Monday, September 27, 2010

Spool's Hand-Sewn Bird Mobile - Part 3

Now that the birds have been finished, it is time to turn them into a mobile!

I played around with the layout on the floor; there are no right answers, only what looks good to your eye.

bird mobile step by step

But there are some things to consider:
  • different birds together
  • different sizes together
  • which birds would be alone
  • where they'd be on the sticks
  • which direction they'd face and
  • how they would balance the mobile once they were in place.

bird mobile step by step

For some of my birds I simply hot glued them to the stick. But for others (below) I added black thread to help anchor the birds so they didn't pitch forward. The added bonus was that the black thread could just look like their little feet perched on the branch!

bird mobile step by step

Next, I added little eye screws from which I will hang my mobile. I was able to just tap them into the wood to start the hole, then screw them in by hand.

bird mobile step by step

I added them in intervals which I thought would give some balance, but when I added the fishing wire to the eyes and tried to make it all balance, it took some trial and error. There isn't a way I can tell you to "get it right", I think you just need to keep experimenting until the balance works for you.

bird mobile step by step

When I was finished, I put a white cup hook in the ceiling and hung the mobile.

bird mobile step by step

It twirls a bit, but for the most part, I haven't had any trouble with it swaying or the birds pitching forward or backward.

bird mobile step by step

And I love the way it looks! It is whimsical and playful without being too goofy and I think it will last for a bit in a little girl's room without feeling "baby-ish" in a few years.

For Part 1 Instructions, click here: Spool's Hand-Sewn Bird Mobile - Part 1.
For Part 2 Instructions, click here: Spool's Hand-Sewn Bird Mobile - Part 2
Link to the pattern doesn't work?  Read this: Michael Fulkerson's Hand Sewn Bird Mobile - UPDATE

18 comments:

  1. This is really beautiful!!!! I am going to try to do something similar in my room! Thanks for the tutorial...

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  2. Your mobile turned out SO cute! I just recently found the pattern on spool's site and plan on making one soon. :)

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  3. Crazy about this!!! I have been looking and looking (and looking!) online for good inspiration photos of birds and twigs hanging from a ceiling for a nursery I'm helping to design. Thanks so much for posting! I'm definitely going to add this to the project list!

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  4. Beautiful! Any child would be entranced by this!

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  5. @ Leila - I'm entranced by this! LOL Gorgeous!

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  6. I can't thank you enough for this beautiful post.
    I did one and it is perfect! now I got all fired up with a project with more, and will send you a pic of it.
    Thanks for your generosity !
    xoxo
    Trish

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  7. Thank you all for your kind comments! And Trish- I can't wait to see what you've made!

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  8. I wanted to make a bird mobile for my first grandchild's room. I had a couple of false starts, and then I found yours. It's just what I wanted. I'm starting it today! Thank you for posting this.

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  9. My lovely midwife is about to have a baby and I've wanted to do something special for her. This is just perfect! I'm going to get started tonight! Thank you so much for this lovely post!

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  10. Thanks, this is s beautiful

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  11. Thank you!!!! This is going to be perfect!!! Do you know what kind of tree your sticks came off of?

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    1. I have no idea!! I salvaged them from a scrap pile after spring cleanup.

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  12. I finished my first bird today...
    Im so excited... i never thought I could sew... thank you for taking the time. I was lost just with the pattern from spool... im a rookie and you explained it so well...
    THANK YOU!

    Mel (Toronto-Canada)

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  13. Thank you! They're awesome! Love them.

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  14. Thanks so much for this! I found spool's site and had made the birds but am trying to put them together on the twigs and needed some tips. did you use 2 cup hooks? It doesn't look like the twigs are actually attached. Are they? Thanks a gazillion!!! Julia, Philadelphia

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    1. Hi Julia,
      The birds are attached to the twigs using hot glue and occasionally some black thread. Then the twigs are strung together with some clear nylon quilting thread. I think you could use fishing line,but I used what I had and the quilting thread is plenty durable, but thinner (and therefore maybe less obvious?) than fishing line. And then the entire mobile is strung together using the eye hooks and hung from the ceiling by a cup hook. I hope that helps. Really I just tried to make it sturdy and keep all of the strings from showing so that it was more whimsical. Hope that helps and good luck!

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