Doing what your doing will make a better looking and moving jig. If you use the whole feather and just tie it down it is faster to tie but stiffer and doesn’t move as well in water. They make some smaller marabou feathers which I think you could use to tie directly on. Skip should chime in here as he has a wealth of knowledge on this. I have done both ways and depending on my feather is how I tie. I hate wasting them......lol.