pieces of felt together like we did with our Felt Monsters.
Add a short line of hot glue along the edge, lining up and connecting the two pieces together an inch or two at a time. Then use puffy fabric paint to make dots, instead of using beads.
What size felt starfish does this pattern make?
This pattern makes a felt starfish that’s about 5-1/2 inches across and 1 inch thick. The exact size will depend on how much you stuff your starfish.
We also made smaller starfish by reducing the scale of the pattern before printing it. You can also scale the pattern bigger to make a larger felt starfish.
How else can I decorate my felt starfish?
We used seed beads, but you can also use bugle beads or sequins to make the ridges along the starfish arms. We love the shiny look of the beads, but you can embroider French knots across the arms instead.
Or make a cute kawaii starfish by sewing on a smiling face, or even adding black beads for the eyes.
Have fun under the sea with this sweet and playful felt starfish. This DIY felt craft makes a great pincushion, but it’s also a fun DIY toy, perfect for storytime or pretend play. You can also turn it into a Christmas ornament or attach it to a baby mobile in a nursery!
Here’s even more felt craft ideas:
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon Canada
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