There are many different ways, but here are some that I made a couple of years ago:
This is a super simple design and construction method. Fabric can be anything you have on hand, but make sure its not too stretchy. I have used everything from lightweight upholstery to quilting cotton to velvet.
What you will need:
Fabric Scraps
Paper, ruler, pens, cardboard (for making the pattern)
Sewing machine and related supplies
Glue - fabric or tacky glue will work
Dried stick coated in glue or other similar item
Embroidery floss
For my sticks, I had saved some really nice long skinny branches when I trimmed my lilly pilly. I let them dry for a period of time and coated them with Mod Podge matte finish to seal them. You could use any kind of stick or dowell or even a straw? Whatever you have on hand will work.
First thing we need to do is to make the pattern. I made this one by folding some tracing paper in half vertically, then cut out on the fold, to make the whole piece. Scale is in inches, so around 3" high by about 2" wide when complete. Just make a pleasing teardrop shape like the below:
Take one of the fabric pieces and mark the outline of the pattern onto the reverse (wrong) side. Gluing the pattern onto cardboard will help if you wish to trace multiples:
Stitch inside the marks - I used a 6mm seam. Stitch all the way around without leaving a gap:
(As an alternative, you can trim the pattern by 6mm, and draw the line as a stitching line. You will see that I have done this in the updated photos below.)
Trim the seam close to the stitching or clip the curve or use pinking scissors, and trim the point:
Decide which side is to be the body and which side is to be the nose. (Note - I needed to change photos due to incomplete or missing info - sorry if this is confusing to anyone).
Plain body, patterned nose:
Patterned body, plain nose:
On the side that is to be the body, mark where the turning slit is to be. This is where the piece will be turned to the right side. It will be covered once the nose piece is folded over. Make sure this is high enough and small enough to be covered once folded over. Make sure you only cut through the one layer:
Turn through the hole:
Pop some stuffing into the body through the hole leaving the pointy end empty. I like to use my thread scraps and trimmings from my overlocker but you could use fibre fill. If using scrap threads, be mindful of the darker colours showing through any light coloured fabrics and adjust accordingly. The effect of the thread scraps makes a more dense fill, rather than soft and puffy:
Keep filling until you are happy with the way that the nose piece is sitting. Note that the slit has been covered by the nose piece:
Next, lets stitch the nose down. Choose some matching (or contrasting) embroidery floss (I used leftover bits from other projects). It doesn't matter how many strands, but the more strands you use will make it more difficult to pull through the stitch hole.
Knot the end and stitch through under where the slit has been cut. Take a small stitch to secure then pass the needle up through the point of the nose:
Fold the nose piece over to where you want it to be when completed. You can put a pin in to hold it in place as you stitch, if you wish:
Take the needle and make a stitch vertically from your current position and come back up in the original stitch. Make sure that you go through the body piece when pushing through the needle.
Now take the needle and determine where you want the sides of the "V" to sit. Insert the needle at one side and stitch through to the other side and pull through, catching the body piece underneath:
Take the needle and go back through the original stitch hole and back into a place under the nose piece where it can be secured but still hidden:
Now select your stick piece. I had already snapped a piece off my branch, coated with matte Mod Podge and left to dry. You can put a dab of glue on the underside of the body if you wish to have a more secure grip between the stick and the base and stop it from twisting. I used an elastic band to hold the stick in place while I stitched the little claws but you could use a hair tie or similar. It also helps to show where the centre point is, for reference as to where to place the claws:
Select the embroidery floss that you wish to use for the claws and cut a length around 30cm long and put a knot in the end. Again, it doesn't matter how many strands you use - I used four in this case.
Enter through the front under the nose piece so it is hidden, and come out at the back where the first claw is to be placed:
Turn it back to the front and stitch around the stick, go through all layers and back through the front three times. On the third turn, go through to the other side of the back, and repeat the process.
Secure the threads back up under the nose piece:
Now for some eyes! Test some different sizes and styles, to see which is best for your owl.
I like to put a googly eye on top of a sequin, but you could use anything on hand, such as buttons or beads. Below are the three types that I decided to test - 11mm sequin + eye, 9mm sequin + eye and 1cm eye with eyelid. Each will give a different look to your owl - it just depends on what you like:
Use fabric or tacky glue to hold your eyes in place.
I'm not going to tell you which eyes I have chosen, just yet. I'm going to keep this as a surprise :)
Next, lets add the pin to the back. The pin back I had on hand was 1cm wide, but it could be larger if that is what you have. I used a dab of glue to hold in place as I stitched all around to hold:
And your owl is now completed!
So, which eyes did I choose??
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Surprise!! Its the 9mm purple sequin with the tiny eyes :)
They all look so different depending on the fabric chosen, but its the eyes that give it the final character. These are some of the first that I made. Note the eyes on the first two are sequins with seed beads, rather than the googly eyes. You can see the progression of how the eyes evolved over time:
VARIATION - FRIDGE MAGNET
Why not make the owls into fridge magnets??
I covered the magnets with fabric circles (like making a yoyo), then glued to the back. This is not essential, but it stops the fridge getting scratched up.
FINAL OBSERVATIONS: Scraps of any size can always be made into something cute.
