Birthday stuffed owl toy

Ever wonder what to do with scraps of fleece that are leftover after completing a project?  I had some yardage left and made this baby-friendly plush owl. An iron-on number by JOY reflects the child's age. Alphabet letters for initials work here too!

You will need:

Joy iron-on number

12" x 33" piece of fleece

Sewing machine, needle and thread

Tracing pen

Scissors

Felt pieces:  turquoise, pink, cream, brown, yellow

Polyester filling/stuffing

Wood chopstick

Owl pattern - click here to download

1.  Print and cut out my pattern. Cut two 12" square pieces of fleece and lay them down together, right sides facing in. Lay the pattern on top of the layers and trace around it on to the fleece.  Remove the pattern, cut out the owl and pin the fleece together and sew a 3/8" seam around the owl, leaving an opening in the bottom. 

2.  Cut little snips into the seam allowance (careful not to cut through the stitching) around the curves.  Turn the owl right side out, using the chopstick to push out the points in the ears. 

4.  Fill the owl with fiberfill. Use the chopstick to get it into the small areas. Turn in the seam of the opening and whipstitch it closed.

5.  For the eyes, cut a pair each of the following sizes of felt circles:  turquoise: 1-3/4"; pink: 1-1/4"; cream: 1"; brown: 1/2".  Stack the circles from largest to smallest and stitch them together.

6.  For the beak, fold a piece of yellow felt in half and cut a small triangle with the fold at the bottom. Stitch along the top edge to attach to the owl as shown.

7.  For the wings, layer two pieces of fleece for each wing and cut out using the pattern. Reverse the pattern and repeat for the second wing. Stitch around each wing using a whipstitch or a blanket stitch and attach the wings to the owl with a couple small stitches.

8.  Cut out three felt hearts:  4" turquoise; 3.5" cream, 3" pink. Layer the hearts as shown and attach by sewing a running stitch around the inside of the pink heart. Attach to the owl with a couple stitches, leaving the middle open for a little pocket.

9.  Follow the manufacturer's directions to iron-on the embroidered number to the heart.