Tutorial: Big Zakka Owl Stuffie

Back in May I posted a tutorial on how to make the little Zakka Owls, and today I'll show you how to make a BIG, 1-foot Zakka Owl stuffie like the giant one above!!  How fun!!

SUPPLIES

1/2 yard - Soft fabric for body

1/3 yard - Coordinating soft fabric for belly

1 sheet - White felt

2 sheets - Felt for eye patches and bottom

2 - 1"+ Black buttons

Embroidery floss

Large-hole sewing needle

Step 1: CUT FABRIC

This is the trickiest part of this project because you're going to have to free-hand this pattern onto your fabric.  Then again, you could take the pattern to a professional printer to have it enlarged if you really wanted to. 

The pattern can be downloaded HERE.

Free-hand the patterns onto your fabrics.

The Owl Body should be about 18" tall and the Owl Belly should be about 10"-12"" tall.

Note: When free-handing the pattern, it doesn't have to be exactly like the pattern.  The most important thing to is that Owl Belly piece is about 2/3 as tall as the Owl Body piece.

 Step 2: BEGIN TO SEW BODY

I like to use 3 of the 6 threads in embroidery floss and I use a back-stitch for this step, but you’re welcome to use a sewing machine instead.
With the wrong sides of the fabric facing each other, sew the edge of the Owl Belly (B) to the right edge of the Owl Body (A) starting at the bottom corner.  
Tie a knot when you reach the upper point of the Owl Belly (B) and cut your string. 

Step 3: CONTINUE TO SEW BODY

Repeat Step 2 on the left side of the Owl Body (A), just as you did on the right side, but do not tie a knot or cut your string.

Fold your fabric down the center as in the image above and continue sewing up to the top of the Owl Body (A).

Tie a knot and cut your string.

When finished with this step, unfold your piece and it should look similar to the second sketch in the image above

. 

Step 3: CREATE HEAD

Turn fabric right side out.

Fold just below the red line and stitch the top point (red dot) to the owl’s belly. 

Note: When sewing the point to the belly, make sure it is centered, left-to-right, otherwise your owl will have a crooked beak!

Step 4: ADD EYES

EYE PATCHES

Prior to sewing on the eye patches, pin them in place so they will be level and equally apart.

Use 6 threads of coordinating embroidery floss and sew a blanket stitch around the eye patches. 

EYE WHITES

Pin the whites of the eyes close to the inside edge of the eye patches, but don’t cover your nifty blanket stitch.

Use 6 threads of white embroidery floss and sew a blanket stitch around the eye whites, just as you did the eye patches.

EYE PUPILS

Sew the black buttons in the center of the eye whites (for a wide-eyed look).

You can also sew the buttons toward the inside (for a bit of a cross-eyed or confused look), or even out to the sides (for a crazy look).

Step 5: ADD BEAK

Cut a piece of orange/brown felt to cover the folded down point.

Pin it in place and blanket stitch around the entire beak using 6 strands of coordinating embroidery floss.

Note: I rounded the top of the beak for this owl, but you could always experiment with different looks too.

Step 6: SEW BOTTOM

Sew a running stitch around the base of the owl, about 1/4"-1/2" away from the bottom edge. 

Pull the thread in order to create a hole that's about 4"-5" in diameter. 

Tie a knot, but don’t cut the thread.

Stuff with PolyFill.

Using a running stitch, sew the Owl Bottom to the base of the owl making sure to cover the cinched stitches.

FINISHED!!  

Thanks for reading!!  Until next time...

I've submitted this tutorial to the...

Tutorial: Zakka Owl

My best friend, Brook, originally sent me the tutorial that this is based on probably over a year ago. I've made well over 10 owls since then and will be making many,

many more!

I want to thank Christina from Italy for posting the original tutorial on CO&K. I've used some of her sketches in the tutorial of my version below. I must say that her original pattern for the owls was the best available online!

NOTE: Be sure to read through the entire tutorial before beginning. This will help you understand how the owl is put together and finished.

IN ORDER TO MAKE A ZAKKA OWL, YOU WILL NEED THE PATTERN.

PRINT THIS PATTERN AT 100%.

Step 1: Gather supplies.

You will need the following materials:

• Two (2) square pieces of coordinating cotton fabric measuring about 13cm each (for the Owl’s Body and Belly)
• 3x7cm of white felt (for the Eye Whites)
• 6x12cm of felt in a color that matches the 2 cotton fabrics (for the Owl Bottom and Eye Patches)
• 2x2cm of orange felt (for the beak)
• Two (2) small black buttons that measure 7mm or less.
• Embroidery floss (or thread) in black, white, orange, and a color that goes with the fabrics and other felt color
• Poly-Fil or some kind of stuffing

Step 2: Cut fabrics and felt.

Trace and cut the Owl Body out of the simpler fabric and the Owl Belly out of the more decorative fabric. Trace and cut out two (2) Eye Whites, two (2) Eye Patches, and one (1) Owl Bottom.

Step 3: Begin sewing the body.

With the wrong sides of the fabric facing each other, sew the edge of the Owl Belly (B) to the

right edge of the Owl Body (A) starting at the bottom corner (see image to the right). Tie a knot when you reach the upper point of the Owl Belly (B) and cut your string. I like to use 3 of the 6 threads in embroidery floss and I use a backstitch for this step, but you’re welcome to use a sewing machine instead.

Step 4: Continue sewing the body.

Repeat Step 3 on the left side of the Owl Body (A), just as you did on the right side, but do not tie a knot or cut your string. Fold your fabric down the center as in the "fold/sew" image and continue sewing up to the top of the Owl Body (A). Tie a knot and cut your string. When finished with this step, unfold your piece and it should look similar to the second image to the right.

Step 5: Creating the owl’s head.

Turn fabric right side out. Fold near the red line and stitch the top point (red dot) to the owl’s belly. When sewing the point to the belly, make sure it is centered, left-to-right, otherwise your owl will have a crooked beak!

Step 6: Sewing on the eyes.

• Prior to sewing on the eye patches, pin them in place so they will be level and equally apart. When sewing on the felt eye patches, I prefer to use 3 or more of the 6 threads of embroidery floss to do a blanket stitch around them. This gives the owl a really wide-eyed look as shown in the picture to the right.
• Place the whites of the eyes close to the inside edge of the eye patches, but don’t cover your nifty blanket stitch. When sewing them on, I just use a really rough running stitch around the edges with white thread.
• Depending on the look you’re going for, you can sew the black buttons in the center of the eye whites (for a wide-eyed look), towards the inside (for a bit of a cross-eyed or confused look), or even out to the sides (for a crazy look).

Step 7: The beak.

If you like the way your owl’s face looks without a felt beak, leave it just the way it is! If you prefer to have a traditional beak, you can sew on a felt one. The easiest way I’ve found to get the perfect beak shape, is to take the corner of a piece of orange-colored felt and cut the corner as

shown in the image to the right. Once you have your triangle cut out, place it on your owl and trim any excess felt.

Sewing the beak on is super easy! Just put a single stitch in each of the three corners going from the point towards the center of the triangle.

Step 8: The bottom.

• Sew a running stitch around the base of the owl, about 4mm away from the bottom edge. Pull the thread in order to create a hole that's only about 10mm across. Tie a knot, but don’t cut the thread.
• Using a rough running stitch, sew the Owl Bottom to the base of the owl making sure to cover the cinched stitches (see the photo to the right).

ALL FINISHED!!

Enjoy your owl!!

Projects: Stuffies Galore!

Recently, I've been fascinated with making stuffies, primarily with felt and one with cotton fabric (as you can see in the image above). Since, I've yet to learn how to use my sewing machine all sewing has been by hand, but I've enjoyed every minute of each project!

This adorable little blue bird was made from a tutorial by Fantastic Toys' Timothy Haugen. You can find this tutorial and others on his WEBSITE along with tons of additional cuteness! Timothy also has a wonderful BLOG and sells his amazing creations at his SHOP on Etsy. Thanks Tim for some great tutorials!!

Talk about fun to make and charming too! This sleeping fawn it just too cute for words with it's over-sized ears and long eyelashes.

The tutorial used for this project can be adjusted so that it makes a little horse instead too! You can find the tutorial in this post on the Craftside BLOG. The original project by Stef was even published in the Palm Size Softies Book! No wonder it was published...it's just so darn sweet!

This little guy is really little! He's only about 3" tall and was designed to be a brooch by the pattern creator, Laura Howard. This was such an easy project and so much fun too! I've made two of them so far, but I'm sure I will make many more!

To make this cutie yourself, visit Laura's "Bugs and Fishes" BLOG. I'm sure you'll be hooked on making these little guys too!

Oohmahgosh! This is my fave stuffie project so far and I've named him "Big Hoot"! Since I don't know how to use my sewing machine, this took a little longer that usual, but I didn't mind one bit! I've also made 3 small owls out of felt; I gave one to my hubby to take to work and now it "flies" around his office quite often on rough days! heheheh Thanks to Cut Out & Keep user "pavlov" for publishing this amazing TUTORIAL.

I know this is my second blog post in the same day, but I need to get them in when I can, right?!?! Thanks for reading everyone!