Got leftover fabric and felt scraps? Make a Scrappy Bird Ornament from Melony Bradley! This sewing project is perfect for beginners. These ornaments look great on a tree and can be hung up in the spring, too!
Materials:
- Fabric and felt scraps
- Embellishments
- Sewing machine and thread
- Die cut machine
- Bird with Wings Bigz Die
- Disappearing ink fabric pen
- Aleene's Fabric Fusion
- Stamp
- Solvent or pigment ink
- Fairfield's polyfil fiber stuffing
- Ribbon
Instructions:
- First, you will need to cut two birds using the Bird with Wings Bigz Die and the BigShot Machine. I used felt from National Nonwovens.
- Use the pattern provided in the patterns section of the magazine, and trace one wing on the fabric you will be using. I used osnaburg since it has a nice raw look to it. Use a disappearing ink fabric pen to trace.
- Use the die and smaller pieces of a wool felt to die cut a small portion of the birds head. You will need the beak piece so be sure to get that onto the felt.
- Cut off the beak piece and glue it onto the whole bird die cut using Aleene's Fabric Fusion.
- You will need a "back" and a "front" piece so make sure you do not glue them to the wrong sides of the bird shape.
- Next, use solvent or pigment ink to stamp a holiday sentiment to the one side of the wing. Heat set this with an iron on a low-medium setting.
- Now its time to sew the pieces together. Start at the bottom of piece and sew with a straight stitch and a contrasting thread. You will sew 3/4 of the shape, leaving a small slit open for stuffing. Sew in a free form fashion. The point of these birds are the really scrappy look. Sew about 1/4 or more from the edge. Your fabric will begin to slightly unravel, adding to the scrappy look of the ornament.
- Lightly stuff your pieces using a small amount of fiberfill stuffing. I like Fairfield's polyfil fiber stuffing because it's soft.
- Just a couple of more steps to completing your scrap savvy bird. Once you have your stuffing in place, use the sewing machine to sew the opening closed. Cut a 6" piece of ribbon and glue it to the bird with Aleenes Fabric Fusion. Double over the glue the ends to the front of the bird ornament.
- To finish, use the fabric glue to glue the stuffed wing to the bird over the ribbon ends to hide them. Glue on assorted embellishments such as old earrings, buttons, etc. Glue a 6/0 pebble bead to the bird for the eye.
