Did you know that I worked with parrots for 5 years?
I slept, breathed, and adored the ones I raised, and loved educating people on the ins and outs of life with pet parrots.
I am currently owned by Stryder, the 15 year old White Faced Cockatiel - spunky and sassy, he loves making paper forts on the bottom of his cage, bells, seed treats, pasta, and broccoli. (I feel like this is a dating ad - he's single, ladies!)
We originally thought he was a girl (Arwen), until he had his first moult, and oopsie - lost his pearl markings and thus a boy (and indicator of sex in this particular colouration).
Then there's Rosco, the jerk of a Caique. When I got him 12? years ago, I was only supposed to babysit him for a week for his breeder, and he never went back to her. Caiques are hilarious babies, but from the forums I went on when he was 9 months old onwards - when he turned into Jekyll/Hyde after a traumatic babysitting experience with a, "trusted," friend, everyone had the same Caique issues. He will bomb dive, goes for blood, has attacked another bird, and is a bit evil. But we have a bird room, and he generally respects me and doesn't try to eat me. I let him out while I work in the office next door, and he has a hoot on their jungle gyms, ropes, and even eating food (his favourite hobby).
If he were human, he'd be a gang of one. He does not play well with others.
But he laughs and chatters with the other birds all day, loves his food, and has a good life other than his anger management issues.
Then Merlin. My Merlin. Husband thinks he's his...and Merlin does walk around the house calling, "My Love" in search of Husband on a regular basis. Meh. Interspecies love at its finest.
He's 20 years old. I've had him half of my life. I got him when I was 20, knowing fully well that it would be forever. I'm going to outrock him in 40 years!
Knowing his sarcastic wit, he'll probably do a dance, rap, and then make a sarcastic comment while calling one of the dogs as I pass away rocking.
 |
| Merlin and I almost a couple of decades ago! |
Anyhow, I love costumes, and bird costumes are pretty epic as they are detailed, but well worth the end result!
The Rebecca Page Capetastic allowed me to use my inherited felt stash in a cute owl form!
There's a plethora of ideas added with the pattern, and it's pretty straightforward to follow.
You can make a Dragon, Butterfly, Octopus, Mouse, and do many more creatures for playtime or Halloween!
I used random cotton fabric for the interior that I'd purchased at Walmart during a trip to the USA several years ago - the bird motif felt appropriate.
I love the quilted inside look from sewing on all of the feathers - which is easier than you think! It's a nice therapeutic sew.
The next set of wings I sewed up were the Felt Wings (also Rebecca Page).
You can either get just the Felt Wings Pattern, OR the best value is the Felt Dress Up Sewing Pattern pack, which includes the Felt: Crown & Wand, Animal Masks, Flowers, and Wings.
Again, another pattern with easy to follow instructions and great for playtime or a costume (or if you just like to walk around the house with wings on).
I used inherited felt for this pattern, and they turned out amazing.
The feathers have 4 different feather type options, and I opted for the more feathery shape. The other shapes definitely lean more towards other creatures like dragons, dinosaurs, fairies, and more!
These are much quicker to sew up (less feathers), and attached just on the arms via elastic or ties. Great for those who don't like to be enclosed in a hooded cape.
The interior is made from funky parrot cotton fabric from Fabricville (I also used it in my Andie Anorak), and again the feathers being sewn on leave a lovely quilted design on the inside.
So if you don't mind watching some Netflix while cutting dozens of felt or fabric feathers, the rest of the patterns is relatively quick and simple.
I love these as an adult, and would of loved them as a kid!
These would also make amazing Hallowe'en costumes, especially the Capetastic, as they provide some warmth - at least here it's always chilly, so having a breathable self made costume would be able to truly showcase your little one's costumes without the need for a coat.
Get your Capetastic pattern here.
Get your Felt Wings Pattern here.
Go all out and Get your Felt Dress Up Pack Here.
***Affiliate Links Above used - I love these patterns, and without the help of those who love their patterns, marketing would be extremely difficult for the pattern makers we love and learn to love. Affiliate links help with the hours, fabric, and tears that go behind testing each pattern in order to provide a real-person view on the patterns for you (and me!)
