Friday, June 07, 2019

{ Sewing Day - DIY Bird Seed Catcher and Cage Cover }

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As we go through our lives, there are lessons that we learn, from different family members.  Talents are tapped into and new skills are acquired.

By far, one of the best skills I was taught, was sewing, and I can thank my beautiful grandmother for that.

You've no doubt read my many posts about not only my grandmother but her being a seamstress, teaching me all she knew and so forth.

But back to today......

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I don't get to sew near as much as I wish I did.  I just don't have the time, and if you've ever sewn, you know that sewing is one of those things that you can't just do for 2 minutes and move on.  There's so much involved, so it takes a while.

But today I had no prior commitments outside the house, which meant the perfect time to pull out the good ol' sewing machine and work on something that I've been trying to make for a long time.

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The very first thing I made was this bird seed catcher.

I love the birds, but goodness they are messy and I'll often find bird seed strewn all around, which means constant cleaning and vacuuming of their area.


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I didn't have a pattern, merely an idea of what I wanted to do, and scraps of material laying around.

I grabbed random pieces, patchwork sewed them together and there ya go.....super cute bird seed catcher which looks really adorable.

Now the next part was creating some sort of cover.

Up until now we have been using an old sheet to cover them at night, but that is neither pretty nor practical, so I've been meaning to make a cover for the cage.

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Again, no pattern, just the idea in my head, assorted fabrics and a lot of praying.  Haha

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My main idea was to have a cover that stayed on the cage all the time, but didn't keep it completely covered because the birds enjoy being uncovered during the day.

I didn't know how I was going to make it, or what exactly to do.  So I just picked the fabrics, roughly measured the dimensions of the cage front, sides and back and pretty much started sewing pieces together.


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It is nowhere near a clean and perfect sewing project.  I still need to sew some hems on the edges of the front and back panels, but I am SO SO happy with the way it looks.

It stays on the cage and doesn't need to be moved off at all.

The side panels I actually made to a length where they fit right into the bird seed catcher, so it keeps them from flapping about.

The back and front panels, I sewed in some simple flaps so that I can roll them up and tie them out of the way during the day.

I did spend a couple of hours working on it but it just felt like the time flew by, and I loved every second of being at the machine and hearing the whirring of the needle sliding through the fabric.

Sewing for me is like crocheting, it's therapeutic and calming, and of course knowing that you are making something with your own hands, is the best feeling in the world too.

I hope you enjoyed my little bird cage project.  I plan on working on a few more sewing projects I have in mind, and will be sure to share them all with you :)

Before I leave, I just wanted to let you know that I've updated the food blogger template, and also put up a recipe for a super easy and delicious 𝓱𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓪𝓭𝓮 𝓫𝓻𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓿𝔂.  You can find the recipe over on the blog, go check it out :)

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1 comment:

Dawn Marie said...

That's so cute and what a good idea. I have a bird that is always leaving bird seed all over the floor. I hate to say it but I haven't used a sewing machine since 8th grade Home Economics class. I used to use my mom's all the time when I was little. She taught me. I only ever hand sew now and not very often, only when something needs fixed. It's definitely a lost art, for sure. I recently taught my daughter how to sew with a kid-friendly sewing kit my mother-in-law gave her. She had fun. Hopefully that's something we can continue doing together.