Birdify

Put a bird on it!

I'm telling you...that saying is addicting.

I've been wanting to make pillows for a long time. They've always seemed so easy to me, and luckily, I was right. The only problem is, I don't own a sewing machine, nor have I ever borrowed one. The good thing is that when I hand sew, I can pay that much more attention to detail. In this case, detail was important, and the thread that I used can only be used while hand sewing.

I went to my Hobby Lobby, the arts and crafts store, and bought a half a yard of this orange and cream design cloth. It's a thicker material similar to canvas so it was harder to thread through, but it will last much longer than a thin fabric. I also bought a quarter swatch of a thinner, plum fabric (I know, I know, in the picture it looks brown) and a skein of cream colored embroidery thread.

After cutting out two 14" x 14" squares (after a few pillows, I realized it's easier to cut out a single 14" x 28" swatch, fold in the middle and sew the edges...I know...duh) I sketched a silhouette of a bird with chalk onto the plum fabric and cut it out with fabric scissors. I then pinned the bird to the corner on one of the orange and cream swatches, and sewed near the edges with the embroidery thread. At first, I was afraid that the edges of the bird would fray, but after burning my fingers multiple times trying to iron the edges over, I realized that is was not worth it. Time has now proven that fraying of the bird is minimal, and almost adds character.

The tree, leaf, and striped pillows were done with the same process. Such an easy way to spice up a throw pillow!    

Craft on, little birdies