Little Birdie Rattle

This little birdie pattern was the first thing I learned to crochet. It is really just a ball with wings and a tail. It is super easy to work up and a perfect introduction to amigurumi. The first Christmas after learning, I must have made 50 of these in red, ran a loop of ribbon through the top and called them Christmas tree ornaments and gave them everyone as a gift. Now I mostly make them as baby rattles. A birdie comes standard in my gift basket to new moms or moms-to-be.  I add a couple jingle bells in with the stuffing so they have a gentle, not irritating rattle. I’ve found that the wings are perfect handles for little fingers and Liam still likes to shake his, even at 16 months.

The pattern is available here from BitterSweet Blog. I recommend a couple small changes if you are making this for a baby. First, I crochet pretty tightly, and you need to to make sure stuffing doesn’t poke out between stitches. With the F hook called for in the pattern, my birdie was awfully small, so I went up to a G Hook. Next, for the eyes, I use bigger safety eyes. The smaller ones have smaller backs that can be pulled through the stitches if you try hard enough. I don’t want to be responsible for potential choking hazards, so I use the larger eyes that I am confident are not coming out. You could be extra safe and sew on the eyes with yarn.

I also sew on the beak with yarn, as Liam quickly yanked off the felt I used to use for the beaks. The yarn or embroidery floss stands up to slobber much better, and Liam’s birdie definitely spent a fair amount of time being gnawed on.  Then, as a mentioned before, when I stuff the birdie, I include a handful of jingle bells. The stuffing muffles the bells, so they don’t ring, they rattle. I usually end up including 5 or 6 bells before I think it rattles enough, but that probably depends on the size jingle bells you use.

So there you have it, a cute little birdie rattle that any little one would love. It is soft to hold, good to chew on, and especially fun to shake and rattle. And it is super easy to make and works up in just an hour or two. Just be sure you get those wings attached securely.