Little Bird by Chloe Redfern

Chloe Redfern’s project ‘Little Bird’ depicting a little blue fairy wren would have to be one of the sweetest projects in Inspirations issue #103. This adorable little creature, with his rotund belly and cheekily erect tail is a study in texture, colour and simplicity.

When we first saw it, we were immediately reminded of a colouring book and it made us think about the recent craze of colouring books for grownups and what relationship it has with stitching.

Although colouring books have been around for children since the 19th century, it was only around 2010 that colouring books for adults hit the shelves and their popularity exploded. It has been theorised that this craze has taken over (and, indeed, has not yet abated) as people searched for ways to slow down, focus and exercise some kind of personal creativity in this hectic and often out-of-control digital age.

We’ve often heard stitchers say that it seems such a shame that all of those adults who buy colouring pencils and books didn’t just pick up a needle and thread! Whereas colouring books encourage you to produce something you end up closing the cover on and forget about it, or worse throw it in the recycling bin, with a needle and thread you are going to create something to proudly display for many years to come.

Let’s take Chloe’s Little Bird. This project requires you to essentially colour in a beautiful line drawing using only five easy stitches to add texture and bring the little chap to life.

Most beginners to needlework will learn back stitch, running stitch, satin stitch and straight stitch and that is really all that Chloe has asked us to do. Perhaps the French knot might bring pause to someone new to embroidery, but only until they’ve seen it done and worked their first knot.

Little Bird also uses a delightfully simple palette of colours in easy to source DMC cotton.

Although there is a bit of care required in colour placement if you want to achieve the gorgeous perfection of Chloe’s design, like any creative work you could reduce colours or substitute colours to suit your own desires and still achieve a wonderful result.

Next time you’re browsing in a bookshop or wandering through the newsagent and you see someone picking up an adult colouring book, we know you’ll be wanting to tap them on the shoulder and tell them that there is a better way to achieve peace, mindfulness and creativity.

Perhaps all you need to do is casually pick up a copy of Inspirations, open it to Chloe’s blue fairy wren and subtly edge closer. You never know… it might just be enough to make them realise that we’ve been enjoying what those colouring books purport to do for us, for many, many years.

Step 1 – Purchase Project Instructions

Little Bird by Chloe Redfern is a delightful superb fairy wren to frame in a hoop.

Step 2 – Purchase Ready-To-Stitch Kit

The Inspirations Ready-To-Stitch kit for Little Bird includes everything you need to re-create this charming bird: Fabric (unprinted), wool felt, embroidery threads and needle.

Please Note: Instructions are not included with our kits. For detailed information on how to create the project, please refer to the magazine.

Step 3 – How About A Hoop?

If you are planning on stitching the project ‘Little Bird’ you’ll need a 15cm (6”) hoop and if you don’t already have one, we’ve got premium quality hoops available to purchase from our website.

As mentioned in the article above, colouring books for grown-ups has become quite the thing in recent years and we even have our own for you to enjoy.

Coloured Stitches features 24 spectacular designs from needlework projects that have appeared in Inspirations Magazine over the years. It’s a great way of combining a love for stitching and colouring and is a great gift for the kids as a soft introduction to the world of needlework.

Coloured Stiches comes with a pack of 10 coloured pencils all ready for you to make the world more beautiful one pencil stroke at a time!