Here are the amazing 4th grade Crazy Birds!!
Some of you have seen the progress of my soft sculpture/sewing project on Facebook & Twitter. I've had many questions, and have tried to answer them the best I could in those formats. I thought I'd do a blog post...where I can hopefully share a bit more information & answer any questions you might still have! If not...as always...please feel free to ask me anything!
My students start by selecting the color of Smart-Fab they want for their bird's main body. They fold that in half(you will need to precut if you get a large roll). Then they will use the fold as one side of their bird...and draw a desired simple shape...triangle, oval, rectangle, circle all work well. This will allow one less side to sew...which is a good thing(TRUST ME!). Regular classroom scissors cut through it pretty well. They then sew the the rest of it together using a large plastic needle and yarn (color of their own choosing). Remind them to leave about two inches to stuff their birds body. After it is stuffed..they can finish sewing it up.
Between classes...my students store the body/parts in a lunch sack with their name one. So helpful!!
Now for the rest of the bird, I have the student use felt. They will use tacky glue to adhere it to the surface. This will work if the students use enough tacky glue. Get the gallon refill ready friends..you will go through a lot. BUT IT IS WORTH IT!!!!
SmartFab
This stuff is AMAZING! Non-woven material....works so well for young inexperienced sewers. The big plastic needles go through super easy.
Plastic Needles
I buy these through School Specialty by the dozen. Expect several to get bent up by student who are doing the wrong thing every year!! (order extra...order some each year)
The Felt/Supply Station!
I have colors separated out in aluminum roasting pans(they are so handy & cheap!).
Tacky Glue Rules!!!! I like Elmer's version, but
any good thick tacky glue should do! After keeping after my kids forever about not using too much glue when doing collage....the rules change for this. More Glue/More Better! :) ha ha
STUFFING!
So after Christmas last year I found "snow" on sale for .50 a bag!! I snatched up several bags knowing this project would come around again! So keep your eyes open after the holidays.
