Bat and Coffin Halloween Ornament

With Halloween around the corner, it's time to break out the spooky décor, pumpkins and costumes. “Spooky cute” is all the rage these days and we've got just the adorably spooky felted project for you to tackle for your Halloween festivities. To make this cute bat and coffin combo, follow the instructions and templates below.

Before you start, you will need the following items and tools:

Materials

• Disappearing Ink Marker or Marking Tool
• Natural or Synthetic Craft Felt
• Rotary Cutter
• Orange, black and white sewing thread
• Sewing Needles
• Fibre Fill
• A Stuffing Tool, such as a chopstick
• The Bat and Coffin templates
• Safety Eyes
• Several pieces of thin cardboard
• Fabric Scissors
• Fabric Tape Measure

Templates



Steps

1. Begin by printing out your template. Ensure that the scale of your template will allow the bat to fit nicely within the coffin. Once you have printed them out, you may choose to attach them to thicker pieces of card-stock or even thin cardboard to make tracing them with your disappearing ink marker or tool easier.
   
   
2. Place your templates on top of your felt and begin to trace with your disappearing ink marker. Once you have traced your templates based on the quantities listed directly in the template, take a pair of sharp fabric scissors and cut out each piece. For the coffin, the thin cardboard pieces will be used to keep the coffin top and bottom stiff.

3. I decided to start with sewing together the coffin. To begin, place the white skull pieces on top of a black coffin piece. Stitch this together using a running stitch. If you are unsure about how to do any of the stitches in this tutorial, a simple YouTube search will guide you through them.
   
   
4. After you have adhered the skull to the top of the coffin piece, place a thin piece of cardboard (such as that used in a store-bought pizza box or cereal box) between the black coffin piece with the skull and a bare black coffin piece. At this point, you will use a blanket stitch to stitch the top and inner pieces together, all the while ensuring that the cardboard piece stays within the felt pieces. Completely enclose the cardboard piece using your blanket stitch.

5. Repeat step #4 (with the exception of the skull embellishment) for the bottom of the coffin, but instead of using two black pieces, insert one orange piece for the liner of the coffin (the bat will lay on top of the orange piece).

6. Once your top and bottom pieces are sewn together, you will need to cut two long strips of felt to make the sides. I chose 1'' height walls for the top coffin piece and 2'' height walls for the bottom so that the bat would not be squished inside. However you scale the template will determine the length and height of your sides. Use a sewing tape measure to measure how long your sides will need to be to fully enclose the perimeter of the coffin.
   
   
7. Once the sides have been cut, use a blanket stitch to attach them to the tops and bottoms of the coffin. I chose to add a piece of orange felt to the bottom sides to match the liner of the bottom coffin piece.

8. At this point, your top and bottom coffin pieces should fit nicely together and now it's time to make your bat. Begin by using your orange thread to attach the orange inner ear pieces to the grey outer ear pieces with a running stitch (but be sure to only attach them to one grey outer ear piece as the second outer ear piece). Once you have the inner ear pieces in place, you can sew the second outer ear pieces to their corresponding pieces with a blanket stitch, using grey thread. This second piece will cover the orange running stitches you used to attach the inner ears.

9. Attach the heart-shaped orange nose to one of the body pieces using a running stitch and orange thread.
   
   
10. Next, you will want to start adding the details, such as the mouth, teeth, eyebrows and wing webbing. You will need your disappearing ink marker to draw on these elements. Then, using some black thread, follow the lines with a back stitch to finalize the details you drew on. You will need to fill in the teeth shapes with some white thread. Use a blanket stitch to attach the back wing pieces to the front wing pieces.

11. Decide the placement of the eyes and carefully create evenly spaced holes in which to insert the safety eyes. Be sure to add the washers to the back of the safety eyes so that they cannot fall out.
    
    
12. Now it's time to start sewing your bat together. I start by the left side of the head and work my way downwards, using a blanket stitch with grey thread. Sew to just below the neck and then place the inside part of the left wing between the front and back body pieces so that the majority of the wing sticks out.
    
    
13. Attach the wing to the body using a running stitch. Once you reach the bottom of the wing, you can switch back to a blanket stitch to continue sewing around the body. Repeat this process when you reach the other side. The only difference here is that you will be starting at the bottom of the right wing as opposed to the top.
    
    
14. Once you reach the other side of the neck, insert some fibre fill into the lower half of the body using a stuffing tool. A chopstick works well to push the fill into smaller areas, such as the feet of the bat.

15. Continue sewing the head until you reach the area where you would place the bat's ears. Attach the ears to the head using a running stitch and continue on with your blanket stitch to enclose the head. Before you completely close the head, don't forget to add fibre fill to the head so that it matches the body in terms of plushness. Tie off your grey thread to close the body off. Your bat is complete!

Now both components are finished and you can place your bat in its coffin. You can even fold the wings inward to make it a little more cozy!



Did you try this spooky cute project? If so, be sure to snap a photo, share on social media, and tag @the_felt_store and @the.felted.fawn. Happy crafting and Happy Halloween!