Trio of heart owls

1. To begin, trace the owl templates onto thin card and cut out. Draw around the card templates onto the felt sheets with a black or white ballpoint pen depending on the colour of felt. Cut the pieces out with sharp scissors, cutting just inside the pen line so no ink shows on your fabric. Each owl’s body is made from two colours of felt.

2. Make each owl in the same way – we suggest you work on the largest of the trio first. Take the two sets of wing sections and overlap the three pieces of each, making one set a mirror image of the other. Pin the pieces in place and oversew along the scallops with small stitches through the layers to hold the pieces together. Pin the assembled wings to each side of one oval body piece.

3. Take the main eyebrow piece and stitch the two larger eyeballs in place. Sew the top curve of the beak to the eyebrows between the eyeballs. Add the small eyebrow pieces to the main shape so the ends butt up to the top of the beak and the curves overlap the eyeballs slightly. Sew in place as far as the base of the feathering so the tips can bend forwards a little.

4. Pin the assembled eyebrow section to the top of the oval. Adjust the position of the wings if necessary. Cut two small eyes from black felt and place in the centre of each eyeball. Place a suitably sized button on top and sew in place through all layers of felt several times to ensure they are secure. Oversew the eyebrow section and wings in place. Add a couple of small stitches to the top of the beak as nostrils.

5. Stitch a heart to the centre of the body and add a pair of yellow felt feet to the base of the oval. Pin the finished body front to the plain oval back piece. Turn over and oversew around the edges leaving a gap at the bottom of the owl for stuffing. In some areas the feet, wings and eyebrows extend from the body edges. Where this occurs, catch the top layer of the felt in with the oversewing to hold flat against the body without the stitches showing on the front. Lightly stuff the body of the owl with fibre filling to achieve a smooth padded finish and oversew the bottom seam.

Duo of owls

1. To begin, trace the owl templates onto thin card and cut out. Draw around the card templates onto the felt sheets with a black or white ballpoint pen depending on the colour of felt. Cut the pieces out with sharp scissors, cutting just inside the pen line so no ink shows on your fabric. Cut out the largest pattern pieces first, rotating and flipping the templates where necessary to get the most out of your felt sheet.

2. The front of the owl’s body is made up of layered pieces that are then sewn to the main body section. Begin by pinning the four tail feathers together and oversewing in place with small stitches. Take the three wing sections and pin together. Oversew together on the reverse of the work along the straight edges of the section so the feathers can lift at the front. Take care to make your stitches as small as possible so they are not visible at the front.

3. Stitch the beak to the eyebrow section before oversewing the eyebrow to the circular face piece. Add suitably sized buttons for eyes. Position the finished face on the half body piece and oversew. Lay the plain body piece down and arrange the half body, wing and tail sections on top. Pin the front body sections together and oversew to create one complete front section.

4. Sew the front to the back body leaving a 4cm gap just below the bottom of the wing. Neaten the owl by oversewing all unstitched edges of felt for a uniform finish. Stuff the head area of the owl with fibre filling. Cut a wooden skewer in half and push into the gap, stuffing the area around them with fibre filling. Stitch the gap closed around the skewers. Drill two 4mm diameter holes in the top of a small log, approximately 1cm apart. Fit the skewers into the holes, trimming the length as necessary.