Another cluster of birds

In my recent post Springtime Felt Birds I showed you a set of blue and purple felt birds that I had spent a lovely sunny day making. Well I enjoyed making them so much that I've been at it again and so another little cluster of felt birds have landed.

This time I tried to break my old habit of always seeming to pick from a similar colour palette when I make things and branched out into some more bright sunny primary shades with yellow, red and blue.

I actually really like the effect of the three colours together. When I make these I tend to try and stick to three colours as I think it looks more effective than having lots of colours and textures in the same decoration. Although having said that, maybe that should be my next habit to step away from and see what the finished product would look like!

Springtime felt birds

Spring has finally arrived and with the sun shining at the weekend I made the most of the opportunity to get some bright sunlit photos of a newly finished project - some springtime felt birds.

I love working with felt - it's probably my favourite material because it's so versatile and easy to work with. These little birds are a great opportunity to mix together different colours, patterns and embellishments. The combination possibilities are endless.

The purple flowery material is part of a fat quarter bundle I bought at Hobbycraft a while ago. I think the fabric adds a simple hint of springtime to the birds when combined with the blue and purple felt,whilst the yellow ribbon and sequins provide a good splash of contrast.

The birds are so light that they easily fluttered around in the breeze whilst they hung in the tree.

A little bit of embroidery

At the end of last week I saw a post on the Glee and cakes blog of a lovely piece of embroidery. This reminded me how much I enjoyed embroidery when I finished a couple of small individual motifs a while ago. So I raided the fabric stash for a piece of plain material, some threads and a needle and got going.

You can draw the design straight on to the fabric using washable fabric pencils. Once the design was drawn out it was time to start sewing - picking difference stitch types as I went. I decided I wanted quite a simple look so I chose to use only three colours of thread throughout - blue, white and purple. I also only used four types of stitch - lazy daisy, chain stitch, couching, and french knots.

I really like the finished design and the process of making it. Now just to decide what design to do next...