Handmade Feather Tutorial

Handmade Feather Tutorial

You know when you find a blog that just sucks you in and you dive deeper and deeper into it and then completely and utterly fall in love with the content? Well that is what happened to me when I happened on Blue Sky Confections last week. I was sucked in mby a handmade feather wreath she had made and thirty minutes later I hadn’t left. I begged Jenn to share with me and YOU how she made these gorgeous handmade feathers. Check it out! Isn’t that just gorgeous? Please welcome Jenn with her handmade feather tutorial!

bird and feather wreath

Hello, I’m Jenn K. from Blue Sky Confections here to give you a simple tutorial on making handmade feathers. First let me start out by saying how thrilled and grateful I am to be guest posting on Infarrantly Creative! This is my first time ever to guest post so…thank you Beckie for giving me this opportunity. Somebody pinch me!

So here goes. I’m going to do my best to show you what I did to make feathers. Today I’m showing you using embroidery floss.

handmade feather

This crafty goodness was actually a happy accident. I was trying my best to make a hot air balloon decoration for my sons room out of yarn using liquid starch, a balloon and a wire frame that I had created. Because the project was taking me much longer than anticipated I had to stop about half way through. The first part dried, the balloon shrunk, and I was left with deep disappointment. I had failed and the project sat unfinished for weeks. I finally decided to cut the yarn off the frame thinking that I might make a fabric cover for the wire frame. As I was snipping I saw what looked like gorgeous feathers but because the wire was smooth the yarn would not stay put.

Supplies:

Cloth Stem Wire – Very important to have the “cloth” variety. You can find this in the floral section of your local craft store.

Liquid Starch – This is what makes the magic happen

Wire Snips

Glue Stick

Sharp Scissors

Yarn, Embroidery Floss, Bakers Twine or even Jute

Using your wire snips cut the cloth stem wire to the desired length and apply glue to one end

• Begin winding tightly starting about a half inch from the end
• Once you reach the end begin winding back all the way to the other end of the wire
• Before you reach the end apply more glue wind all the way to the end and then back about a half inch

Once you’ve wound to the end and back about a half inch snip the floss and glue in place

• Cut several pieces of floss about 3 inches long
• Begin single knotting each piece of floss starting about a half inch from the end (that portion will be the stem of the feather)
• Follow through all the way to the end
• Pour some liquid starch in a shallow container and submerge
• Once fully soaked gently squeeze excess starch out of the floss
• Lay out on a piece of plastic (I used a kitchen trash bag) shape with your fingers and let sit until completely dried. Yarn will take at least 48 hrs. Floss and bakers twine dry in about 24 hrs.

So now that you’ve got your feathers made take your sharpest pair of scissors and trim to desired shape and dimensions.

You can use these little lovelies in wreaths or…

feather wreath

…make some really stunning garland for Christmas or anytime of year. They could be used in your table settings or even make really long stemmed feathers and add them to a flower arrangement or wedding bouquet.

Smaller versions can be used to make jewelry, like these earrings I’m in the process of finishing that were made using bakers twine.

But don’t stop here. I’ve got some more feathers drying that I plan to make into hair picks and maybe even a necklace.

Color options are endless. The feathers below are two shades of coral but the photo is making them appear more red.

coral feathers

Experiment with your feathers by adding a pattern using paint pens. I applied a chevron pattern, by hand, using a gold leafing pen. Don’t you think these would make beautiful earrings? I’m picturing them worn with an off the shoulder summer dress, hair pulled back with a bit of a sun-kissed glow.

Again I’m thrilled to have been able to guest post for Beckie!!! Thanks again for the opportunity!

Isn’t that amazing? Thank you Jenn for sharing on IC today! Okay ladies now hop on over to Blue Sky Confections. I will give you a little kick to get you started in that direction…

BLue Sky COnfections

Original article and pictures take www.infarrantlycreative.net site