Handmade gifts are by far the best gift to give and receive. If you’re looking for a simple craft project to do yourself or one for your older child to make then have a go at making a beautifully whimsical star felt play wand. This homemade, hand stitched star felt play wand will ignite the creativity and imagination in all children who make or receive them. They are also a cost effective birthday present to give too.
I just love the idea of hand stitching felt and making it into something handmade. I’ve made it a goal of mine to improve and work at it. Having said that, I think I particularly love working with felt because there is something wonderfully forgiving about using it in craft projects as the less than perfect stitches can be considered gorgeously rustic. Of course my nature play wands are also equally fabulous.
Recommended age: Aged 8 years+
(Strict and close supervision is required at all times)
How to make a star felt play wand
To make one a gorgeous star felt play wand, you will need –
- Coloured felt
- Coloured thread
- Needle
- Scissors
- Marker
- 2 x Cookie cutter
- 1 x padding sheet (optional)
- Hot glue gun
Begin by deciding on your colour combinations and use the cookie cutters to trace and cut out your shapes. Depending on what you want your wand to look like, I cut out two large shapes (front and back) and a small star, which is to go on the face of my wand. You might like to have a small star on both sides.
I also cut out a large star shape from a sheet of padding or white felt as I wanted it to look somewhat padded and three dimensional.
Running stitch
To begin hand stitching, I carefully threaded my needed and made a small knot at the end of the thread. Threading up through the smaller star, I used a super simple running stitch, which is basically and up and down stitch. To secure the smaller star shape to the larger star shape I used a very simple running stitch.
Once I had the decorative smaller shape on I was ready to put my larger star pieces together and include the padding between the two sides. To do that I used a very simple blanket stitch.
Maggy from Red Ted Art has a fabulous collection of instructional videos on You Tube that cover basic sewing techniques and other crafts. I used her video (above) to learn how to do a simple blanket stitch and did that around the edge of my star. I was so surprised how easy it was and how quickly the star wand came together.
Tips to teaching your child to hand sew
Quite often we can be overly cautious to give our children sewing needles, and understandably it isn’t for all children. However, it’s important to give children an opportunity to learn how to do simple hand stitching as it’s a skill that could come in handy in later life.
- Tools – You might choose for your child to use a larger threading needle and practice threading through a stiff fabric or plastic material. Burlap is another option.
- Learn through observation – Have your child observe you or someone else complete a simple running stitch. YouTube have many great hand sewing tutorials.
- Start small – Give your child the opportunity to experiment before starting any projects. Allow them to become comfortable with handling and using a needle and learning to pull the thread completely through the material before beginning another stitch.
Before you sewing around the edge your star shape completely, leave one small section. Insert your stick, which is the handle for your wand, and secure it well using a hot glue gun. Once the glue has dried then you can complete your hand stitching. Then you are done!
I think these wands are absolutely adorable. They are a simple sewing project for children and a lovely gift idea.
Would your child enjoy making or receiving
a felt star wand?
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Vicki Hanauer says
July 19, 2016 at 2:45 amLove all of your fun and easy “kid friendly” projects and ideas. Please keep them coming!!!
Kate says
July 19, 2016 at 9:46 amThank you so kindly Vicki, I really appreciate that so very much. Wishing you a wonderful day. 🙂
Dawn says
July 19, 2016 at 7:35 amOh my gosh, your timing is impeccable! I am just getting ready to make a bunch of Ben & Holly “Wandy” wands as gifts for each of the little girls coming to my daughter’s birthday party! I will definitely be using some of the tips here to help me do it (as I am not crafty). Thank you!! 🙂
Kate says
July 19, 2016 at 9:45 amOh Dawn, that’s so wonderful! I actually really loved sitting down with a nice cup of tea and making these wands. They are really quite easy to do too! Feel free to send me a picture of one you’ve finished. I’d love to see it if you had the time. Best wishes for the party. Hoping it’s very stress free for you. 🙂
Kat - The Organised Housewife says
July 28, 2016 at 12:07 pmThis is a sweet idea my girls loved wands when they were little.
Kate says
July 31, 2016 at 9:59 pmI had so much fun making these Kat and my little girls adore them.
Thank you for your kind comment. 🙂
trixi symonds says
August 6, 2016 at 10:00 pmI love your wands Kate!! Great tutorial and I’m going to pin and post them up on my fb page.
Kate says
August 7, 2016 at 10:45 pmAwwww you’re so kind Trixi. I’m happy with how they turned out.