I contributed this post on Gingersnap Crafts last week which was such a great experience for me as a newbie blogger!
I am very much a seamstress in progress and have loved learning some new skills over the last few years. More than this though, one of the loveliest parts of sewing has been sharing it with my girls. They have loved creating their own little unique pieces and watching how they have picked up the basic skills has been so amazing.
This wee owl has been one of their favourite projects…so much so that my eldest has begun making them for her friends!!
A couple of precursors….
// Using felt is great for kids as it doesn’t fray, is easy for them to handle and is bright and colourful. The main body of the owl itself is relatively small so scraps of lovely fabric can be used…I backed the owls in a white felt so the amount of fabric needed for the body was reduced again, this meant we could use some lovely (but small) offcuts I had. The fabric we chose was a remnant from my bedroom curtains when I was little; I love, love, love this fabric, a proper 1970s vintage!
// I backed the fabric used for the eyes with iron-on bondaweb, initially we only ironed these on but we found that stitching around made them much more secure.
1. Have a basic stencils for the body, wings, eyes and beak cut out which the girls used to draw around on their chosen fabric.
2. Cut out each piece of fabric using stencils.
3. Iron on the eye pieces and sew around to secure in place. Sew the two ‘beak’ triangles into position along the top edge.
4. On back of fabric trace around main owl stencil.
5. Place the body pieces right side together with the two wings placed inward on either side.
6. Sew around the whole body piece leaving a gap to turn right side out.
7. Trim around owl, clipping curves to give a smooth edge when turned right side out.
8. Turn fabric right side out and fill with stuffing.
9. Sew up the gap at the base either using your machine or a small slip stitch.
We have loved making these little owls in different patterns and colours.
Over the last while I have loved making and creating with my girls…passing on the love of a hobby, of the enjoyment of making something from scratch and the satisfaction of coming up with an idea and following it to it’s end. Trying to combine my own ideas whilst allowing them to follow their own wee creative urges.
Follow along with me on ‘Sewing with Kids’ series as I try to encourage their fledgling skills!!
This is so cute, and such a great tutorial! I'm pinning it so I can make one or two for my little boys 🙂
Hi Janice, your owl is adorable! Thanks for sharing great tutorial.
Have a wonderful week!
Hugs from Portugal,
Ana Love Craft
http://www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com
Thanks 🙂
Cute owl! I've been making a lot of owls lately. I love them!
Navy Wifey Peters @ Submarine Sunday Link Party
I love the owl, I wish you well as a new blogger. This post makes me want to get my sewing machine. With Spring coming, we hope, I would love a few of the owls to sit on my porch.
Janice
They are so easy to make and my wee one loves making them…you could rustle up a few in no time!!