No Sew Fabric Bird Mobile Tutorial

I mentioned yesterday that a customer’s request got me thinking about baby nurseries and bird mobiles.  I did a little research on “bird mobiles” and was totally inspired to try one  myself.  I wanted to figure out how to make one, also, that doesn’t require a sewing machine.  I realize that some people just don’t have that option, so I wanted to give a “no sew” fabric bird a whirl. Here’s what I came up with:

mobile with words

Supplies needed:

  • Some thick “sturdy” fabric.  I used a damask tapestry type fabric for yesterday’s birds.  Today I used this beautiful, thick cotton with embroidery on it.  {I wish I could have bought yards and yards of it.  I love it so much!}  I bought a 1/4 of a meter, but used only a small portion of it for this project.  I didn’t wash the fabric first, as I wanted it to be as stiff as possible.fabric
  • Burlap (a tight weave works best.  Washing burlap and drying it in the dryer makes the weave slightly tighter and easier to work with.)
  • Heat and Bond
  • Cream colored canvas for tail feathers
  • Cotton thread
  • Heavy duty needle
  • Accessories of choice
  • A twig from your yard
  • Fishing Line
  • Small hook {to screw into the ceiling}

To Make the Birds:

Iron on a strip of heat and bond 4 inches wide to the underside edge of your fabric.

heat and bond

Following product instructions, peel off the top paper layer of the Heat and Bond.

peel back paper

Fold the fabric over and iron again so the heat and bond becomes the middle of the fabric:

fold and iron

pin

Pin your bird pattern securely to the fabric and cut around it.  I used this bird as my pattern:

pattern

{I tried desperately to figure out how to make it printable for you, but I can’t seem to make it work.  Sorry.}

Continue with the other 4 birds.

cut all birds

DSC_6036  DSC_6037

Cut out 2 burlap wings for each bird.  Tear a strip of cream colored canvas 1/2 inch wide by 36 inches long.  (This will be enough length for 2 birds’ tail feathers, and you will probably find that is a real generous amount.)

white loop fabric

tie threads

cut threads

position feathers

positioning feathers

Using a hot glue gun, glue down tail feather ends, placing a small dot of glue to adhere each layer.  Position and glue tail feather loops to your preference, and glue burlap wing over the top of the tail feather ends. {Sorry, I can’t photograph and glue gun at the same time!}

all accessories

thread

looping thread to hang

Once the thread is attached, lift up to see if the bird hangs straight.  You may need to adjust the placement a few times before it hangs correctly.  Do the same with all 5 birds.

To make the Mobile:

Wrap the threads of each bird around a twig in whatever pattern and length you choose.

wrap thread

  Attach fish line to either end of twig and attach to a hook placed in the ceiling.

small hook

In our case, I hung it in the strange “pass through window” between our kitchen and living room.  I wanted to stage this in a cute nursery, but alas, it’s been 13 years since we’ve had anything remotely nursery-like in our home!:)

 

So there you have it, an easy peasy Shabby Chic Bird mobile…

mobile towards lr

{P.S.  I also think these itty bitty birds would be cute Christmas ornaments or gift wrap decor.  Different colors and patterns of fabric would also give them a totally different look.  Wouldn’t denim and burlap be cute for a little baby boy??…or a funky paisley pattern in bright colors for a teenage girl??  Oh…the possibilities!}

Linking Up:  Funky Junk

Similar Posts

DON’T MISS A THING!

Join my list for more ideas for you and your home…

2 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.