Cute and Colorful Pouches Felt Craft for Kids

To make these cute felt pouches, you will need:

• felt crafting sheets in a variety of colors
• heart-shaped paper punches or paper punches in flowers, butterflies, or whatever shapes you want (Choose punches that make shapes that are approximately 3/4" to 1" in diameter.)
• X-Acto knife or a similar sharp tool that can make a hole in fabric
• kids' plastic needles with rounded tips
• decorative buttons (flower or heart shapes work nicely)
• scissors
• decorative edge pinking shears (optional)
• fabric glue

First, cut felt into a 6" by 9" rectangle to begin making your pouch. Fold a piece about 3 1/2" along the longer edge to form the pouch.

Take your plastic needle and thread it through with some thin yarn or cord to prepare to sew the ends together. (Note: Plastic needles for kids are perfect for grade-school age kids since they are kid-safe and can help them learn how to sew, which is a great way to sharpen those fine-motor skills.)

Next, you will need to make holes in the felt where you want the stitches for the sides of the pouch. This is because plastic needles are not sharp enough to go through felt, and you will need to create small openings with a craft or penknife.

For this pouch, the holes were are 1/4" apart. You can also use more widely-spaced stitches (holes that are about 1/2" to 3/4" apart) and glue the spaces in between stitches to get a secure bond. (Note: widely-spaced stitches may be easier for younger kids to handle.) Kids often store tiny treasures like beads, coins, and small toys in pouches, so it's a good idea to keep the sides sealed tight.

When marking the spots for the holes, be sure to measure from what will be the bottom of the pouch toward the top on both sides so that the holes (and stitches) will be symmetrical on the left and right side when you are done.

Take a sharp craft knife or pen knife to poke small holes where you put the marks along the edges of the felt purse. Take care not to make the holes too large, especially if you put the marks for the holes relatively close together. This part is best for parents to handle; then kids can take over the sewing part with the kid-safe needles.

Your child can now thread the plastic needle through the holes to sew the sides together.

Starting at the bottom of the felt pouch, have your child thread the needle through the holes until one side is finished. Tie off the end.

(Note: When you start at the bottom, you can start by making the stitches so that the starting knot is in the back. If you finish sewing and the end knot ends up being in the front of the pouch, the front flap will cover it so that the front of the pouch stays smooth.)

Next, sew up the other side of the pouch and tie off the end, just as you did with the first side.

Once you have finished stitching up the sides, sew a pretty button onto the spot on the top middle portion of your pouch. The button will serve as the closure for the top flap of your felt pouch.

To make sure the button is centered and in the right place, use a ruler to figure out where the middle is. Then put the top flap of your pouch over the button to make sure the button is in the right place. Mark where your button will go and then sew it on. (Since you will need a regular needle for this, this step should be done by a grownup or an older child who is comfortable with sewing and needles.)

Next, use a pencil or a craft knife to mark the top flap of the felt pouch to make sure the slit in the flap will be in the right place to meet the button perfectly.

To make the hole for the button, take a slit and then put it through the button to make sure it's the right size. (Start small, and then increase the opening if it needs to be bigger.)

If you wish to have a cleaner edge that won't fray, take some thread or embroidery floss and sew a border around the buttonhole.

Use a heart-shape paper punch to make a heart using card stock or other heavy paper. If you don't have a paper punch, simply fold a piece of paper in half and draw a half-heart. When you open it, you'll have a symmetrical heart. You can then use that as a template to make hearts on felt.

Take the paper heart and use it as a template to trace around it with a pencil on the felt. Cut out the heart shape (or whatever shape you are using) with sharp scissors. (This part should be done by a grownup or an older child who can use sharp scissors safely.)

Use the template to make hearts in a variety of colors. You can then use them to decorate the felt pouch.

Next, take fabric glue and glue the hearts onto the front of the felt pouch.

Here is what a heart-shape decorated felt pouch may look like when it's finished. You can make more felt pouches in a variety of shapes and colors with different decorations and buttons. Let your child use her imagination to design her favorite felt pouches.

This felt pouch is a smaller version, decorated with butterflies and a flower button.

To give the front flap of the pouch a little extra pizazz, you can use a pinking shear to create a patterned and interesting zigzag edge.

Here is a perfect summer craft treat—a felt pouch that's been decorated with ice cream cones. Just find something that can help you make a paper template to make circles on felt (a paper punch or, say, the top of a glue stick) and then make a triangle about the same size. Voila! Yummy-looking felt ice cream cones in a variety of colors to adorn a felt pouch.