Glassenberg - The artful bird: feathered friends to make + sew

for artists and crafters. There are hundreds of varieties of birds, with endless variation in colors and feathers, size of beaks and length of toes, and shapes of heads and tails. People seem irresistibly drawn to the tiny size of birds, the look of wonderment in their eyes, their quick movements and, of course, their ability to fly.

MY BIRDMAKING JOURNEY began when I had my first child and took maternity leave from my job as a teacher, and then decided to stay home full time. I had enjoyed my job as a middle school teacher; I knew I was doing good work, but it was hard work. Being home with a baby was a different sort of hard work. I yearned to use my creative energy, so I began to sew.

I have always been a maker and have explored all kinds of art and crafts, from watercolors to origami, but sewing was always a constant and something I wanted to return to. I began to explore soft toy making in earnest. I searched my local library for books on sewing soft toys and found that most were published in the 1960s and 1970s, but were still informative; through them, I began to learn how soft toys were designed and sewn. I launched a blog (whileshenaps.typepad.com) to record my experiments, and I started to participate in the online craft community, where I learned about Japanese craft books. Despite the language barrier, I sewed up many soft toys from these books, too.

Through many hours of working with other peoples patterns, I gained the skills and confidence to design my own toys. I always began with a sketch, worked with different elements I had been introduced togussets, darts, and underbodiesand developed designs that I loved. I began to sell my work at local craft shows and online and was invited to do a solo show at my library. For that exhibition, I made more than fifty designs, including my first birds. When the show was over, I knew I wanted to keep going with birds. For the next three years, I sewed birds almost exclusively.

I was no longer creating toys; each bird took several hours to complete and some were made with delicate vintage fabrics. To me, these fabric birds are really decorative objects for the home. Beautiful and evocative standing on a mantle or bookshelf, in the nursery, or in an office, each bird is one of a kind and very special. A fabric bird is like a little soul peering out in wonder, keeping you company.

In this book, youll find sixteen of my fabric bird patterns, as well as comprehensive sections on tools, materials, and basic birdmaking techniques that you can use to make any bird. Ive included tips and tricks throughout for embellishing birds and using them in assemblages. Ive also included interviews with four extraordinary fabric-bird artists for added inspiration and a gallery of their creations.

The materials I use to create fabric birds are readily available in most fabric stores. You probably already have most of them, and the few specialized tools I encourage you to invest in will most certainly be useful in tasks beyond birdmaking. A sewing machine, a few yards of colorful quilting cotton, thread, some wool or polyester stuffing, and wire from the hardware store, along with a pair of long tweezers or forceps, will get you started. I know youll enjoy selecting fabrics and color combinations and enhancing each bird to make it your own.

Once youve sewn a few of the birds from this book, I encourage to you design your own patterns for birds. Nearly all of the birds are designed around the same three elementsunderbody, side body, and head gusset. By playing with the shape and size of each of these basic elements you will be able to design your own bird. Delve into fabric birdmaking. I think once you see your first bird come to life you will share my excitement and want to make fabric birds of every variety. ~ abby

These are the materials and tools youll need to make the birds in this book. See project instructions for additional requirements for specific birds. In this chapter, Ill explain how I use these materials and tools in detail.

Tightly woven cotton fabrics, 45" (114.5 cm) wide, such as those used by quilters (I use plain fabrics for bird bodies and colored fabrics and prints for feathers and details)

Wool stuffing (polyester stuffing may be substituted)

Lightweight fusible interfacing

Heavyweight interfacing, fusible on both sides, for flying birds (such as Fast2Fuse Heavyweight brand)

Cotton batting