Little Leather Birds

This pair of small birds is made from leather.
Their head dresses are real feathers. The little ones are molted from the bird who lives next door. The long maroon one was shed from an art sculpture of a lady wearing a feathered hat. Their wings are lined with fabric that is printed with metalic gold.
The male is more colorful with teal on his under tail. Hers is just gold.
They were cut from an artist made leather neck piece. This hand-painted beauty was passed on to me by my friend, Alicia. If you click on the photo you'll see the drawn pattern pieces and that there will hardly be any leftover scraps.
Regrettably, neither of us looked good wearing it. She is getting it back to enjoy it in the form of these birds who will live in the Moroccan bird cage that hangs in her dining room. Shhhhhhh...it's her Christmas present.

A note about machine sewing leather:

• Use a leather OR very fine needle
• Lightly sprinkle talcum on the leather so it won't drag against the bed of the machine.
• Sew with a long stitch so the leather won't tear along the seam. (the head dress feathers are slipped between stitches and secured with a drop of glue)
  

Kristin who left a comment on my last post sent a photo of her fun bird.
I especially like her positioning the eye in the center of the flower. I hadn't thought of making a black beak.