FEATHER FLOWERS.

Putaruru Press, Volume V, Issue 178, 31 March 1927, Page 2

FEATHER FLOWERS.

MAKE THEM AT HOME. The feather flower has come to stay —both as a form of table decoration and. as a buttonhole, so that it is worth while to learn how to fashion it at .home. Goose feathers dyed and cut to shape, •form the basis of' the greater number of the. feather blooms. Feathers culled from the farmyard arc apt to be soiled, but they may be cleaned by means of a little methylated spirit. The same spirit forms the medium for the dissolving of the dyes used in the majority of eases. It leaves the surface of the tinted feather fresh and dewy, and therefore specially suitable for the representation of a flower-petal. Feafliers are difficult things . to arrange unless you happen to know how to go to work. The best way is to pierce the stem with a large darning nccdl-e arid * pass thiough the hole a length of , florist’s wire. When all the petals are wired, the wires themselves are brought together in a little clump at the base of the flower. Thus they form the foundation of the stem, which may bo covered in brown or green paper, or in gutta-percha. A little seoeotine will finish off all ends. For the inner portions of the flowers, small pheasants feathers are useful; and. tiny feathers • shed at moulting times by the household canary or parrot may also be worked in to give tlie requisite touch of colour.