Molly's Sketchbook: Felt Aquarium Magnets

Please click here for resource.

This set of 20 sea creature felt-covered magnets makes a great gift for a child or an adult who loves the ocean. The tiny magnet inside each creature is super powerful which makes this a really useful present, a whimsical take on a bulletin board.

Materials

To make 20 magnets:

• Wool Felt Bundle in Dahlia
• 1 piece of Wool Felt in each of the following colors: Black, Ecru, Lime, and Turquoise
• Embroidery Thread in colors to match the felt
• Two 10-piece packages of 8mm Super Magnets (20 magnets total). You can find them here (they are the third item from the top, all the way to the left)
• One 15 x 15-inch light blue magnetic board available online here
• Download and print Felt Aquarium Magnets Template here

Tips for all Magnets

These magnets are all very simple to put together and don't require any fancy embroidery or techniques. However there are a few rules of thumb for all the magnets:

• First cut out the paper template of the shape and then trace it onto the felt as shown above.
• The magnets I suggest above are amazingly strong, which is great, but it means you'll want to put them inside of the shape you're sewing up at the few stitches before you sew the shape closed, otherwise they will stick to your needle.
• Make sure all of your sewing knots are on the back.
• All of the sewing in this project is done with a small running stitch using embroidery thread to match the felt, unless otherwise noted.

Please follow the instructions and diagrams below to put together all the different aquatic creatures.

Clownfish

Finished size: 1 1/2-inches wide

• Cut out the pieces. You will have: 2 fish pieces in one color and 3 stripe pieces in a contrasting color.
• Place and sew the stripe pieces on to a fish piece as shown above.
• Sew both of the fish pieces right sides facing out with the magnet in-between the layers thus encasing the magnet. When you get to the stripes sew underneath them so the orange stitches do not show through on the stripes.

Sea Anemone

Finished size: 1 1/4-inches tall

• Cut out the pieces. You will have: 2 base pieces in one color and 1 ring piece in a contrasting color.
• Tie a French knot in the middle of one of the base shapes using a contrasting color of embroidery thread as shown above. Click here for an explanation of how to tie a French knot.
• Sew the base pieces together with the magnet in-between the layers thus encasing the magnet.
• Cut notches from outside of the ring shape until it resembles a pom pom or flower shape, as shown above.
• Sew the ring onto the base around the inner circle of the ring (you will also be sewing around the magnet on the inside of the base.

Angelfish

Finished size: 1 3/4-inches wide

• Cut out the pieces. You will have: 2 fish pieces in one color and 2 stripes in a contrasting color.
• Sew the stripes to one of the fish pieces as shown above.
• Sew both fish pieces right sides facing out with the magnet in-between the layers thus encasing the magnet.

Coral and Urchins

Finished size: 1 3/4-inches tall

• Cut out the pieces. You will have: 2 coral pieces in one color, 1 small urchin piece in a contrasting color, and 1 large urchin piece in a third color.
• Sew together the two coral pieces with the magnet in-between the layers thus encasing the magnet.
• Cut notches all along the curved sides on both of the urchin pieces.
• Sew the urchins to the bottom of the coral.

Jellyfish

Finished size: 1 3/4-inches tall

• Cut out the pieces. You will have: 2 body pieces in one color and 1 tentacle piece in a contrasting color.
• Sew the body pieces together with the top section of the tentacle piece and the magnet in-between the layers thus encasing the magnet and the tentacles.

Lemon Butterflyfish

Finished size: 1 3/4-inches wide

• Cut the pieces. You will have: 2 fish pieces in one color and 1 spot marking in a contrasting color.
• Sew the spot marking to the front of one of the fish pieces.
• Sew the two fish pieces together with th e magnet in-between the layers thus encasing the magnet.

Parrotfish

Finished size: 2 1/4-inches wide

• Cut out the pieces. You will have: 2 fish pieces in one color and 1 fin piece in a contrasting color.
• Sew the fin on towards the middle of one of the fish pieces.
• Starting from the bottom fin curve of the fish shape, sew the two fish pieces right sides facing out using a contrasting thread color, ending at the top fin curve. Sew over the fin curves with the contrasting thread using a big running stitch to highlight the fins.
• Stick the magnet into the fish shape and sew the head of the fish shape shut using a matching embroidery thread.

Sea Star

Finished size: 1 3/4-inches wide

• Cut out the pieces. You will have: 2 star pieces.
• Sew both star pieces right sides facing out with the magnet in-between the layers thus encasing the magnet. Instead of using a running stitch sew it together using French knots. Click here for an explanation of how to do French knots.

Threadfin Butterflyfish

Finished size: 2 1/4-inches wide

• Cut out the pieces. You will have: 2 fish pieces in one color, 3 fin pieces in a contrasting color, and 1 dot marking in a third color.
• Place the fish pieces together and place the fin pieces on top of them. Sew the fin pieces on through both fish pieces.
• Sew the front of the fish pieces together with the magnet in-between the layers thus encasing the magnet.
• Sew on the dot marking through the top fin.

All Done!

Once you've made all the magnets it's really fun to pose them on the magnetic board!