Handmade Bird Ornament 2012

November 8, 2012 at 5:00 am (Sewing, Show 'N' Tell)
Tags: Christmas, Christmas tree, Decorations, folk ornament, handmade, Holiday, ornament, sewing

A bird in the hand…

‘Tis the season to begin making Christmas tree ornaments once again! Long time readers might remember last year’s fiasco with shrinking a favorite woolen blanket and the resulting Christmas stocking I then made from it. Well, for this bird I used some of the scraps left over from that project. I like that it came out rather folksy looking.

I don’t have a step by step photo tutorial of this one but it is really simple to make. On last year’s Love Birds Wreath Tutorial post I showed briefly how to make a slightly similar bird and there is a link to a bird pattern you can use if you don’t want to sketch out your own.

Just draw out a basic bird body shape on paper and use it for your pattern. Cut out two, sew them almost all the way around, leaving yourself room to turn inside out and fill with stuffing. Finish sewing the body together.

Cut out two wing shapes that go well with the size of the body you just made and blanket stitch around them. (If you are unsure how to blanket stitch I saw a very clear step by step tutorial here.) As this was made from a felted blanket each wing is one layer only… if you are using fabric you will want to use two layers and follow the same process as for the body but don’t stuff them very full at all.

…and one in the bush.

Embellish as your sense of whimsy directs. I added a fabric beak (also blanket stitched), knotted embroidery thread for the tail and for the eyed I used a thin shell bead from a broken necklace with a smaller bead on top.

String some beads together, find the balance point you like the look of best along the back and attach in a loop for hanging. I wanted this bird to look like it was taking off in flight so I hung it so that the head would be higher than the tail.

Hang it up, stand back and enjoy! This little guy will likely be given away for our church women’s ornament exchange (Shhh! But really I don’t think anyone from that group visits my blog ) but we’ll see what else I happen to create between now and then.

Here are some of the ornaments I posted about last year:

Handmade Rabbit Ornament

Greeting Card Ornament 

Commemorative Ornaments

Handmade Scrappy Folk Angel

Salt Dough Ornaments

Snowman Ornament From Lightbulb

Handmade Red Angel Christmas Ornament

Related articles

• Strapped for a Gift? Three Reasons why Christmas Ornaments Never Fail (personalcreations.com)

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Monday:

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