Some of my favorite memories are of trying to communicate with birds. I remember sitting on the rusty fence in our side yard, looking up at doves on the telephone wires and trying to speak to them in what I now call "bird talk." Which was actually just human talk in a cooing birdlike voice. Eventually I became good at emulating their twittering and sometimes, they even respond back. Now, I tend to chirp while thinking. It's something I do without even noticing until someone points it out.

Of course, with a love of birds, comes a love of feathers—which has never faded.

I often use feathers as base layers on hats, but I tend to only wear those hats in summertime. In the winter, it’s too cold to wear fascinators. Therefore, in order to incorporate feathers into my winter wardrobe, I decided to make myself a scarf.

This can also be used as a Halloween accessory!

Feathers are somewhat difficult to sew through—even with a sewing machine—and there is quite a bit of hand sewing that must also be done. Despite this, the design is relatively simple. All together, with the gluing and the sewing by machine and by hand, it took me about 10 hours. So, give yourself a couple days and prepare to be patient.

Materials

I chose greens and blacks to make my scarf, but you can choose whatever colors you want. I chose goose feathers for structure and rooster feathers for decoration but, of course, you can choose any feathers you prefer.

What I used:

Black goose feathers
Black and green rooster feathers
Small black and green Lady Amherst pheasant feathers (for trim)
Green fabric
Hot Glue
Sewing machine
Sewing needle
Green thread
Cotton stuffing

Create Your Pattern

Create a pattern similar to the one above. This is an approximate and imperfect pattern that can be altered to fit your needs. If you can’t print it out, it’s ok to freehand the pattern because the top will be covered in feathers and no one but you will see the bottom. However, having a pattern makes your design more uniform and helps avoid lopsided scarfs.

You can also cut out the top and bottom semi circles as one piece rather than two. I chose to do two pieces so that, when I wear it, it creases naturally at my neck.

Connect the Scarf Bases

If you cut your top and bottom pieces into four pieces (like the pattern above, rather than two pieces), sew together the two sides of the top and the two sides of the bottom. This will create your scarf base.

Organize Your Feathers

Organize your feathers by length. This is a lot more important than it sounds. You can place the feathers on your scarf randomly, but it will also look random. By organizing by length you create a more layered and dramatic silhouette.

Arrange the longest feathers from largest in the middle and shortest on the sides. This will be your first layer of feathers on the scarf. It’s important that the first layers are the longest as the rest of the feathers will be layered over them.

Attach the Feathers

To attach the feathers, start with a small dab of hot glue to keep it in place. Don’t use too much glue because feathers are already difficult to sew through and it could damage your sewing machine or needle.

Once the first layer is in place, sew the feathers on.

Repeat the process until the scarf is covered.

Use your smallest feathers as trim across the bottom. This should the the area closest to your neck.

By the time you’ve added your small feather trim, you should have many healthy layers.

You might be tempted to stop now—until you try it on. Feathers are beautiful, but their shafts (yep, that’s what they’re called) can be sharp and uncomfortable on your neck. So, it’s important to add some padding between your skin and the feathers.

Connect the Pieces

Using a sewing machine to connect the top and bottom parts of your scarf can damage the feathers. While hand sewing may be slow moving and more work, it is highly recommended at this point.

Sew together the top and sides of your scarf.

Add Stuffing

This is an entirely optional step. I wear this scarf almost exclusively in wintertime and knew I would when I made it. So, I wanted an extra layer for warmth. It also adds extra padding between my neck and the feathers.

Once you’ve added the stuffing, sew up the bottom seam.

Hey, guess what!? You’re almost done!

The Fabric Trim

Fold the fabric trim over the bottom and pin it. It should cover the tiny shafts of the trim feathers and the bottom seam. Sew it in place.

Fasteners

Lastly, add hook and eye fasteners (or a button or tie—whatever fastener you prefer) to the bottom corner of the scarf, where it meets beneath your chin. That way it wont flop off your neck when you wear it out.

Congratulations!

You just finished your very own feather scarf! Enjoy!

P.S.: Please don’t wear it as a headdress. Don’t be that guy.

Feather Scarf