Edgar Allan Crow... Beating Burnout part 2

As Part of my plan to beat burn out I decided to do, make, or draw something every week which isn't related to my business, last week I was naughty and skipped class because I was just way too worn out so I decided to use sunday for my making/playing day (after I did my accounts and answered my emails and made some wedding birds)

A pal had brought this gorgeous book, The Artful Bird by Abigail Patner Glassenberg to class previously and I kind of had to buy it! I chose the crow as my first project... probably a bit ambitious really as I haven't really sewn properly for 12 years but I decided to just dive in. The first obstacle I came across was the pattern pieces, they are printed in the book without seam allowance so I struggled adding it on, especially to some of the more complex small pieces, I haven't used a pattern since GCSE so it was a struggle for me.

The next obstacle was the darts for the legs (do I just sew the darts, as indicated? what about the seam allowance) but after that it was pretty much plain sailing... altogether my crow took about 7-8 hours if you include the time to bake the beak which is made from polymer clay. I imagine a more experienced sewer would be faster... or if I made a few more I might be faster too.

All in all I enjoyed making my crow, he's a little wobbly and his beak is crooked  and there are lots of places where I have used sneaky tricks and embroidered bits to hide my mistakes and bad sewing. The instructions are concise and pretty easy to follow but you need a reasonable experience with sewing, I wouldn't recommend this book to a novice.

Edgar Allen Crow is lovely tho, I'm very fond of his crooked everything. I went with bead eyes and changed the wings as I didn't like the way they were in the book and added a little embroidery so he didn't look so very black, he's now gracing our living room, perched next to the Plague doctor's mask we have on display and looking very at home there!

I very much enjoyed losing myself in a project that didn't come entirely from my noggin and I have a feeling that artful bird making is addictive!

Mollie Makes Feathered Friends

A while ago I was contacted by a lovely lady from Mollie Makes Publishers about maybe having some images in the inspiration pages of Mollie Makes new book, Feathered Friends, I of course said yes and sent in my images, signed some consent forms and being a dandelioned brained fool totally forgot about it!

Mollie Makes Feathered friends was published recently and I went to my local Waterstones (where I used to work) to have a flick thru... image my delight opening it up to find my pictures there. There was an ear drum bursting SQUEEEEEEEEEE heard throughout the shop and a lot of giggling uncontrollably (I have no embarrasment) I got a few stares but since my former collegues were used to me being mental they thought nothing of it!

I had to buy it so I took the book home to settle down on the sofa and stroke it and generally bounce happily (don't worry I paid for it first!) but as I flicked thru the gorgeous projects I got another surprise when I found another page with my images on later in the book! And sharing a page with Abigail Brown no less... well there was a bit more Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee going on I can tell you!

The book it's self is fab, lots of great projects ranging in difficulty all beautifully photographed and gorgeous... I shall be trying a few out myself if I ever get any free time! Mollie Makes Feathered Friends is available from all good bookshops and the lovely Mollie Makes folks are offering you a chance to win a copy over at their blog here:
http://www.molliemakes.com/competition/mollie-makes-feathered-friends-giveaway/

Thanks MollieMakes!