Groovy Jingle Owls

I've been getting a lot of requests about how to make these little owls. There are two online places I've found to make owls. This Japanese site and Moonstitches both have tutorials for owls with the fold down top. This is where I learned how to make them last year, only changed them up a bit to give them my own bit of Eileen's Attic cuteness. I'll show you how I made mine in this tutorial.. you might still have time to whip a few up as stocking stuffers or to hang on your own tree.

You will need these supplies: A scrap of thin wool, velvet, or corduroy for the back, cotton print for the front, white cotton for eyes, sewing thread, embroidery floss, small black buttons, 9mm jingle bells, stuffing, scissors, hemostats, stuffing stick, pins and needles.
Make a tear drop shape on a piece of paper and cut it out. You can get an idea from my picture below. My owls are pretty small, about 2"x3".. so my drop measures 4 3/4" high by 3 3/4" across a the fattest point.

Pin your teardrop and cut out one from the wool and one from the floral print. I use scraps and you can see where I've cut some out before.. no waste.

With right sides together, sew all the way around the two pieces without leaving any opening. Snip the tip off and trim the seams a little bit so it lays smooth when turned. Then with very sharp pointed scissors, starting from about 1 1/2" from the top cut a 3/4" slit in JUST the floral piece. Be careful not to cut your wool piece.

You are going to turn the owl through this little slit. I like to use these kinds of hemostats.. they are great for reaching in and grabbing and pulling the fabric through. Be careful not to tear your hole any bigger.

Now put in some stuffing to make him nice and puffy..

Only stuff the bottom.. then turn down the top when it's about right..

Now you're going to make the nose and the feet. Cut about 32" of two strands of embroidery floss, thread your needle and hide your knot in through the slit. Don't worry about closing it.. when the flap is turned down it won't matter.

Satin stitch the nose. Then when you're done don't cut your thread, insert the needle under the beak and come back out down at the bottom of the owl to attach the bells with this same thread..

Sorry this picture is so blurry.. but I hope you get the idea. Sew the bell a couple of time through the hole, then sew on the other bell.

Make a four strand thread out of the piece left on your needle and use that to make the hanging thread at the top.

Now for the eyes. I tried plain buttons, but like to make the little yo-yo's for mine.. they look so cute. If you don't know how to make yo-yo's already.. there are some great tutorials out there. But I'm going to assume that you do.

These are pretty small. I used an almost empty role of tape that was laying around for my pattern because it seemed the right size. So I measured it just for you, and it is about 1 1/2" in diameter.

Generally you are supposed to turn under and press 1/4" all around, and I tried to do that to show you but I find it easier just to turn it under as I go. I'm sure it's smaller than one fourth. You are going to want to make your stitches pretty long.. like 3/8".. so the circle closes all the way tight. If you make your stitches too tiny, the hole is too big to cover with the button.

See how tight it closes? (this is not sewn on yet.. I just found the camera liked to take a picture of the white fabric better if it was laying on the colorful owl for some strange reason)..

Now without cutting your thread, add the button and then sew it to the owl.

Make another yo-yo and sew it on..

Now go hang it on your tree. Or make two more in other colors and wrap them up as a trio for your friends.

Please note.. these are not to be given to little ones.. as the buttons and bells are very small, and you can't really sew them on tight enough that they would not for certain get pulled or chewed off and choked upon.

So I'm off to your house now to see what you've been up to....