Bird Pincushion Tutorial

We are in the midst of a bitter cold snap and I felt the need to warm my soul by creating this new pincushion. The sweet little bird reminds me that Spring is just around the corner.

On a recent trip to one of my favorite antique shops - 'Log Cabin Antiques' - I spotted this silverplate gravy boat and knew it would make a great base for a pinkeep. I couldn't resist that lovely, tarnished patina.

You must first decide on a fabric for the bird. I chose a soft brushed cotton/flannel. Wool would work nicely as well. There are many different sewing patterns for birds. I found one on  'Lavender's Blue' site and modified it by printing off their pattern and reducing it on my printer. If your printer does not have this option, any copy store should be able to do this for you.

A 62 percent reduction worked out to be the correct proportions for my base unit (the gravy boat). You may need to increase or decrease this depending on the size of your base unit. My completed bird measures approximately 4 1/4" wide by 2 1/2" high. 

I wanted larger wings for my bird, so I drew a simple pattern for a larger, curved wing.  You will need to cut 4 wings from fabric and 2 from a lightweight cotton batting. The batting is used to give the wings more stability. Place the cotton batting in between the brushed cotton wing pieces and hand stitch around the 'wing sandwich' with a blanket stitch. Using a blind stitch, sew the completed wings to the body leaving the back half of the wings unattached. 

For the beak, cut yellow wool in a long diamond shape. Fold this in half and hand stitch on the fold line to the body. In keeping with the 'art of making do', I used small pearls (that I had on hand) for the eyes.  I simply colored them with a black permanent marker. Other options would be small beads or french knots. Attach the eyes with a strong thread (such as quilting thread) and pull the thread tightly to draw in the eyes slightly and give more definition to the face.

You need to choose a fabric for the pincushion. I chose linen for mine. Make the cushion by cutting a circle of fabric twice the diameter of the opening of your base (my base is the gravy boat).  Sew a running stitch around the outer edge of the circle and pull the thread tails to gather the fabric into a pouch. Fill the gathered opening tightly with polyester stuffing.  Pull the thread tails tightly to close the opening and then stitch the opening closed.

Turn the cushion right side up and place inside the base.  The cushion should have a nice snug fit in the bowl with no puckers or pleats along the sides.

Add some subtle details to the cushion with vintage buttons and corsage pins.

Sew a necklace using vintage lace and adorn with a tiny rosette, buttons, pearls and silk ribbon.

The pouring spout of the gravy boat needed to be filled. A linen rosette worked out to be the perfect solution. If you are unsure how to make a rosette, 'Freckled Laundry' has a nice video tutorial on how to make fabric rosettes.

Cut some leaves from wool and tuck them under the rosette for a finishing touch. Use a few spots of hot glue to anchor the pieces to the base. Now, enjoy your completed pincushion!

I hope that you find this tutorial helpful and would love to know if it inspires you to make one of your own.
 
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A Bird Intervention...

There's a little story to this sweet nesting bird.....

This excavator sat in our yard for some time waiting for parts to arrive to do some repair work. The parts finally arrived and my husband went out to start the repairs only to discover that a bird nesting with three eggs had taken up residency in the engine compartment. There was no way to work around the bird, so the nest had to be moved. 

A neighbor tried moving the nest over to his yard with the hope that the mother bird would find it and continue incubating the eggs. This didn't fly with the mother bird, who spent the remainder of the day frantically squawking and diving around the original nesting area, making her unhappy presence known. The neighbor returned with the nest and my husband came up with Plan B. He placed a ladder against the side of his garage, close to where the excavator was parked.

With a gentle hand, he placed the nest on a board at the top of the ladder. 

Thankfully, the loyal mother bird did return to the nest and continued on with her mission. Two of the eggs hatched and she carefully tended to her babies until they were able to fly off on their own adventures. I love a happy ending!

 While we are on the subject of birds, I spotted this beauty while on a recent drive.

Life is all around us - we just need to open our eyes and take a moment to enjoy the view.

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