Hello crafting friends! Tomorrow is October 1st and I'm getting ready to decorate for Halloween this weekend. I love Halloween! Usually I spend more time decorating the inside of my house than the outside but greeting those trick or treaters with a little fun is important too. Last year I used my free bat pillow pattern to cut out some big felt bats. I hung them up around my garage and I think they turned out so fun that I'm hanging them up again this year. Such an easy way to decorate! Want to make some too?

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Outdoor Halloween decor - felt bats

How to make Big Felt Bats for Outdoor Halloween Decor

Instructions

1. Pick up some felt. You'll need to buy black felt by the yard. I found mine at my local Joann. 1 yard will be enough to cut out about 6 bats if you plan it right. 1/3rd yard will be enough for 2.

2. Download my Free Bat Pillow pattern. Print the pattern and tape it ttogether. The pattern and instructions to assemble it can be found in this post.

3. Cut out the paper pattern! As you cut out the pattern you will notice that the ends of the wing tips don't quite come to a point. You can make them pointy as you cut them. I also have a revised edition of my pattern (for sale) that has the points on the wings fixed if you'd like to purchase that one instead. It also comes with 2 smaller sizes and instructions to sew detailed wings.

4. Cut the bat out on the fold. As you can see the pattern is designed to be cut on the fold. To make sure you have enough felt, refold the fabric to the width of the printed pattern. Position the pattern piece on top of the fabric so the fold line marked on the pattern is aligned with the fold of the fabric. Make sure you will have enough room on the fabric to cut out the rest of the bats.

5. Hang up your bats! I found that a bunch of pea sized pieces of sticky tack were enough to hold them for the 2 weeks we had them up. We have a lot of rain and humidity here in Florida and it seemed to hold up just fine. If you make these, let me know what works for you.