Folk Embroidered Felt Birds

Whether or not you make your own felt or just enjoy stitching, the twenty different birds featured in this book might appeal as characters with a folksy feel. In designing the projects the author, Corinne Lapierre, has combined her love of felt, folk embroidery and birds. The first part of the book lists the necessary materials, tools and equipment required before moving on to the basic techniques for making the birds.This is followed by instructions for the embroidery stitches used in each project. Throughout this section the author adds a series of tips to help the maker work through the different techniques smoothly.

The second part of the book concentrates on the different bird projects. For each bird there is a list of the materials and equipment required followed by step-by-step instructions for making. Cutting templates are also provided at the end of the book. The author points out that the birds themselves are relatively easy to make, but their characters are defined by the colours and embroidery stitches used.

The information provided throughout the book is clearly presented and well illustrated. Each fun project should be achievable for anyone with a basic knowledge of stitch and embroidery.

* Journal of Weavers, Spinners & Dyers *

This book is a delight from cover to cover. It starts by explaining what items are needed to complete the projects and then goes on, in simple terms, to talk about techniques from drawing templates to cutting out the felt, to embellishing with hand sewn embroidery. These stitches are clearly explained at the beginning of the book in easy to follow instructions and photos. There are even simple instructions for making birds feet.

Once this has all be laid out for you, there follows 20 easy to make colourful birds which are so pleasing to the eye! I particularly like the use of sequins on the pigeon to add texture and shimmer.

All of the templates needed to complete the projects are at the back of the book, these can easily be copied or traced as they are so simple.
All in all, a lovely book!

-- Shirley Marriott * Customer review *

A great little book. Every process is clearly described, with beautiful photos and diagrams. Perfect for experienced and beginners alike. The patterns are clear and easy to follow. The birds are beautiful - I love the robin - that will be the one I will make first. All of the templates to make each bird, are at the back of the book, and they can be easily traced, or scanned so that you don't need to damage such a lovely book. 

-- Sue Rowland * Customer review *

What a superb book, the techniques section is very informative and will certainly be a great help for me, a novice embroiderer. The illustrations are bright and clear, fantastic photography. At the back of the book you will find the templates for each of the projects. I can’t wait to make my first bird, which I think will be the peacock. 

-- Sandra Dennis * Customer review *

Folk Embroidered Felt Birds is a beautiful book full of lovely birds to create. The techniques are clear with lots of pictures and step-by-step instructions to follow for the basic creating, then each bird has its own instructions that are easy to follow. I would recommend to anyone who wanted to have a go. Hooray - all patterns are full scale and easy to copy from the book, no upscaling, popping to the library, or giving up and leaving on the shelf.

-- Helen Harries * Customer review *

If you want a book to help you sew felt into beautiful birds... look no further!! The clear photographs and instructions are just so easy to follow. This book would be a lovely present and you could give the person a few felt squares, some thread and let them start creating right away!! Love it!! 

-- Moyra Blayney * Customer review *

Received my book today the projects are lovely and more importantly achievable. I love the fact that the project is all hand stitched. My nieces and I have already picked which ones we are going to do and are off out to get our materials this afternoon. These projects are going to provide many happy sewing hours for us and some great little gifts which we plan to give away as random acts of kindness. Search Press have produced yet another fab book. 

-- Wendy Burt * Customer review *

The square format of this beautiful book makes it feel different and inside it is filled with the enthusiasm of the author for her felt birds.

There are twenty very attractive birds to make. Each of them a pleasing mix of well chosen felt colours and embroidery stitches.

Techniques and stitches used are illustrated with excellent photographs and easy to follow instructions. The hand drawn illustrations add a personal touch to the book. Full size templates are included for each project.

This is a book to make you smile. A clever use of simple embroidery stitches such as fly, seed, chain and French knots are used effectively to give each of the birds their individual characters.

I very much liked the proud peacock, a pheasant with attitude and the trendy flamingo.

Making felt birds is not my usual thing but I could be tempted by my favourite, the hen, whose comforting shape and embroidery really epitomises 'folk art'. 

-- Carol Winter * SEW Region Magazine (June 2019) *

 Time for a book review! And today’s book review is all about fun!

Folk Embroidered Felt Birds is a new book packed full of – you guessed it! – folk embroidered felt birds!

And they’re delightful! If you love birds (I love birds) and you like the look of folk embroidery, and you like working with felt to make three dimensional objects, then you need to add this book to your library.

It’s one of those books that just makes me happy when I flip through it.

Folk Embroidered Felt Birds is a project book. The projects are small, three-dimensional birds made from felt, stuffed and embroidered.

The cover is the seller for me. I know, I know! Don’t judge a book by its cover and all that. But really – a flamingo AND a puffin? With those legs? And those feet?

I see this book being perfect for those who like to make. The birds are perfect for whimsical ornaments and delightful gifts. What a great way to pass on a bit of cheer to a friend on a birthday – or out of the blue for no reason at all!

The book features a fairly vast array of projects focusing on twenty different types of birds, which are all recognizable. From the humble robin, to the pheasant and flamingo, the parrot, the toucan, the gentle dove and the flamboyant peacock, the gangly stork, the majestic swan, the hen, the goose, the owl, the gull and goldfinch – they’re all there, waiting for you to bring them to life!

Like any good project book, Folk Embroidered Felt Birds begins with a section on materials. There’s nothing too out of the ordinary here – felt (the author recommends a wool / viscose blend); embroidery floss; wire (for legs), filling, ribbon, sequins, wire tape, and other very regular stuff.

From materials and tools, we move into techniques: transferring the template designs to felt, to sewing, filling, stuffing, making legs and feet, appliqué, and all the techniques necessary for creating a three dimensional bird.

Every aspect of instruction is presented in very clear, step-by-step photos with text. The text is succinct quite minimal; it’s very precise and easy to follow.

And of course, there’s a selection of embroidery stitch instructions with step-by-step photos as well.

And then – the projects! For each project, you’ll find a list of tools and supplies required to make the bird, along with a list of the templates to use from the back of the book. The templates in the back of the book are clean line drawings of the different bird parts, that you trace and cut out for patterns. Along with the materials and templates lists, you’ll find a page of instructions that take you through constructing the bird, referring to the techniques covered at the beginning of the book.

The projects in the book are all darling! And the instructions are excellent and very accessible. If you enjoy making things and you like birds, folk art, and felt, this book would be right up your alley! I’m pretty sure it will put a smile on your face!

 

See the full review here.

-- Mary Corbet * Mary Corbet's Needle n Thread *

Anybody who cut their sewing teeth on felt will enjoy this book; inside it are twenty folk art style birds to make up and display. If, like me you have loved working with felt since early childhood you will probably want to dive in but if you are new to it read the first section of the book before picking up a needle. This will tell you what type of felt to use (a mix of viscose and wool sold on the author’s website) and how to work with it, do several embroidery stitches, sew up the patterns and make the wire legs and feet. When you have the basics sorted you can progress to the patterns. Each one features a page-sized photograph of the bird in a suitable setting, a list of materials, tools and templates and written instructions. These usually come with a simple diagram or two, but unless you are a total beginner you won’t have problems making them up. The first section lays it all out very clearly with staged photographs, including some excellent ones for the embroidery stitches which are so good I wish there was a whole book of them! I think the family pet could learn how to embroider with these…the birds themselves are mostly those familiar to UK residents including robin, blue tit, heron, swan, peacock, hen, goose, herring gull and owl. A few exotics are included such as a flamingo, toucan and parrot, and many are suitable for certain occasions such as Christmas (robin and dove) Easter (hen and goose) and new baby (stork). At the front is a handy double page spread showing all the birds for easy choice, and at the back are all the templates life size. No sewing machine is required for these projects, and all are ideal quick makes for somebody who knows a few basics but is not confident enough for larger projects including older children (be careful with that wire though). Anybody in more need of something easier can go to the author’s website and buy kits of some of these birds as well as lots of other creatures and Christmas decorations.

Bundles of wool/viscose felt and kits are available from www.corinnelapierre.com

-- Rachel Hyde * myshelf.com *

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You're guranteed to love Corinne Lapierre's latest book, Folk Embroidered Felt Birds! This read contains 20 flighty friends which you can whip up an afternoon, including swans, hens, flamingos, peacocks and many more. This book also has hand-drawn step-by-step illustrations and traceable templates to make embroidering these pretty birdies fuss-free. 

* Sew *

Corinne Lapierre's easy-to-stitch folk birds include templates for a swan, a hen, a goose, a partridge, an owl, a dove, a peacock and a flamingo among others, making this book ideal for beginners or youngsters.

 

* The Textile Art Magazine - Embroide