Things are happening in the bird shop!

Good afternoon,

Things have been busy in our little bird shop.  Mr. Bird brought home a cold for me so I've been busy fighting the fog, aka Head Cold.  That's one hazard of being a teacher's wife.  During brief bouts of clarity I've been working away, getting ready for the shop launch.

This is what happens when I get busy!

I've made a few bags from my new favorite owl fabric.  I took an old pattern my grandmother gave me and I adjusted it, removing a decorative panel for a less labor-intensive piece.  I'll still make the original on occasion but I'm happy with the results.  I'm debating adding ric-rac or a ribbon along the top to add a little more jazz.

My felt obsession has been running high lately so I've been focusing a lot of attention on it.  I've been making super cute but simple tissue holders, which I found via Pinterest here.  I've begun to realize something about free tutorials: they don't tell you the secrets of how to really make an item well.  You have to figure that out.  So I changed some of the stitches, made marks to help assure everything was straight.  In future iterations I will probably us multiple thread colors and designs on the felt for added decoration.

Felt tissue pouches

I also discovered these beautiful little felt flowers.  The lack of a sewing machine made them great things to do while in "the fog".  (Just be careful when using the hot glue gun.  I may or may not be implying that Cleo attempted to knock it off the table by jumping on the cord.)  There are an inordinate amount of tutorials online for these babies, but I went with this one, via Pinterest again.  I like regular buttons to fabric buttons and added some extra petals with coordinating colors for added interest.  I don't have backs on them yet.  I can't decide if I want brooch type pins (I'm not a fan of holes in my clothes) or the hair type pins that open like a clamp, which would let someone pin these beauties on their clothes, in their hair, on a purse, it's endless. 

felt flowers

Next, I've made some lovely little lavender sachets.  During my birthday getaway in April we found a lovely little lavender farm in the Santa Ynez Valley in Los Olivos, Clairmont Farms.  It's near some lovely apple stands.  Due to an earlier impulse purchase I had some super soft flannel and decided it was perfect for my sachets.


lavender sachets in cozy flannel



Finally, I tried my hand a some fabric bows.  The burlap version didn't turn out so I have one bow.  Once again I was at the mercy of a poor tutorial so in the end I had to figure it out on my own.  It was a frustrating experience.  I plan to try versions in felt and ribbon so stay tuned.

muslin bow

I'm probably a few more days away from feeling normal again.  I found out about another craft fair next month and am contemplating pulling out of the first, and more expensive fair.  I'm not sure I can make enough product to make it worth my while and the fee.  I have to think on it more. 

My Esty shop will open two weeks from Tuesday! 

Cheers,
this little bird