Sparrow weaving off the loom

To finish the lower edges of the wings I did a row of soumack stitch. Then I wove the tail and finally the plain light colour. I reinforced the edges with a soumack stitch over the last strand of weft. With contrasting thread I carefully marked some strategic matching points on the edges of the two pieces. 

Then I turned the weaving over and clipped the holding threads. 

I gently released the weaving from the backing and pulled the ends to the inside. I am really pleased with the shaping of the top of the head: smooth and round with no seam. I stitched the black beads firmly against the inside of the eye holes which makes the bird start to come alive. 

I joined the short neck seam using the weft thread with stitches that blend into the weaving. The next stage will be adding stiffening wire to the tail and applying the paper beak. These will both take a little bit of figuring out.