Free pattern and tutorial for sewing a felt spaceship toy for children to play with. Step by step instructions with photos. Easy sew soft toy.
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DIY Spaceship and Astronaut Sewing Tutorial
What You'll Find on This Page
My kids loved watching the SpaceX launch earlier this year, so when I knew that I wanted to make a space themed softie for this year’s Sew a Softie event.
I also knew that I wanted to create a highly interactive toy that was still pretty straightforward to sew. My kids and I all love the finished product that I came up with – a space ship with an astronaut who can enter and exit the spacecraft.
Materials for the Project
You only need a few basic materials for this project:
- Felt. You can use nice craft felt for our project, but if you have 100% wool felt that turns out better usually. My sample here is made using wool felt.
- Fabric shears (these cut through felt like butter, unlike many household scissors).
- Paper scissors for cutting out the pattern. Don’t use the fabric shears – paper dulls their blades!
- Needle and thread.
- Clover Wonder clips.
- Sewing pins.
- Stuffing. Fairfield kindly donated our stuffing for this project. Thank you, Fairfield!
- Micron 08 pen for drawing on the face. This is the best option I’ve found for drawing tiny details like this on felt. The ink is waterproof, fade proof, and archival quality.
Download the Space Shuttle and Astronaut Pattern
Click here or on the image below to download your pattern for the felt sewing project.
Cut out the pattern pieces using your paper scissors, then pin them to felt. Cut the felt using your fabric shears to get a nice clean edge. This is especially important for projects like this where the edges are visible in the finished product.
How to Sew the Astronaut
The astronaut body is stitched into the suit. It’s going to stay where instead of stuffing. Don’t worry about catching or not catching the body in your stitches as you stitch around the body.
I used Clover Wonder clips (my favorite sewing tool of all time) to hold the astronaut space suit edges together as I stitched.
I didn’t stuff the body. You could, but it doesn’t seem to be necessary and it’s certainly easier not to stuff such tiny pieces.
Carefully add a face using the Micron 08 pen once the astronaut is stitched together.
Sewing the Felt Space Shuttle
Pin across the bottom of the space shuttle, being careful to catch all five layers of fabric (the two different flames, plus the front and back of the spaceship, plus the astronaut pocket on the front of the ship).
The stitch up the sides of the astronaut pocket. Leave the top of the space shuttle for last since it is easiest to stitch shut after stuffing.
Your space shuttle is now ready for takeoff!
More Sewing Tutorials
Today’s post is part of the Sew a Softie blog hop. Follow along all month for more fun sewing projects!
I hope you’ll share photos if you make our felt space shuttle using this pattern and sewing tutorial!
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MaryAnne lives in Silicon Valley with her Stanford professor husband Mike and their four children. She writes about parenting through education, creativity, and play. Mama Smiles - Joyful Parenting is a space to share crafts, hands on learning activities, and family outings that enrich lives and bring families together.