What you need:

1. Leather scraps of any colour

2. 2 meters of waxed thread or any other strong thread

3. Needle with an eye large enough to pass the waxed thread through

4. Size 0 round hole punch for leather

5. Hammer

6. Block of wood

7. Zipper about 4 inches long but you could cut a larger one to fit the size.

8. Needle and thread to match the zipper colour

9. Rivets (optional)

10. Strong pair of scissors / surgical knife (Scalpel)

11. Template or u could make your own.

12. Marker

13. Pencil

14. Pen

Step 1: Print and Cut Template

Download the following template, print and cut its individual parts.

The holes marked for punching are only indicative to give you an idea of how to go about punching. The small markings on the body edge are for the beak and back piece positioning.

leather bird template.pdf
Download

Step 2: Draw Each Part

Place the paper cut out on the reverse side of the leather and draw it out. Choose different colour leather for each part to make it interesting, if you have leather scraps in various colours.

Step 3: Cut Out Each Part

Using a strong pair of scissors or a surgical knife to cut out each piece.

Step 4: Make the Eyes - Riveting (Optional)

I thought adding a rivet to the eye would give it an additional detail and could be used to attach the eyes to the body, but it didn't turn out as expected.So the rivet is optional. If you'd like to add it, here's how.

Make a hole in the centre of each circle meant for the eyes. It has to be large enough to fit the river through. Make a small cross and then cut along the ends to make a squarish hole. Then place the small circle over the big one and the rivet through both.

Turned out that the rivet was not long enough to serve its purpose as the leather I used was thick. I still managed to use it to hold the two pieces together, though it couldn't be used to join directly to the body and thus I ended up stitching the eyes to the body as in the next step.

Step 5: Make the Eyes

In order to punch, place the piece of leather on a block of wood. Position the punch perpendicular to the leather, at the point you need the hole. With the hammer, firmly strike the punch a couple of times and the leather will be punched.

Use the punch to make a hole in the centre of the circles cut out for the eyes. Make the point where the eyes are to be attached to the body, by placing the paper cut out on the leather body and poking the needle through the paper to create a marking on the leather. Then punch this point.

Place the eyes on the body and mark out points (using a market or pen) around the eyes, where you wish to punch in order to stitch the eyes to the body. You can stich the eyes at this point or wait to stitch later.

Step 6: Marking and Attaching the Wings

Take the wings and punch out holes along the edge for stitching. Make sure to punch atleast 5mm away from the edge and make an even number of holes.

Now place the wing on the body at the place you wish to attach them and using a pen, mark out the points of the punches. This is done by making a dot with a pen, through the holes punched (see pic in next step), so that you have them aligned for stitching later. You could stich the wings now using a simple running stitch or do it later.

Step 7: Marking and Attaching the Tail

Place both pieces of the tail together and punch two holes as per the template. You could also punch one tail feather first and using the method used in marking the wings, by placing one over the other and using a pen to align and mark the holes, do so for the next. Use the same method to mark holes to attach to the body.

Step 8: Marking the Beak

Fold the beak piece in half and punch an even number of holes. Place the beak at the desired location on the body and using the pen mark the point for the corresponding holes on the body. The beak will be attached later.

Step 9: Punch Holes on the Front and Back Piece

Punch an even number of holes on the front and back pieces (as shown in the template) and then using the overlap and pen, make corresponding markings on the body.

Punch holes on the body to join the zip too.

You now have all the holes made for stitching and putting the purse together.

Step 10: Attach Individual Pieces

You can begin by attaching the eyes, then the wings and then the tail. Use a simple running stitch or any stich that you are comfortable using.

Once the pieces to be attached to the body are done, attach the back piece first, starting from one side, going to the tail and coming back the other.

By the number of holes you have punched for the front and back pieces, you can determine how much of zipper length you need. At this point you can cut the zipper

Step 11: Cutting and Attaching the Zipper

Since I had a slightly larger zipper, I cut it to the required size by first placing it approximately to fit the area it would cover.

Make a marking for where the zipper should end and using a needle and thread create a stopper by simple going around as in the picture.

Place the zipper in position and continue stitching. Attach it to the body on one side.

Step 12: Attaching the Front Piece

Now place the front piece in position below the body, with the beak piece between the front piece and the body. Continue stitching around the top and come down the other side with the other side of the beak in between the body and the front piece. You can now tie a knot and cut the thread.

Now start stitching such that you start from one open end of the zipper to the other (the two holes on the bottom of the front piece) continue along the unstitched side of the body so as to finish attaching the zipper until you reach the back piece. Here again take the needle to make a stitch over the end of the zipper and the bottom of the back piece. Tie a knot.