Love Sewing magazine is chock full of gorgeous sewing project ideas. Blogger network member Amy from Boldly Gold had a go at a super cute bird bookend project from a recent issue.
I like to think of myself as a bit of a jack of all trades when it comes to crafts, but my favourite and the one that gives me the most pleasure is definitely sewing. I love planning out projects, researching patterns, discovering new techniques and this task is definitely made easier when a great magazine like Love Sewing arrives through the letterbox. Each month's issue is absolutely packed full of tutorials, fabric recommendations and interviews from some of my favourite sewing bloggers. There are so many projects to choose from but I wanted to start with something that would be a great stash-busting activity, so I decided to use the bird bookends pattern!
The tutorial suggests that you make two and use them as bookends, however I only had enough felt on hand to make one. Thankfully, not only does the end result make cute bookends, it also works spectacularly well as a door stop! This one is currently propping open my craft room door.
It couldn't have been easier to make, and even if you're not the sewing type this can be put together with fabric glue. The fiddliest bit was cutting out all the pieces for the floral design but this was an easy enough job to do whilst watching an episode of The Great British Bake Off. Putting the pieces together was incredibly straightforward: You sew the front and back body pieces to the base, leaving an opening for the filling, and then attach the floral design pieces using either hand stitching or craft glue. I used dry rice to weigh my bird down (not something I ever thought I would have to say) and then stuffed the remainder with toy filling. The hole is then sewn up and after attaching a button for the eye, you're done!
I'm really pleased with my bird door stop, but I won't be putting the magazine away just yet! There's a fantastic article by Alison Smith MBE on drafting a pair of trousers which will be immensely helpful when I actually attempt to do such a thing. My next project will be using the free Simple Sew pattern for a gilet which came with the issue. I think it will make a fantastic layering piece for autumn. Hopefully I'll manage to make my way through all the projects from this magazine before next month's issue is released!
If you, or someone you know, are handy with needles, thread and fabric, and are looking for some new project inspiration, a subscription to Love Sewing magazine makes perfect sense!
