Incredibly Realistic Felted Bird – American Wood Thrush

Needle Felted Bird – American Wood Thrush

“Jackie Felix needle felted this beautiful bird, an American Wood Thrush as part of a larger work in progress.
She shares that she originally intended to make two felted birds for the piece, but needle felting and finishing the wings took longer than anticipated. She used Living Felt MC-1 Felting Batts in the making of this beauty, and shares more about her process.

NEEDLE FELTING  THIS REALISTIC FELTED BIRD

“The body of this bird was created wingless.

The wings were formed separately with individual feathers assembled one by one to resemble a wing. 

The wings were then [needle] felted to the birds’ body with a fine strip of batting, that was used not only to attach the feathers together, but also to adhere the wings in place.

Feathers, all needle felted, were ironed repeatedly with heavy pressure applied between two sheets of parchment paper to achieve an extremely thin appearance.

Trimming loose fibers continually with a good pair of manicure scissors, in addition to working the felt rather firmly, permitted me to achieve greater detail in all aspects of the piece from feathers to beak.

This was a slow process and did require some time, patience and experience, however it does become easier with practice.

Referring to bird pictures often and paying particular attention to measurements helped me keep this replica true to size and shape.

The legs and feet, are formed over a fine wire armature inserted through the lower part of the body and then simply felted in place.”