My Scrappy Owls

I love owls. And I'm not the only one. You see owls everywhere nowadays.

One of my favorite owl projects to make is my Scrappy Owl Pillow. I basically make cute little owls out of bits and pieces found in the deep caverns of my fabric buckets.

And they are really simple bimple. I have made quite a few...and then a few more.

I am going to attempt to show you how I do it. Attempt. That's the key word there. Try and keep up.

First of all you need some sort of pattern. I, unfortunately, cannot supply that for you. I recommend you go to my Owl Always Love You Pinterest board and see if there is one there that floats your boat.

Pinterest is full of cute little owl pillow ideas. If you are good with a pencil you can also try and free hand a pattern. I don't think it would be all that difficult.

I cannot speak to that because I got my pattern from somewhere. It's been in my possession for a while now and I can't remember from which it came. You know how that is.

For this particular project I used a variety of different fabrics. I'm all about adding yellow "notes" to my pictures now. It's out of control!  I made these owls for 2 sweet little girls. Thus...the sweet little girly fabrics.  I have used old quilt blocks, clothing I've found interesting in the past....if you can cut it up and stitch it you can use it!

Put the (right sides together) owl face and body together and sew!

Next, sew on the owl wings. I just sew a zigzag stitch around the raw edge. Gives it character! Here is a fun fact. I always use my zigzag stitch. Mostly because the straight stitch on my machine is wonky. 

After the wings are attached I usually add a little trim. Just because it makes me happy. I'm easy that way. 

For these little owls I am adding fabric eye circles under my felt eyes. You will see what I mean in a minute. I also added layers of tulle under the eyes to add some texture.

Now that the front of my owl pillow is complete I cut out my back. Why do I do that? I will tell you! Because my owls are "scrappy" the scrappy parts sometimes don't fit the finished pattern. I cut out the back material around my finished front so that everything fits together. For these owls I used some soft flannel. Also found lurking in the deep caverns of my fabric buckets.

I also notice that I am in desperate need of a manicure.

After I stitched around the pillow (leaving a bit open for stuffing purposes), I noticed I needed to trip up a few uneven edges. This makes the owl all neat and tidy.

Not to worry. Soon after I took this picture I gave my nails a proper coat of polish. 'Bout time!

Here is the almost finished product.

Here is thee second owl I was making at the same time. Cute!

 I stuffed both owls with pillow fluff (my technical term) then stitched a top stitch along the edges of the pillow. This takes some maneuvering and a steady hand, but it adds a little something special. I used to not do it, but I saw some pillows that where like this. I was inspired.

Viola! The finished product. I used felt for the eyes and beak. Sometimes, when I have plenty of time to sit on my couch, I hand stitch the felt eyes and beak on with embroidery floss. However, this was a hot glue kind of event. You know how that goes.

And here is the other one. All fun and whimsical. And ready to be treasured by a special little girl.

 

I hope I've inspired you to create! 

A Handmade Christmas: "Owl" Be Here (for you)

Where has December gone? Wherever it went it took some of my sanity with it :<). I head into the Holiday season fully armed with tactics to help make me come through intact with all my marbles. Unfortunately, I still manage to loose a few...when will I ever learn? Oh well. I should probably just embrace the crazy.

As promised I am posting pics of the rest of my little owl pillows. (My first batch can be found here) I finally finished the rest of them this week.  My pictures aren't great. I need to piddle around with my camera some more. I've only had it a year. Sadly, my "piddle" time is pretty limited.

I made these owls entirely from scraps I had on hand. I love using what I have on hand...it makes me feel productive and domestic and enterprising. And it makes The Studly Muffin happy. There are less trips to the fabric store :<)

This guy is for a nephew. I used denim for his head and plaid wool for his trim and his back. His body and wings are actually shirts (donated by The Studly Muffin (aka my hubby) and my dad). Dad's gray shirt had sheet rock mud in various spots. I am not sure if he knows Mom gave it to me to use...Surprise!

Just days after I had finished my other little owls....not to mention the dozen or so aprons I had whipped out...my mom came across a forgotten treasure. Some sweet old lady had given her piles of vintage quilting blocks and fabric. It was all I could do not to redo all my previous projects to include these treasures. This little gal is sporting a vintage quilt block tummy. The little do-dah in her ear is also from the vintage stock.  Her head, wings and back are made from scraps I had from some of my apron making.

I used some more of the quilting blocks on this one too. I also used some of the vintage fabric for her wings. Even the yo-yo I made is from that same collection.  My little owls seemed destined to always have wonky noses. If I were smart and planned better I would tack the nose down initially with a straight pin or something before I stitch it. If I were smart and planned better. You can also see my freaky pinkie finger shadow...I must extend my pinkie finger when I take pictures. That's just plain weird.

This one is for a niece. My pic is a little fuzzy. I can see now that I forgot to attach a button to the flower in her ear...Oops. This fabric is leftover from an apron I made.

Another blurry picture! This little guy is for my little guy. He is similar to the owl I made for my nephew, but I used some Nascar fabric (I just had a little piece in my scrapbag) for his head.

So that's "owl" for now (hah!) My sewing machine is going back into the closet for a little while. I cleaned off the dining room table and quickly filled it up with baked Christmas goodies. Sigh.


Rebekah

A Handmade Christmas: "Owl" Together Now!

So I've been tinkering with my blog design again. I'm not really happy with this particular look. I wanted to do something Christmasy and I love the background and header individually, but it's just not working for me. And I really didn't have time to mess with it. But because I'm crazy like that and have nothing at all to do (sarcasm alert)...My dining room table has so much stuff on it right now there isn't any room to actually eat there. Hello. My name is Beke and I don't know when to stop. Anybody else like that?

Anyhoo. I thought I would share one of my top secret Christmas projects. I can safely splash these pics all over the net because the recipients of any of these cuties won't likely be hanging out at my blog.

Owls are a really big thing right now. I saw lots of these pillows over on Pinterest. And because I have nothing at all to do (sarcasm alert...again) I thought I would whip some up for some of nieces and nephews and of course, Josiah.

What I love about this project is that I was able to use bits and pieces out of my scrapbag and didn't have to go out and purchase yards of fabric. I have been working on another top secret Christmas project (which I will share soon) and have some pretty cute fabric scraps just begging to be used.

I finished the first three last night. I plan on making 3 more. Just please don't look too closely at my stitching skills. I fake it 'til I make it.

Here are the trio. I made a little Christmas Owl to take to my Momma this weekend. The other two are for two of my nieces.

I almost named this one Lola. But then decided I better let my niece name her. I don't know why I thought of Lola. Except her tropical colors remind me of Barry Manilow. You know. "Her name was Lola...she was a show girl...." You know! "At the Copa, Copacabana..." Oh come on! I can't be only one in the world who get that!  Lola's beak is a little whanky. But she's had a rough life...At the Copacabana, don't fall in love!

This is my Merry Christmas Owl. I think she needs some kind of something. But for now I am just happy she's done. I wish I would have taken a picture of her backside. See her fringy flannel trim? I used it for her back, too. Very cute. And no. I didn't give her a name.

This one is probably finished. I don't know. I am still thinking about adding a button to the little oval shape she has on her belly. But (just a bit of advice), I should have sewn the buttons on before I stuffed her. She doesn't have a name either. Though I am thinking of Clementine (don't ask).

This were pretty simple to make. I found a few tutorials.

This one has great pictures and detailed instructions, plus a pattern.

This one is a little more like the owls I made, but I had trouble finding her instructions. Maybe someone else will have better luck.

What helped me the most was this youtube video. I had trouble finding her pattern pieces so I just made my own. I am extremely visual so video this was a lifesaver.

I still have another girl owl to make and 2 boy owls. After Christmas I think I will make a few more to send to some other little nieces and nephew. I'll try and share them as I make them.  That is until The Studly Muffin decides he would like to see the Dining Room table again.