Catnip Birds

 

My catnip toy birds have evolved over time from tiny sparrow sized to the longer types seen here.  These are made with felt wings and tail, polar fleece bodies and 8mm black bead eyes. The faceted beads give off more sparkle than the smooth sided beads so I get those for most of my cat toys that require eyes. 

 

The size of the bodies is a standard 6 by 6 inch square, with the 'stretch' part of the fleece running from side to side, not front to back. I round the top two corners so the bird body doesn't turn into a rectangle, sew the crest on the head, add a tail, lay on the heart shaped wings, sew those down, turn, right sides together and add a triangular beak using a 1" square of black felt (folded on the diagonal and trimmed to a point), stuffed, and the rear end has the fabric folded inside to make a sloping closure down to the tail base on the underside.  Eyes are added last. 

 

The size of the birds doesn't need to be long and slim, short birds can be done as well but the wings would need to be smaller and the tails done shorter.  They don't need feet or anything fancy added on the wings.