My Wee Bird Tutorial ~ Ready At Last!!

Hello my dear friends,

at last I have finished the tutorial for my wee bird! It has taken me so much longer than I thought it would but sometimes things just don't work out the way we would like them to.

You will need the following:

- Fabric

- Needle and Thread

- Cotton stuffing/fibre fill

- Black embroidery thread and needle (for the eye)

- Some old book pages

- Small piece of cardboard  for the wings and tail 

- A piece of wire about 10cms long

- Glue - instant grip glue

- Modge Podge and foambrush

- Acrylic paint and brush (I chose a darker brown for the beak)

- Scissors

- Pencil

- Cardboard to make the pattern templates

- Ink pad in a brownish color and little rag

Let us start!

Print out the pattern page and make yourself cardboard templates.

Place your body piece onto the wrong side of the double folded fabric and trace. (I sew almost everything I do by hand, so I do not cut out this piece just yet but wait until I have seen the first seam - if that makes sense?!) Trace the chest piece onto a single piece of fabric and cut it out.

Sew the top seam of your bird's body first using a 3mm/1/8" seam allowance inwards from the line that you have traced onto your fabric - this line is the cutting line.

Then attach your chest piece to the body pieces (this can be tricky some times) and sew almost all the way around leaving a small opening to stuff your wee bird.

Now carefully stuff your bird - not too firmly though and sew the opening closed.

The next step is to glue your book pages to your cardboard, trace the wing and tail pieces and cut them out. I like to trace my pattern on the plain side of the cardboard, that mean you don't mess your book page side up.

Using a small rag rub and age the edges of the wing and tail pieces and let dry.

Each wing and the tail have two pieces - glue the smaller piece of each part on top of the larger one. Then them dry and then slightly bend the wing and tail over a pencil or your finger so they become ever so little rounded. This will help them stick to the body better.

Now back to the body. To make the beak, pinch the front of your wee bird flat and using needle and thread sew a few stitches to keep the fabric in place. Knot the thread off and cut it.

Now you have to give your wee bird sight!

With your pencil mark where you would like the eyes to be and using the black embroidery thread, stitch from one side of the body, through the body and let the needle come out on the other side on your pencil mark. Then stitch through the head from one pencil mark to the other making a small stitch. Go back through the head again to the first side making a small stitch yet again. When doing this pull your thread slightly to make an little indentation on both sides of the head. Now make a french knot on either side of the head. When you are done go down through the body and cut the remaining bits of thread off.

To make the feet for the little fellow, take your piece of wire ( approx 10 cms long) and wrap it around a paintbrush handle or a knitting needle to form a small spring.

Sit your wee bird down with the spring slightly infront and partially under him and attach with a few stitches either side of the spring.

Using the above photo as reference glue your wings and tail to

your bird's body with instant grip glue and let dry. And now ...

... your wee bird is finished!!!!

All you have to do is find him a home (maybe a little nest made from a old sweater that has been felted?) and even a little friend!

And last but not least ...

...you could make the wings and tail from fabric if you like for a different look. I will make a wee bird this way soon and show you it in a future post.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial of mine. I work very hard to make sure I try and explain everything as good as I can so everybody will succeed with their creation.

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

Felted Nest Tutorial and A New Wee Bird

Hello my dear friends,

I have been working hard these past days  making this tutorial on how to create my felted birds nest. This is a general tutorial, meaning that the outcome of each individual piece can/will be different. It depends on how much lambswool content your sweater has, how long you work with your piece, how hot the water is and how you dry your piece - all these factors have a big role in how big your nest will be and the overall look of it.

 

This is what you will need to make the nest:

 

 

- Old lambswool sweater (mine was 100 % lambswool)

- Three different textured types of wool

- A large, thick needle

- A strong thread and sewing needle

- Scissors

- A ruler

 

 

I chose different textures and shades of brown for my wool, so the look that you will get isn't too uniformal and more realistic looking. You are trying to achieve the look of branches, twigs and other things that you would find in a real nest.

 

 

Depending on the length of the sweater arm you use, your nest will either be larger or smaller. Whilst you felt your piece it will shrink and also during the drying it might shrink a bit more, it really is something you cannot control very much. For the nest, cut off the cuff on one of the arms. For a larger nest, cut a length of about 11 inches for the arm and for a smaller nest only use about 8 inches of the arm.

 

 

Using your strong thread - I used upholstery thread - sew a running/gathering stitch about 1/4 inch along both ends of the piece of sweater.

 

 

Then pull the thread tightly at one end, knot it off and cut the ends. ( If the arm isn't the same width on both ends use the smaller end for the inside of the nest)

 



Pull the thread tight and knot it off at the other end of the tube and stuff the seam allowance inside the tube (this is the bottom outside of the nest), but do not cut the thread yet.

 

 

Push the one end into the tube forming a sort of bowl shape and sew it together in the center going through both layers of the sweater, knot it off and cut thread.

 

This is what your nest should look like so far.

 

The next step is to embellish your nest. Cut a long strand of one of the wools and using your large, thick needle sew a running stitch around your nest.

 

When you get to  the top of your nest, stitch over the edge with your wool. Now using the other types of wool do the same. You can use a much or as little as you would like, it's all up to you.

 

You are looking to make you nest to look natural and rustic, something close to the real thing.

And now the work really starts ...

How to felt...

You will need:

- A sink or pail

- Hot water

- Liquid dish soap

- Rubber gloves

...and good old elbow grease!

Fill your sink/pail with hot water high enough to cover your nest and put about 1 teaspoon of liquid dish soap in. (Please be careful because the water has to be hot, but not too hot that it will burn you so don't use water that has just boiled!!)

 

Drop your nest into the soapy water and start working it - don't forget your rubber gloves! You can almost do anything to it - kneed it, rub it against the bottom of the sink/pail or work it between your hands. You need to agitate the wool to make it turn into felt. Every so often take it out of water and check how it looks. You can also run it under the cold tap in between - this will help the felting process - and then return it back into the hot water and work it again. It takes me about 30 minutes to get the result I am looking for.

 

Once you like the look of your nest, take it out of the hot water and rinse it under the cold tap. Now you just have to dry it. I normally put mine on top of the heating outlet in  my dinning room and let it dry over night. You could also use the tumble dryer, but that would end up costing too much just for one nest. If you would like it to stay a certain shape then you can scrunch a piece of newspaper into a ball and stuff it into the nest, if doing this you cannot use the dryer - fire hazzard!!)

 

 

 

Your nest is done and if you like you can add a few feathers for a more realistic look. Now the only thing for you to do is find some little eggs, a wee bird or another little critter to place in it!

 And last but not least ...

 

 

 

 

I designed this wee fellow a few days ago with the thought of another tutorial for you, but I am not too sure whether or not I like the way it turned out. What do you think?? Please drop me a line and tell me your thoughts on this little bird!

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.