Stuffed Owl Doorstop (Sewing Project)

Stuffed Owl Doorstop (Sewing Project)

11 comments

crafts, fabric, kids, sewing, tutorial

Share It:

Don't you love when you see something in a store you would like to buy but you think to yourself, "I can make that!" and then you actually do make it?  Success!  That happened to me recently. Ellie's door doesn't stay open and I have been looking for a cute, child friendly doorstop for a while. I saw the cutest stuffed owl doorstop at Home Goods the other day and it was cheap enough. I put it into my basket, happy that I would no longer have to stuff Jim's old tshirts under the door to keep it open.

I kept looking at it and realized it was so simple in construction that I bet I could make something similar at home. Plus, I have to start using up some of my fabric stash. So I put the little owl back for someone else to buy.  And then I went home and made this.

It was an hour long project and super easy to complete.  Here's a tutorial I put together to show you the technique, however, I don't think specific measurements are really needed and to be honest, I didn't measure anything. What else is new, right?

Make a body pattern:  I freehanded half an owl shape on a folded piece of waxed paper and then cut it out.

 Make a bottom pattern: I drew a football shape on a folded piece of waxed paper. I sized it to be an inch smaller than my body pattern on either side. Then cut it out.

Make a half circle pattern shape for the wings.

Don't ask me why I made a pattern for the front and the back since I just used one of them and traced it twice. I'm a pattern novice, ok?  I not think so good.

Trace your pattern onto your fabrics and cut out the pieces. You need:
2 body pieces
1 bottom piece
4 wing pieces

Once you have the main pieces cut out, set aside and make your eyes and beak out of felt. I used whatever circular things I had around the house to trace the circles. The white ones are from a BM paint sample (for the foyer!), the pinks are from a spool of thread, and the blue from a dime! Easy!  I cut out a diamond for the beak.

Sew your eyes to the right side of the one of the body pieces. I used a variety of stitches and contrasting threads because I wanted it to appear very homespun. I only sewed down the bottom half of the diamond so the beak would be open a bit.

Place the body pieces right sides together. Right side to the inside, pin the bottom piece onto the body pieces.
 

I sewed the bottom piece on first.

I stitched my body pieces together next. I started my stitches at the corner of the bottom piece, making sure I closed up the joining points well. Then stitch all around the body, leaving about a 2 inch opening.

Snip some notches in the curves and trim the excess fabric around the seams.

Turn right sides out.

Take your 4 wing pieces and put them right sides together so you have 2 pairs of wings.

Stitch around leaving an opening (about an inch).

Turn them right sides out and stuff with fiberfill. I preferred to keep my a little flat so I didn't fill them too much. Hand sew the openings closed.

Use fiberfill to stuff the top half of your owl.  I found it easier to sew my wings on after it was stuffed a bit but that's up to you. You can do it before or after you stuff.

 After you've sewn on your wings, you can fill it with rice, beans, or sand. I used rice in the event it opened up at some point. Rice is non toxic, isn't a real choking hazard, and is easy to vacuum up. I used 3 lbs of rice to fill this baby. Can you believe it? 

Like my fancy, high end funnel? 

 Sew up your opening and DONE!  Isn't she cute?  I love her!  And she actually works!

What would I do differently?  I would make the beak orange. I could have because I have orange felt but..sigh..it was upstairs and I was downstairs and well, it felt SO far away at that moment. But hindsight being what it is, I think orange would have been better.

Molly wants one too now even though her door stays open by itself. Frankly, it was so quick and easy I could make her one just for the heck of it!

And another $6.99 Home Goods won't be getting from me!  HA HA HA!  No really, I love HG.

Cheers!
Jenny