I am always dreaming up more ways to use fabric scraps since like most fiber artists I have a hard time throwing them out if they can be used for something. I previously wrote about making scrap fabric cloth napkins and baby wipes which you can read about by clicking here. But there are only so many napkins and wipes a family needs and my scrap pile is growing!
So the other day while it poured rain outside, I had an idea to make a stuffed owl for our little nugget. She is at the age where she likes having a “lovey” to snuggle and hold onto when taking a nap. She has a few stuffed toys given to her as baby gifts but a lot of them are made in China which I’m leery about giving to her and especially to snuggle with at nap time!
I’ve been seeing more owls in nature this last year than I have in my whole life so I now have a bit of an obsession with owls. So making a stuffed owl seemed perfect, although you could easily make a different stuffed critter of your choice just by drawing out a different animal pattern.
Draw your pattern on paper. I used a piece of junk mail (another great way to repurpose which I hadn’t mentioned in an earlier post you can read here on repurposing junk mail!) and sketched out an owl.
To make sure both halves of the owl are symmetrical, fold the paper down the middle and cut out your pattern.
For the owl you need eyes, nose and two wings so need to cut out a pattern for these also. I free handed the eyes and nose patterns but for the wings I put a piece of scrap paper on top of the main owl pattern and traced where I had drawn the wings on the main pattern. Once I cut out the wing I laid it on top to make sure it fit.
As you can see my sketch is a bit off that I did before cutting but since I folded it in half to cut out the pattern I’m using the wing pattern from the one side that is more accurate.
Then select your fabrics. I don’t have a lot of big pieces of scrap fabric because I make and sell a lot of things I can use with smaller pieces of fabric, like cloth mama pads and washable nursing pads. I did find a super soft piece of yellow minky fleece and some blue flannel not big enough to use in a soaker pad and too boring for a nursing pad 
Place your patterns on your chosen fabric and cut out the pieces. Make sure to cut two wings and a front body piece and back body piece.
Pin the eyes, nose, and wings to the front main body and sew them on.
Then place the front body piece to the back body piece with right sides together and pin. Make sure to leave at least 1-2“ open to turn and stuff your critter. I left mine open at the bottom and always put a pin parallel to my fabric edge to make sure I know that is where I need to leave the opening.
Sew the front and back together.
Turn right side out and stuff. I don’t have fiberfill around the house so chose to stuff ours with scraps from my serger machine. These are all cotton/flannel/wool scraps in thin enough strips that I know they will wash/dry fine and won’t be lumpy when I stuff it. Another great way to reuse very tiny fabric scraps and not throw them away!
Once your critter is stuffed, sew the opening closed. You could try to do this on your machine but I always find it easier to hand stitch closed. And you’re done!
I gave it to our little nugget as soon as I finished since she was sitting next to me in her highchair watching the project. She loved it!
The next nap she took she snuggled her new owly friend and loves to touch the super soft fleece.
If you make a scrappy critter please share what you made and even a picture so we can see what all you’re creating!
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thanks for linking this up it is so cute! AND I love projects made with scraps..your are being featured this week!
How exciting we’re being featured, I can’t wait to check out the new posts this week! Thanks for visiting and hosting such a fun link up!
How darling! I wish I had time to sew again. It is a nice winter project for me. Looks like little one loved the owl!
Our baby does just love this little owl! She actually snuggles up with it for naps and loves to play with it which makes me so happy since it was a mama handmade
This is awesome! I’m totally gonna try this. I hand sew since I don’t have a machine but this looks like I could do it easily by hand! I have lots of scraps as I make my own prefolds and burp cloths.
Dani Sue if you try it I would love if you came back and shared what you created! I think it would be really easy to make by hand sewing.
That is adorable. I have to show it to my daughter. She baby that she takes care of during the day loves owls….