Friday 3 March 2017

hello and a D.I.Y

hello...after 15 months of silence I wrote a blog post!
Last year we got an allotment and had a great time digging, planting, growing veggies and flowers. I made some little bird scarers (wind socks) to keep the pigeons away from the seedlings. We hung them in the trees and on sticks...I think they did the trick because we had pretty good crops and they brightened up the plot while we were waiting for things to grow. I made some more to hang in trees in our garden and as they were easy to make I've done a quick tutorial so you can make your own. See the steps below...
step 1
step 2
step3
step4
step5



You will need:
one plastic water bottle
felt scraps (for features)
bright coloured fabric pieces and scraps
bakers string
small sharp scissors (to make the hole)
pins, sewing machine, thread, scissors, tape measure

1- cut the plastic bottles into 1.5cm hoops (you will need one hoop per wind sock) the hoop will form the rigid top part of the wind sock, measure the circumference of the hoop and cut out a piece of fabric 2cm larger and approx 18cm deep
2-3  from the felt cut out the eyes and nose, position them on the fabric (right side up) and stitch on (you could glue on if you prefer)
4- cut 4 strips of contrast fabrics measuring 10cm long x 2cm, space them out evenly along the hem and stitch them on.
5- fold the wind sock in half and sew together the two long open edges using 1cm seam allowance. turn right way out and fit the hoop inside at the top. make a hole at each side at the top (through fabric and hoop) and thread/tie some string through to make the hanger. (this also keeps the hoop and the windsock together)
They are great for adding some colour to the garden but you could also make them for kids rooms or nurseries. Hang by the window and they will blow happily in the breeze.
If you are making them for indoors you could use cardboard tubes to make the hoops instead of plastic bottles and you could glue it all instead of sewing. 

Hope all is clear :) I am keeping comments switched off for now just to see how it goes but you can always send me a message on FB or instagram.

Thanks for reading!