Sewing For Children - owl pillow pattern and tutorial

One of the greatest compliments I ever recieved was from my little P. P and her friend were running wild through the house playing their games and as they passed by the door to the "office" (my sewing room) her friend stopped and asked "what is your mom doing?" (I was sitting at my sewing machine working on a quilt). P replied "Oh, she's making things. My mom's REALLY good at making things." Then the two of them ran off to contiune their play, while I was left with a very sweet moment to ponder and cherish. What more could I ask as a mother? My daughter is proud to tell her little friend about what I do.

I really enjoy making things for my children. It is so much nicer than buying toys at the store. Where is the love in that? I feel like my children appreicate what I make them as well. They watch anxiously as the little stuffed animals, quilts and clothing I have promised to them come together. I think that, even at their young age, they do notice the TIME I spent on their gift, and to a child TIME equals LOVE.

I am not a perfect mother. My children are three handfuls, and I have not yet mastered how to raise them with only 2 hands. I get sad and frustrated on a daily basis. I fall back on sewing as a way to escape. But when I sew for my Children I am not just doing their laundry, washing their dishes, or picking up their toys, I am creating something for them that is a lasting reminder of how much I really do love them.

I encourage you to make something for a child in your life. Why not start with these cute owl pillows? I am so glad I snapped a couple quick pictures before I gave them to the kids. Soon after I let them have their owls they took them outside and now they are very loved and very dirty. Awesome FREE pattern and tutorial for Owl Pillow HERE!

The kids "helping" me stuff their owl pillows :)

Pelly Owls

My favorite way to create is to just grab some fabric from my stash and start to cut, no pattern, just purely out of my head. That is how this little pair of owls came to be. I fell in love with this fabric and knew I wanted to have some of it in my daughter's room. So, one Sunday afternoon I grabbed a few fat quarters and began to sew these little owls together. They are incredibly simple to make, just a ball shape with great big eyes and a beak. My daughters named them "Pelly Owls" and threw them around for awhile until I took them back and set them on the self (afraid that my less than perfect stitches would pop).

Surprisingly I did make up a pattern, mostly as an after thought though, so I don't have a complete tutorial with pictures and all that. But like I said, they are so simple to make you should be fine just following my instructions. You can download the pattern pieces HERE!

Supply List

1 fat quarter

contrasting fabric scraps for wings

white and black wool felt

stuffing

Cut out 3 body pieces. Decide which piece you want for your owls face. Cut 2 eye pieces, 1 beak, and 2 ears out of the wool felt. Using a blanket stitch, stitch on the eyes and the beak to the body piece you choose for the front. Cut 2 wing pieces out of the contrasting fabric. Top stitch the wings onto the front owl piece. I left the edges raw on the wings and even pulled a few threads to unravel them just a bit.

Assemble the body by taking two of the body pieces, placing them right sides together and sewing along one of the vertical seams. Repeat with the third body piece (your face piece) by sewing it to the other two pieces along the vertical seams. Leave two small openings in your sewing on the top of the owls head where you insert the owls ears. Pinch the bottom of the owls ears and insert them, pointed side down, into the small openings and stitch closed. With right sides facing and the edges aligned, pin the base piece to the bottom opening of the body. Make sure it fits well and trim the base piece if necessary. Sew the base piece to the body, leaving a small whole for turning. Turn the whole piece right side out. Stuff your owl and hand stitch the opening closed.