Some of you wanted to know how to do an over the top feather. Here is my interpretation. I hope you can understand the drawings.
I recommend using an air erasable pen to draw your feathers first. In the beginning, it's much easier to sew with somthing to follow.
I begin with a spine to follow and then continue on with the feathers. The red color shows where to go over the top of the previous feather and then continue in the same manner until you reach the beginning of the spine. Then I follow the spine closely back to the first feather and start the feathers on the opposite side.
I made another drawing to show that you can shape your spine anyway you want and the red in the drawing shows where I meet the last feather to the beginning of my spine.
I hope these instructions make sense, If they don't, post questions and I will try to make them more clear.