Enough Birds I Think ........

These bits only really came about this week due to me looking through my bags of scraps to see how I could minimalise it a bit and found two partially cut out birds (again from Nellie's pattern ) .....


and enough strips left over from bowls to make some mini ones (handy to keep by the sewing machine) ,,,,,,,

My husband seems to think that it would be a good idea to make more of these to keep handy around the house for dropping threads into rather than them falling to the floor - good idea in theory maybe but in practise ................... !

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Thankyou for your lovely comments about the bag in the last post - am really pleased with it.

"Chickens"

My parents called in at the weekend and mum said "Ooh, you've made another chicken". Chicken? Who said anything about chicken?

Mum grew up surrounded by pigeon fanciers (grandfather & uncles) so the (rather loose it would seem) significance of the coloured head and rings on the legs. The ringlet on top of the head well here's a picture of me as a baby ............

Her dad was a "Simpsons" fan so rather than a "Homing" pigeon, I called it "Homer". Thought I'd explained this - perhaps I hadn't? Sorting through my bag of scraps earlier I found pieces for two more "chickens" that I'd cut out but scrapped so I.ve decided to make them up too - will post pics when they're done.

I've finished the bag ..............

Thankyou for your comments. I managed to stitch the handle in on the machine albeit breaking a needle in the process but it's probably time it was changed anyway. I've thought of another type of bag that would suit the handle but wouldn't know how to make the bag - thinking cap time!

I changed (covered) the blue silk binding in the end - not because I didn't like it but for ease of finishing. The bias part at the top was part of the seam allowance which I decided not to trim off due to the bulk hence the bias wasn't really wide enough neither did the blue silk lining have enough turning at the top now that there was the extra height so I went with the cotton and a cotton lining - it was easier to work! I think I've achieved what I set out to do so it satisfies a whim!

The reverse - ruffled up with my fingers ..............

The colours in these pics are somewhat different to those the other day - I think the true colour is somewhere between the two.

I always find the differing between peoples tastes and preferences very interesting. Mum loved the cream cushions I made recently but didn't give my bag a second glance!

Another Bird

Someone was disappointed when "Homer" went walkabouts on Mothers Day so I promised to make a similar one. Started back in March and, again, using Nellie's pattern, I have today finished "Homin'" ...........


The wire tail and headress caused some balancing problems with his legs being a bit spindly so I have shortened them a little ............

Meet "Homer"

Injecting some colour into this urban madness ..................

20# wire was much more manageable though perhaps a touch flimsy if the legs are too long - his are a little shorter. See Nellie's blog for her free bird pattern.

Flitting About!

Before Christmas I spent some time looking at handbag patterns and bought this glorious piece of fabric with the intention of using it as one of the fabrics in a bag until my teenage daughter made it qute clear that she wouldn't welcome anything I'd made. On reflection, perhaps if I'd been a little more discreet and included a faux "Primark" label then things might have been different!


Anyway, during that trawl I found a free online pattern for a little bird purse/bag which looked fun, if a little basic and I then found Nellie's Needles stuffed bird tutorial (moving away from bags here). Catching up with blog reading the other day, I noticed Jackie's "Tweets" and remembered Nellie's Tutorial in my favourites hence a lesson in how to waste fabric with the placement of pattern pieces to achieve the desired effect and I now have my own little bird ..............



The other side ...................

"Flitty" was great fun to do even though being able to stand unaided required lots and lots of encouragement!