The Artful Bird: Feathered Friends to Make and Sew

by Abigail Patner Glassenberg

Overview

Join the flock! Create your own aviary of charming, beautifully detailed, one-of-a-kind fabric bird sculptures with basic machineand handsewing, embroidery, and mixed-media craft techniques. The Artful Bird presents 16 incredibly charming, quirky, personality-filled birds for you to make! Through a detailed chapter of step-by-step basic birdmaking techniques and tips, you will not only learn to make these cute creatures, but also discover how to craft your own patterns for almost any bird--real or imagined.

Inside you'll also find Glassenberg's creative ideas to give each bird individual character and personality, from using paint and glitter to adding collage elements. Plus, check out an international gallery of birds from other noted fabric bird makers for more inspiration!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781596682382
Publisher:	Interweave Press
Publication date:	01/18/2011
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Abigail Patner Glassenberg has been making award-winning soft toys and soft sculptures since 2005. She has made more than 100 birds of every variety, selling them in galleries, boutiques, craft shows, and online. Her work also been featured in magazines, including Cloth, Paper, Scissors, and in sewing, craft, and soft-sculpture books. She lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Tools and Materials

Basic Bird Techniques
Patternmaking
Fabric Selection
Stitching Methods
Turning and Stuffing
Wire Legs and Feet
Beaks and Eyes
Wings and Tails

Projects
Bird in a Nest
Mini Assemblage
Wren
Lark with Round Head
Crow
Quail
Chick
Swan
Woodpecker
Penguin
Large Owl
Owlet
Raptor
Wading Bird
Flamingo
Flying Gull
Hen with Eggs
Peacock

Gallery and Profiles of Contributing Artists
Tamar Mogendorff
Jennifer Muskopf
Abigail Brown
Ann Wood

Resources for Supplies

Glossary of Basic Embroidery Stitches

Index

Editorial Reviews

Named a TOP 10 CRAFT BOOK OF 2011 by Booklist, the publication of the American Library Journal.

"A delightful find... These beautiful birds are ingeniously crafted." - Sew Hip magazine

"This amazing book is incredibly thorough and breaks down the process of making fabric birds in a really accessible way." - Kathleen Richardson, WhipUp.net

"I know that I have raved about various sewing books here before and I love telling you about awesome finds. But I will let you know right here and right now that this particular book is one that you just HAVE TO HAVE! If you even remotely love birds in any way, shape, or form this book will just blow you away." - Small Town Living

"A fascinating book on learning to create three-dimensional birds with a variety of fabrics and stitchwork." - Detroit News

"The Artful Bird is so much fun... I defy you to pick it up without wanting to make a few of your own feathered friends!" - Mark Lipinski, host, Creative Mojo

"Abby's soft sculpture birds are gorgeous, filled with personality and often made with vintage fabrics." - Paige Lewin, CBS Boston

"This is a beautiful book...These birds are so expressive - and with 16 different birds, from a hen+chick to a penguin to a flamingo, there's a project there for just about every 'level of challenging.'" - Austen Gilliland, CanadianLiving.com

"Utterly delightful." - Samantha Cotterill, mummysam

"Quirky poses and personalities make these adorable sculpted birds fun to sew and impossible to resist!" - Crafter's Choice Book Club

"I was blown away by the intricate work that goes into each bird...not only does this book capture them beautifully in photograph, but gives you the opportunity to see how they are made." - Cary Walker, little love blue

"Totally amazing. Each of the birds has a unique personality (I especially love the lark, owl, and flamingo), and Abby's projects are the perfect pick-me-up when you're fighting the winter blahs." - Stefanie Berganini, SewDaily.com

"This book thrills me to bits! Abigail covers everything and I mean EVERYTHING you need to know to make a fascinating and beautiful flock of your own." - Rashida Coleman-Hale, Iheartlinen.com

"The book intrigued me, so I decided to try my hand at bird making...and I had a blast. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I had no trouble cutting and using the pattern pieces, and the directions were very easy to follow." - Barb Delaney, ClothPaperScissors.com

"A book filled with projects for sewing amazing birds from all sorts of different materials." - Tiny Apartment Crafts

"Abby is a wonderful teacher and makes beautiful soft sculptures, which makes for a pretty fantastic author of a pretty fantastic book." – Meg Spaeth, ElsieMarley.com

"This book would give the serious crafter a great foundation for making Artful Birds, but also has the ability to sensibly guide the newbie crafter into being a successful Soft Sculptor." - Connie Kogler, Birds O' The Morning

"A really accessible how-to book on how to make bird sculptures...It's also a great general introduction to making soft sculptures." - Mimi Tsang, ShisoMama.com

"A wonderful collection." - Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood, CraftSanity.com

"If my birds turn out like these, I'll be ecstatic!" - Deborah Schlegel, Art Threads

"Absolutely amazing, right?! You'll also find an excellent section on materials and techniques - very well illustrated and explained. This is definitely a book for crafty bird-lovers." - Jhoanna Monte, OneRedRobin.com

"This smashing crafts book is about making soft sculptures, 16 in all, of different birds, some lifelike, others deliberately fantastic." - Booklist

"144 pages of bird sewing goodness." - Craft Gossip

"The Artful Bird has technique to make a variety of hand sewn birds that would be a swe

From the Publisher