Partidges for the Pear Tree

Yesterday, I got the brilliant idea to make ornaments for my daughter's teachers and aides. The last day of school is tomorrow (Friday). I had an idea to make little birds like I'd seen in a recent image search for felt ornaments, and initially thought that I'd machine sew them in felt and blanket stitch on wings of flannel. After perusing the remnants at JoAnn's, I reversed the idea: flannel bodies, felt wings, tacked on (faster than blanket stitching).

I found a template I liked and modified it a bit. I cut out a dozen bodies in felt and glittered cotton fabric, and combined those with some fancy printed felt. I used felt for the beaks, tacked the wings on with a bead accent, added black sequin eyes, and sewed in a ribbon hanger. Once finished, I added a coordinating feather in the tail. I am enormously pleased with the results.

There are 5 not pictured here. I wrapped them for school tomorrow before I took this picture.

I also made one in brocade for my mother-in-law. The brocade didn't stitch up the same as the flannel, and it wanted to fray much more than the cotton fabrics did. Still, I'm pleased with the result.

They just look so cheerful and happy! They aren't necessarily Christmassy, other than the brocade one, but I love the bright, fun colors. I hope the recipients enjoy them, too.