craftgrrl | tutorial

OWL Tutorial

Here's the tutorial finally!
You can also find all the other links to the other tutorials HERE

Materials:
fabric (any will work it's where you can get creative, I like using a pattern for the body and muslin or canvas for the belly (that's the smaller pattern piece)
needle and thread
embroidery thread (for the beak)
buttons (for the eyes)
felt
cardboard or 3 x 5 cards

(NOTE: I hand stitch all the owls I don't use a sewing machine, but I'm sure it's possible. I just like hand sewing these, I usually cut and pin a bunch of the pattern pieces and then put them in my purse, I sew while at work, watching tv, long car rides, and waiting rooms haha)

Here is the pattern (sorry it's not some fancy file you can download I didn't have time to figure it out on the computer) I drew it on a 8 x 10 blank piece of paper just so you get an idea on the size:

here are the pieces already cut:

Pin the smaller piece on the right side of the fabric like I show here:

backstitch along the edge like shown here (I usually go over it a second time cause the fabric can fray while you sew):

fold the fabric including the belly in half and pin the top like you see in this picture:

open and pin the side that's not stitched like this and then backstitch that side like you did with the other side:

Then fold again and stitch from where the stitching you just did starts to the top point (it's only necessary to do it once), then cut the extra fabric at the very top point without cutting where you stitched:

Turn the fabric inside out and use a sharp point like a pencil or closed set of scissors to get the point like this:

fold the top point towards the front and pin ( you can just eyeball it and decide where you want the beak, the lower you put it the smaller the owl):

now starting from the inside (that's where the knot will be) use the embroidery thread and stitch the beak (make sure you are not stitching the owl together, I made that mistake more than once haha) like this:

now before stuffing the owl do a running stitch all along the bottom:

stuff the owl to your liking ( I like them a bit chubby!) and pull the thread, gather the fabric and knot:

Now you have the owl body: next you will need a piece of felt, and the small piece of cardboard or 3 x 5 cards (this is what I use cause it's easier to work with and it's handy):

cut the felt in a circle the size of the bottom of the owl. Then cut the 3 x 5 cards in a smaller circle leaving some fabric so you can stitch around it: