Whimsy Hooters

Fun little fact for the day: Owls have special feathers that are adapted to silent flight. Yes, sometimes I possess characteristics of the walking encyclopedia of useless knowledge. Regardless, owls are cool, super cute and according to Ryan Gosling, I started the owl craze. So taking this all into consideration, I whipped up a couple little stuffed owls that are perfect for little girls and/or little girls' beds. (I know this because my Kade sleeps with hers). These little guys are so easy to make, so I wanted to share! It also required hardly anything, but time! I got the fabric from the remnants section and it came with several other pieces of fabric (of which I'm using for tooth fairy pillows) for only 50 cents!

Materials Needed: 

Two colors/prints of corresponding fabrics (Cut as big as you like, but for an 8x5 inch owl, I used approximately 10x7 of fabric, allowing for the seam and fill expansion)

Corresponding thread

Whatever you choose to stuff it with (I forgot to get polyfill at the store, so I took an old stuffed animal apart, hehe)

           ******You may see some things doubled here because I made two at the same time! Hope this doesn't confuse anyone! I'll gladly answer any questions.

Here are my two fabrics:

Next, there is no particular pattern I followed, I just drew the shape of an owl onto the fabric (mind you, AFTER practicing on paper 30 times since drawing is the one thing I don't do!) after I ironed and got a nice crease in my fold line. Keep in my mind, I'm not concerned about it being perfect. It adds to the charm of it :) If I wanted perfect, I'd go to the store and then they'd just be Hooters and not Whimsy Hooters! So here's the shape I came out with.

Now it's time to cut out all of the features. Using the contrast fabric, cut out two circles for the eyes and two (yes, two) beaks, and from the main fabric, two smaller circle for the pupil (or use a button!) Using the side of the owl as a guide for the wing, I drew out the shape I wanted for them.

Now it's time to start sewing. Separate the two pieces of of fabric from your owl and work with what you want as the front of your owl.  Starting with the wings, pin them to the owl. I used just a straight stitch to attach the wings, then went over that with a zig-zag stitch for decoration. I also used some straight stitching from the edges, down into the wing to give the appearance of feathers.

Now that we have the wings on, we can proportionately place the eyes. Do not separate the two fabric pieces of the eyes. Following the same technique I used with the wings, straight stitch the eyes on. Then, I can't deceive you here, I cheated and used fabric glue to attach the pupils. After I let it set for a bit to dry, I followed the straight stitch of the eyes with a zig-zag stitch. As with the eyes, don't separate the pieces of the nose either. Straight stitch it on. 

Now this was cute and all, but when I was placing my pieces out onto my fabric, something caught my attention, I had cut extra beaks and one had flipped up, giving the illusion of the an open beak, so I went with it. I sewed the second beak closed and placed it on the other beak. Straight stitch it on and then zig-zag stitch on top of that.

 This was really the most of your work. Things should go quickly from here, providing two children, a husband, and two dogs don't need something every 5 seconds, but we know that's a little too much to wish for ;) Now we turn our fabric to the wrong side and pin it to the other piece of the body that we set to the side earlier, leaving an opening at the bottom of the owl about two inches so you can stuff it. Sew with a straight stitch. 

Now we have to turn the owl right side out. The easiest way way with this piece was to roll the fabric and pull it through the hole. 

You see that paint brush in the last picture? I happened to have that sitting around, so I ran the end of that through the inside seam to press everything out and point the ears really good. There is a tool you can buy specifically for this type of thing, but given the size of the project, it was completely unnecessary. 

Finally: stuff your owl and hand sew up the hole in the owl using a ladder stitch. 

And voila: Whimsy Hooters :)