Embrace the traditions of Día de Muertos and honour your loved ones who have passed by making a felt Day of the Dead skull in their favourite colours. These embroidered calaveras are an easy sewing craft for beginners, and they’re so fun to make!
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Get our free printable felt sugar skull pattern:
The link and picture below will take you to our free, printable felt sugar skull pattern! The PDF file will open in a new window. Then simply print the template on 8.5 x 11 (letter size) printer paper.
»> Felt Sugar Skull Pattern «<
What size felt sugar skull does this pattern make?
These felt sugar skulls are 3-1/2 inches tall and 2-1/2 inches wide. But you can make them smaller or larger by scaling the pattern before printing!
How else can I decorate my felt sugar skull?
All of our sugar skulls have the same eyes, nose, and mouth, but everything else is different. It’s really fun to create different looks for the calaveras, using the 4 types of felt decorations and different embroidery designs. Besides seed beads, which we used here, you can use different shapes of beads, sequins, rhinestones, gems, and/or buttons. You can also add pieces of lace, rickrack trim, or even make textured lines and shapes with puffy paint. You can also add more embroidery details, like a French knot, a fishbone stitch, or a woven wheel stitch. There are no rules for how a sugar skull should look, except that they should be symmetrical. So if the left cheek has a decoration, repeat it on the right side. You can play around with this by adding the same shape or design, but in a different colour.
What can I do with my Day of the Dead felt skulls?
These little skull decorations are quite versatile. They’re a cute soft toy on their own, but you can also turn them into keychains, magnets, brooches, or pins. Attach a thread or ribbon hanger to turn your skull into an ornament. Or they can also be connected into a garland and used as a party decoration. You can even transform these felt Day of the Dead skulls into a statement hair piece by attaching them to a barrette or headband. Turn them into a scented sachet by added dried flowers or herbs in with the stuffing. And, of course, these skulls make a great addition to an ofrenda (Día de Muertos altar).
Make these bright and bold felt sugar skulls in all different colours and designs! This Day of the Dead craft is a great way to use up small pieces of felt, and these felt skulls also make friendly and fun decorations for Halloween.
Here’s even more felt craft ideas:
Felt Llama Pattern
Easy Felt Cactus Pattern
Felt Monster Pattern
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
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