Adding Padding...

I added padding to "flesh out" my birds yesterday. I selected the areas I want to stand out from my ground fabric to give dimension to each bird. 

The baby bird in the background doesn't have padding because I want it to stay behind the other two. I added blue felt to the adult bird so that when I begin embroidering those areas, that area is the color thread I'll be using. Plus, it adds a separate dimension for the head and wing.  I'll explain the bird in flight below.

First I sewed most of the felt fabric shape down to the ground fabric, but I left an opening for the stuffing. I pushed the stuffing into the shape using an orange stick (like those used as cuticle sticks for manicures. The ones I have are about six inches long and the perfect size for most applications.

Many who add dimension in this way to their needlework, use fiberfill, however I prefer organic wool (here), or organic cotton batt. I like the texture and natural fibers over synthetic.

Once the shape is padded to my liking, I sew the last part of the shape down and that element is ready to begin the embroidery.

I padded the main body of the bird in flight, but also the head, as this will help with the illusion that the bird is flying toward the onlooker. I also didn't fully pad the lower body so it will recede as I add the threads during embroidering.

Now that this step is completed, I'll be able to begin the actual stitching. I think I'll begin with the baby birds. This is going to be fun!