I've felt kind of self-conscious about "putting a bird on it" since I saw the Portlandia sketch, 'Put a Bird on it'. So true! Not that I've felt self-conscious enough to stop putting birds on things, especially when an overwhelming number of people actually make special requests for bird features. And why not, right? Birds are freaking awesome! They can fly (you tried it lately?)! They build nests (tried that? It's like ultra-craft)! There are so many different kinds! With so many awesome features and characters! And there are so many teatowels with birds on them!

So I still do a lot of bird-related craft, and I still have a whole wall in my house (though it's currently packed up) full of bird paintings and embroideries and wall-vases and ceramics and tiles and nests, though all the while, in the back of my head, is Carrie Brownstein's face with a weird plastered smile saying "put a bird on it!". That's cool man. I'm into self-reflexive irony and laughing at oneself (hard not to when you're a wholefood-eating, organically sustainable lesbian who does craft). No probs. I fully dig it.

Now that I've said all that, however, I need to clarify that it was a total coincidence that the following skirts, all but one of them featuring birds, were all completed and photographed today. Just goes to show that a. birds are cool and b. people still want them even when bird craft is having the piss taken out of it on a pretty mega scale.

So, without further ado and/or complicated rambling, here are said bird skirts.

These Australian birds are heading off to Seattle! A lovely lady called Kelsey ordered them after harbouring a longstanding desire for a P&E of her own ever since she saw the galah on Frocks and Frou Frou.

And these little babies are going to sunny Earlwood. I have an inexpressible feeling of love for the little parrot on the bottom of this skirt who's cleaning his tail.

The totally spectacular and freakishly detailed Indian scene on the blue wrap skirt has several birds in it.

I don't even think I've seen them all. It's one of those designs that's so intricate that you see something new every time you look at it. There's even a peacock!

There aren't many things in life more awesome or cheerful than a colourful seersucker tablecloth, except perhaps a colourful seersucker tablecloth that's been made into a skirt featuring a patch-pocket made out of a teatowel with birds on it.

The teatowel used for this pocket was a little worse for wear, but, like the horsey teatowel, it was deserving of a second life on account of it's beautiful-ness. So, once again, I called on my friend vliesofix, and revived and strengthened ye olde teatowel by ironing it onto some sturdy and fetching 70s curtain fabric.

I then used my pinking shears around the edges, and sewed it on. Lia, of Bayswater WA, this one's for you. Please wash it gently on account of the ancientness of your pocket.

This skirt, featuring some kind of Asian, bamboo-dwelling little chirper, is actually made of wool. Yes, I know that October is a weird time of year to be making a wool skirt, but this lady does live in Tasmania, so I'm guessing she's a got a little time before things really hot up. Also, she requested grey and this was all I had left in my stash.

Besides which, it goes excellently with the bamboo/bird situation, and is lifted and brightened (and therefore cool-spring-ified) by the red vintage buttons and red stitching. Sold yet?

This one is the only non-bird skirt in today's lot but by jingo by crikey (what does that mean?) it is not by any means less exciting for that reason. For one, I'm sending it to Melanie, of Jabiru in t he Northern Territory. NT is somewhere I've never been and is, in my mind, by far the most exotic place in Australia. To me, it seems like it should almost be another planet with all that crazy shit they've got going on up there. So I get excited when I think of this skirt, on Melanie, wandering the streets of Jabiru. Second reason I'm excited about this skirt is that I have had the fabric for forever (2.5 years, to be precise), but have never understood how it would 'work' as a piece of clothing. Enter my friend Nicole, who is beautiful, clever, and very very flash in the creating department. After dinner and a few wines, while rummaging through my fabric, Nicole held up this fabric, wrapped it around herself, and showed me just how awesome it was. The colours! The intricate pattern! The bold black lines!

Melanie, I hope you're feelin' it.