Today’s project is a sweet velvet bird ornament inspired by an original pincushion I saw on Ebay a few years ago that was too far out of my reach. Since then, Gleekruger shared a similar original velvet bird pinkeep on Instagram. This one was made with brown and cream velvets.
Recently, a friend discovered the original directions for this pretty bird in Demorest’s Monthly Magazine, 1876. I was delighted to see I wasn’t far off. The directions called to make this hanging bird in brown and red velvet, filling it with curly hair and wool.
(Video recorded previously)
Use this template to make your own bird ornament:
If you enjoy birds or want a simpler project, consider this bird ornament from 2017:
My goal is to share a Fancy Work project each Friday through the fall of 2022. Some will be updates of previous favorites. Some will be now projects.
If I Had My Own Blue Box: 
What a pretty bird. Hope to be able to make one!
Thank you kindly for the pattern,
Natalie in KY
Another cute project! That’s great to find an original set of directions for a surviving piece.
A side question–as far as the pin in your shawl, is that a modern touch, or were some historic shawl pins in that “mini hatpin” style?
Thanks,
Kira
That shawl is a modern one. The “pin” is a wooden stick I picked up at a wool shop. It is a handy thing both for loose weave wraps and poking at corners when turning pieces right side out.
Thanks for your reply. I had seen something like that before worn with period clothing, though I wondered at the documentation.
If you ever run out of topics for a blog post (ha!), describing historic types of shawl pins would be great. 😉
Kira