Tying Feathers

[itokasniye]

I glue fishing swivels into the end of the feather. it enables them to spin really good in the wind. looks neato.

[powwowbum49]

Greyhawks

There are a lot of different kinds of accessories that require different techniques of feather work. I will try to explain a few, but every craftwork does things differently and you will need to experiment to find what you can work with the best.

Scalp feather - This uses several kinds of work. You may want to use extensions on the feathers. I use bamboo skewers, long round toothpick or the plastic shaft out of Q tips. After it is extended you can use many things to wrap the shaft, normally in combination. Feathers or colored deerhair is normally first at the bottom of the original feather. Then thread or quill wrapping, or gourd stitch bead work. Sometimes the leather is left plain or it has silvers spots added or even paint applied to it. Paint is sometimes applied to the quill of the feather and leather spots placed at the tip. Keep in mind there are not hard and fast rule when it comes to feather work.

Dangling feathers -- here again there are a lot of thing you can do. Some folks use fishing swivels at the end of the quill so the feather has lots of movement. If the feathers are small, gluing and then thread wrapping a piece of thin ribbon to the shaft will produce good movement also. Some folks prefer the old way of cutting the quill, softening it and then inserting it back in the shaft to form a loop, then covering the rest with felt or leather and maybe beadwork. The feather itself can be left plain or can be decorated as mentioned above (in scalp feathers).

Clustered feathers --- these are just as they sound. They can be plain or decorated and are usually hung in large bunched. The shaft can be wrapped with leather like in loose fan contruction and then bunched on the end of a rod for a roach pin or dance staff. Some folks will whip them right to the end of the rod if they want them to be more rigid on the piece.

Feather work is really a lot to do with person taste and how the artist wants the piece to look. There are new innovative techniques being created all the time on how they are put together and used, so have fun and experiment.

Hope this helps and good luck

[This message has been edited by powwowbum49 (edited November 21, 2000).]

[greyhawks]

Mainly accessories right now, but interested in all articles.
I just started going to Pow Wows a year ago, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Currently trying to trace heritage.
Excuse me for rambling.

[powwowbum49]

What kind of feather work are you doing? Is it for bustles or is it fans or accessories or what?

More than happy to help but I need a little more info.

[greyhawks]

Looking for info on properly tying feathers.
Any help is appreciated.