diy {bird wings…tweaks}

Thanks for all the comments on the new blog design and FireCracker’s wings. I mentioned yesterday I would share my version of the wings today. I am not going to share the base tutorial because that is the creative work of someone else.

So to begin, you will need to visit Erin’s site for the full tutorial..click here to view it.

Here is what my finished wings look like from the back side.

And close up.

You’ll notice on the original tutorial there is only one piece of fabric for each wing, so when you are looking at the front side you see the stitching. Knowing I can’t sew very pretty, I knew I would want the stitching covered up. So I…

1. Cut two pieces of vintage sheet fabric for each wing. The insides facing eachother. I folded and stitched down the 3 edges of all 4 wing pieces for a more finished edge.

2. I started from the bottom and worked up adding my scalloped feathers. For the felt I used the Geranium pack from Benzie Bazaar – it is gorgeous felt. For the fabric scallops I just used random fabric I had on hand that coordinated with the felt. I did add some stitching so they don’t unravel too much. All my stitching and cutting was wonky and messy.

3. Once I finished adding the feathers, I joined the front and back sides of the wings together with some trim made from an old sheet. I also added trim to tie to her wrists and neck. However, once she put it on, the wings were too heavy for her and it hurt her neck. So I added a long pink ribbon. The middle of the ribbon was stitched to the middle of the top trim. The ribbon is long enough to go over her shoulders, under her arms and tie in the back.

I also thought she needed a little feather headband. The idea was for it to be like a bird, but it more like a headdress. Oh well, she liked it.

To make the feather crown…

1. Cut the felt into feather shapes

2. Stack the feathers until you get the design you like, add some fabric & lace for the tie

3. Without moving your design much, hot glue all the feathers together. If they are all glued top to bottom, they should stand up fine when worn.

4. For the band I folded lace (an old curtain). On the inside fold I glued the feathers down and then glued the top side down too,

5. I added a strip of fabric to hide the color peeking through the lace. I just dotted some hot glue in a few places for it all to stick together. Easy Peasy.

My little bird has a lot of spice mixed in with all that sugar!

Thanks Erin for such a great tutorial. These were so fun to make!!