Scrap Fabric Hand-Sewn Owls

I so vary rarely make fabric or sewing crafts, so I have a ton of left over fabric scraps from crafts I’ve made a while ago. In an effort to clean out my fabric stash and try some new crafting techniques, I decided to make these cute little owls (because I need MORE stuff just hanging around my apartment!).

I just love these cute little felt owls, though! I got so carried away that I ended up making one for almost every holiday! They’re so easy to make and they’re the perfect last minute Valentine gift for your sweetie! These little felt owls also make great ornaments or gift tags.

While I made my owls by hand, you can easily use a sewing machine. I was just too lazy to get my machine out for these little guys 🙂 So gather up your fabric scraps and let’s get to bird makin’! For the sake of the season, I’ll show you how to make a Valentine’s owl, specifically the one in the second row all the way to the left.

Felt Owls

Materials:

Owl template (I drew mine freehand-it stood about 4 1/2” long and 2 1/4” wide)
Felt in varying colors
Scissors
Needle
Thread
Colored embroidery thread
Sewing pins
5-6 cotton balls

Instructions:

Here’s a picture of my template, in case you want to print it and use it yourself. You might have to scale it to the size you’d like.
Pin your template to the felt you’d like to use for the wings of your owl. I marked the right and left wings just in case!
Cut your wings out like so. Save all the extra pieces because you’ll need them later.
Pin the middle template of your owl to the felt you’d like to use for the body of the bird. You’re using the main template to help you pin your wings in place.
Using your white felt, cut out two circles, about the size of your thumb. These are for the eyes. Pin those in place on the body of the bird (remove the main template before pinning on the eyes, obviously!).
Cut out two small circles and a beak from your black felt and a little tummy (if you want!) from another shade of felt. Pin the tummy in place so your bird looks like this:
To attach the small black circles, use some colored embroidery thread and tie a knot at the end. I tied mine three times just for safe measure! Cut off the small tail and string the thread through the black dot so the knot is on the OUTSIDE. Then string it through the center of the white eye. Secure and repeat for the other eye.
Continue to sew all the other embellishments into place. Soon your little owl will look like this!:
Now it’s time to assemble your owl! Place the owl face down on the back fabric. You want both front sides facing each other and the back sides facing out…that way when your turn it inside out, the front sides are on the outside!
Pin the segments of the cut templates back into place.
Sew around the template, stitching the two fabrics together. You can use a machine for this, but I didn’t mind doing it by hand. Leave about 2 inches of room for stuffing.
Cut about a quarter of an inch around your stitching to remove excess fabric. Remove the template and discard. Turn your owl inside out so the wrong side is now inside and the right side is on the outside.
Pull your cotton balls apart so they’re long and stringy. Stuff some into the ears of your owl first, and then stuff until he’s full! Sew the hole closed and you’ve got yourself a cute little owl!