Owl bet this is a project that would be fun for all!

Warning! Picture-heavy post ahead!

Are ya ready? In that picture above, you can see all the parts of my lil owl friend, all cut out and ready to roll.... you can see the thought process behind this lil guy's creation and links to pattern possibilities at this post.

You can see the stripe is for the main body, and for the back, and will also be used for the pocket on the front. I thought the eyes would sparkle better against that blue dot fabric, and the yellow is going to make a pop as the feet and the beak.

Let's roll!

Here are the two wings....four pieces were cut, and I quickly spray-basted some Warm and Natural batting to one side, then sewed right-sides together and turned out. The openings on the left side are where I turned it out. Pressed a bit, then sewed lines to make it look a lil more "wingy." This bad boy is not really supposed to look like an owl in the wild -- kinda stylized or cartoonish, if you ask me. (After all, how many striped owls with blue polka dot wings have YOU seen?)

The feet were prepped in much the same way, right sides together, clip the curves (you recall that from home-ec classes, no?), and turn right sides out. These will be lightly stuffed with polyfil later on.

Now, a word to the wise, here, on clipping the curves. You want to use the tips of your scissors to clip about every quarter inch on tight curves, less on milder curves. Hear that? The tips of the scissors:

Please do NOT use the main part of the scissor blades, like so:

It's WAY TOO EASY to cut right through your stitching. Yep. Shhhhhh. Don't ask.
Ahem.
Moving along, let's work on the body....

You can see that I cut out a blue piece and simply laid it over the stripe, then ran a line of straight stitching to secure it. Also, the arrow marks where I stitched to hold the blue and the striped fabric together at the top. That will be helpful when we put the body together in a few minutes.

Here is a better look at the stitching along that edge. You can also see here that I've pinned the front pocket to the body. Remember that Pepper Cory video that I told you about? I learned a trick there....I have always pinned from the outside toward the inside until now.....she made it a point (pun intended!) to pin from the inside of the project. That way if I forget and a pin makes it under my needle, there's less chance of an accident, since the skinny end can be more easily pushed aside and gone past. Cool! Even an old codger like me can learn something new!

Couldn't help myself; at this point, I stuck a remote in the pocket just to see! You may be able to see that line of stitching in the middle. Here is a better look:

I folded the fabric in the middle and creased it with my finger, then ran a line of stitching up and then back down to the bottom edge....I think dividing the pocket into two sections will make the remotes stay upright in the pocket when we are done!

Remember I mentioned a pouch of pellets? The kinda heavy ones, like in the plushies that sit where you flomp 'em down.... that's it up there. I eye-balled the measurements, and made it to fit snugly in the bottom of Mr. Owl, and (gasp!) didn't even turn it right side out.....just filled it and sewed it shut. It won't be seen....no need to get fancy here.

I laid out the eyes and eyelids a couple of times, and experimented with having his eyes look in different directions. I also wanted to make certain he had a contented, if not happy, look. You know how important placement is, on that front. You can get a scowl as an expression, if you aren't careful! (Grin) Went to my more modern machine to buttonhole stitch those....after that, took the beak that was lightly stuffed with fiber, and stitched from the underneath to attach to the face.

At this point, you will put the front and back of the body together, with the wings inside, so that their raw edges are caught in the seam (sorry, I should have photo'd that step) and stitch carefully around. I've marked where I started and stopped, leaving an opening for stuffing the bird.

Here is what I consider a Very Important Step. It's called "boxing the corners" and you can see a youtube that makes the whole process very clear. It's going to make him sit better!

See that stitching? It will make the finished corner look like this:

...and that will help him sit up nicely.
Now you are ready to stuff him with polyfil. I really packed it in there at the bottom, to give him a nice base. And he is pretty full the rest of the way up, too. I packed stuffing into the "ears" and then finally closed the opening on the side. 
Here he is from the back, after stitching the opening shut:

I stitched on buttons for his eyes, and attached his feet with tiny stitches. Also, I ran a stitch or two through his wingtips and attached them to the front of the pocket.

Ready for the reveal? Here he is!

Be. Still. My. Heart. I think I'm in love. He's adorable! I think I heard a "SQUEEE!" from across the interwebs - y'all like him, too? (Grin)

You will have to excuse me; I was so excited with how he turned out, that I went crazy taking pictures.....

Just look at that face!

Here he is, doing his job, holding the remote so we can find it easily!

I hope that if you decide to make this lil guy, you will post pictures! And I hope you enjoyed this process as much as I did!

Love,