Cardinals & Tags tree

Click image to enlarge

Designer: Kendra McCracken

It seems everywhere we look in the creative world, we can delight in the bountiful use of birds as design elements. Cute, sweet, whimsical; birds adapt so well to many themes. I was thrilled to see a bit of a different twist on the bird theme with the new Fiskars Cardinal Song Squeeze Punch. I loved the elegance of it. One of the things that gets our family through the winter months is hanging bird feeders on our front porch and watching out the window as the Cardinals feed from them so I know this punch is going to be one of my favorites!

One artist whose work I adore is that of Tone Finnanger. She creates the sweetest sewing projects and there isn't one I see in her books that don't leave me wanting to create one for myself. Her Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle book includes a project to make birds from a variety of fabrics and hang them from a "tree" made from wooden dowels. I adapted this idea, using the Cardinal's Song Squeeze Punch as my pattern, adding in some ornaments with a vintage theme, made with shipping tags as the base, and I hung them all from a few branches I snipped from a tree on our property.

Difficulty rating

Instructions (Print version)

To create the pattern for the fabric birds, I started by punching a cardinal from a piece of scrap paper. I used the negative space as a stencil, tracing it onto a piece of paper with a black pen, and enlarging this outline on my scanner at 400%. The feet of the bird are a little too intricate for this project so, as you can see in the photo, I eliminated the individual toes on my pattern.  Using tracing paper, I traced this pattern onto a double layer of fabric (right sides together.)

I pinned the 2 layers of fabric together. Then I stitched the layers together, right along the outline of the cardinal, leaving an opening right at the base of the neck for turning. I stitched slightly outside the pattern lines along the tail and legs and feet as I found the little bit of excess fabric made turning these areas of the bird much easier.

Next I cut out the cardinal using my No.8 Razor Edge Scissors, leaving a narrow seam allowance of about 1/8". You'll notice in the photo that I left a more generous seam allowance around the opening to allow for stitching the opening closed later. I also cut off the excess fabric at all the "tips" on the bird.

Next is the tedious part! Turning the cardinals inside out takes some patience in the tail and feet area. I found using a plastic crochet hook worked best for most of the turning as the plastic material was gentle on the fabric. Even too much gentle use of metal tools tended to poke through the material or tear the seams. The small hook on the end was helpful in grabbing the bunched fabric and pulling it. In the photo 2 and 3, the hook is pulling the fabric through the opening. In photo 4 it is pushing. I used the stuffing tool from the 12-in-1 Multi Sewing Tool to (gently, gently!) push out the more intricate areas.
After stuffing the birds (again with the aid of the crochet hook and stuffing tool) I inserted a 8 1/2" length of twine (knot tied in each end to keep it from pulling through the seam) for a hanger, and slipstiched the opening closed in the cardinals. Then I added little necklaces using gold seed beads and a "pendant" made from a flat wood bead.

The base of the tags is made by sandwiching a shipping tag between 2 layers of muslin. The tag provides stability to the fabric and acts as a stitching guide. The knit picker in the 12-in-1 Multi Sewing tool worked wonderfully for pulling the twine through the wood beads, as well as through the small hole in the fabric tag when creating the hanger.

I finished the "vintage" tag by handstitching to it some crocheted trim, muslin scraps, wood beads, and a scalloped circle punched from Basic Grey Rooftop patterned paper from their Eskimo Kisses line. I used both the seal of approval (circle) squeeze punch and the cardinal squeeze punch to accent the tag as well. I used a pop dot to help emphasize the cardinal on the tag.

The finished ornaments can be hung on a Christmas tree or used to decorate Christmas presents. Or you can use them as I did to make a pretty winter tabletop display!

Supplies:
Fiskars 12-in1 Multi Sewing Tool 12-59777097
http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/tools/t_12-in-1-multi-tool.aspx
Fiskars No. 8 Razor-Edged™ Scissors 94547097
http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/tools/t_no-8-razor-edged-scissors.aspx
Fiskars Scalloped Punch : Seal of Approval – Extra Large 01-003776
http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/tools/t_sealofapproval-xl.aspx
Fiskars Ltd sqeeze punch: Cardinal's Song

http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/tools/t_limitedsqueeze-cardinalssong.aspx
Other: 1/4 yard of 2 different red fabrics, 3" x 5" shipping tags, 7" x 5 1/2" piece of muslin per tag, plus scraps, crocheted trim, scraps of light blue patterned paper, 1 small package wood beads, 1/2 tube metallic gold seed beads, 1 flat wood bead for each bird pendant, red and brown thread, embroidery floss to match muslin, 8 1/2" twine for each bird and tag