look what i made!.....the first owl

this might become a habit...
i had seen these stuffed owls on etsy last christmastime and was going to buy one for bella. this year i made one. that is a BIG change, friends, are ya feelin' me.

i cut out the "pattern pieces" from a brown paper sack. (from my little peabrain)....here they are, in case you wanna go into the owl business for your wee ones...

first the pieces of the base body....


then the wings and belly

p.s. to make the second wing...TURN THE PATTERN AROUND!!!! not the fabric, not yourself...not your attitude...it took me THREE times to get that! don't forget!

next the eyes and nose (beak...)

(it wasn't until i was sewing the eyes together that i decided i didn't like using the contrast fabric for the eyeball....so i used glittery black felt which kicks so much ass instead...also, beak is upside down in this pic. what you do to make it is make a "baseball diamond"...a diamond with a rounded top...viola! bird nose! the eyes are concentric circles, as you can see... i hate talking down to the reader AND have ocd...whatchagunnado...)

THEN i got a bright idea..."i don't want the back to be plain. i will sew the child's name on it...yay!"...jonathan cut out "letter patterns" for me (thnx jonathan dear)....this BRIGHT IDEA took FIVE HOURS to handstitch and fill! yay! but here is the picture of the pieces....
the "bellaluna"

the indigochildish idea behind the name was, (besides the PLAIN, which really was the main motivator) that wee ones who don't know their name yet would be able to SEE their name and maybe learn it, and have a "sense memory" for the letters in their name.(plus it shows ownership...something important to tots....i made that up)

THen the steps (this is where i refrained from taking pictures of every single little step like other yuppiebitcheswithblogs might do to you....i THINK you can take it from here...if i did it then certainly you can!)

*** i handstitched the bellaluna letters on the back and stuffed them with bits of filling (from an old pillow i had bought at walmart for $3...NEVER buy batting again! NEVER)


***then i sewed the belly on to the front and stuffed it a little.

***then sewed the wings on and stuffed them....

***then i sewed the eyes, guess what i did then...you're right! i stuffed the individual pieces of the eyes! you are smart! i knew it!

****then i machine stitched as much as i could (i stuffed the ears first THEN put it all inside out...) which wasnt much and was kinda painstaking, but i did it, leaving (of course) a hole in the bottom to stuff the rest....

***then i stuffed it...(that word is getting old, isn't it?) and sewed shut the hole.

***did the little tiny nooks and crannies that i had to fix and sew...

then sat back and MARVELED That i did it....

****then i took these pictures to share with you....

***Then bella got to hold it for a minute before it goes into the solsticecloset...