MAKING THE OWLS
Note: Take 6mm seams throughout on small owl and 1cm seams on large owl. Join pieces with right sides together and edges level.
1 Stitch the face to the tummy A–A. Snip the curves and press the seam towards the face. Pin the eye patches to the right side, matching the broken lines. Tack narrow ricrac just inside the circumference of the eye patches, overlapping the ends. Stitch along the centre of the ricrac.
2 Stitch the claws together in pairs around the curved edge B–B, leaving the inner edge open. Clip the curves and turn right side out. Stuff the claws with toy filling, then tack the raw edges together. Tack the claws to the right side of the tummy B–B.
3 Tack the wadding to the wrong side of one pair of wings (this will be the corduroy wings for the large owl). Stitch the wings together in pairs along the front edges A–C. Carefully trim the wadding in the seam allowance close to the seam. Snip to the corner and clip the curves. Turn right side out and press. Tack the raw edges together. With right sides facing up (this will be the corduroy wings for the large owl), tack the wings to the lower sides A–D–C.
4 Stitch the upper sides to the lower sides A–D. Carefully trim the wadding in the seam allowance close to the seam. Press the seams towards the upper side.
5 Stitch the face to the back E–E. Stitch the sides to the face and tummy E–A–F. Stitch the sides to the back E–D–C–G. Snip the corners at E, clip the curves and press the seams open.
6 Stitch the base to the owl G–G–F–B–B–B–B–F–G, pivoting the owl at G and F and leaving a 10cm gap between G and G to turn right side out. Clip the corners and snip the curves. Turn right side out.
7 Thread a needle with a double length of sewing thread. Anchor the thread inside the owl at the inner edge of one set of claws at one broken line. Wrap the thread around the claws along the broken lines, bring the thread out at the inner edge and repeat while drawing up the thread to gather the claws. Fasten the thread securely and repeat to separate the ‘claws’ at each broken line. 8 Stuff the owl firmly. Slipstitch the gap closed. Stitch the beaks together. Snip the curves. Cut a small cross on one beak, taking care not to cut through to the other fabric. Turn right side out and stuff the beak. Oversew the cut edges of the cross to close the gap. Using the photograph as a guide, pin the beak, right side up, between the eye patches, and hand-sew in place.
Apply fabric glue sparingly to the eyes and stick to the centre of the eye patches. 9 To finish off the small owl, sew a button to each eye. To finish off the large owl, apply fabric glue sparingly to the inner eyes. Refer to the photo to stick the inner eyes to the eyes and then sew a button to each eye. >>