To Wit, To the Loo - Carrie's Owl Door Stop Tutorial

People often ask how I come up with ideas for my weekly tutorial, sometimes it is something I spot in a shop which sets me off, other times it can be an article or even a comment from a friend... but this week I surpassed myself... the idea came to me when I was sitting on the loo!  I have to admit, I like patterned loo paper, don't ask me why, I just do.  Anyway, I ripped a couple of sheets off the roll and found myself staring at an owl, yes, you heard me, the loo paper has owls all over it... so that is where the idea came from...

So let's get started, you will need:

A piece of fabric 6.5" wide by 18" long
A contrasting scrap of fabric and the same amount of iron on interfacing
12" of ric rac braiding
Scissors and/or rotary cutter, cutting mat and rule
Pins, cotton, embroidery cotton and a needle
Paper, wine glass or large cup
Scraps of felt
A bag of rice
A fish knife
A penny
Air erasable pen
Iron and ironing board

Cut out your main piece of fabric, fold over 3.5" at one end, then fold the other end over so it measures 6.5" (it will overlap by an inch) leaving the piece at the back measuring 8".  Press it into place.

Now, take your glass and draw around it, then measure the diameter of the circle and make a dot the same distance from the edge of the circle.  Now draw a line to each side of the circle, it will look like a big tear, but when we cut it in half down the centre and you have created a pair of wings for your owl.

Pin the pattern pieces onto your contrasting fabric and cut them out.  Now, lay them on top of you interfacing an iron it on.  Cut away the excess interfacing and pin the wings in place on the long side of the fabric, I placed mine two inches above the short fold (which is on the other side) and sew it into place staying as close to the edge as you can.  Next take your ric rac braiding and place it over the raw stitched edge of the wing... do not worry about the braid only being able to go in straight lines, it will happily ease around the curves.  Pin it in place and now sew it down.

Decide what colour you want your owl's eyes to be, I chose a chocolate brown, pop two pennies onto the felt and draw around them.  Put the felt circles where you feel they look right for your eyes.  I sewed them in place using an embroidery thread, come up through the middle and go to 12 o'clock sew into the back, then back up through the middle and sew down to six o'clock, repeat then for three and nine o'clock.  Now do the same between each of these stitches (eight in total)... hmmm, the middle looks a bit uninspiring, so finish it with a little french knot.  Now, repeat this for the other eye.

For the beak cut out a square about an inch wide, fold it diagonally, place it beneath the eyes and sew it from corner to corner... now your owl is almost there.

Pin the ends together, leave a 3" gap in the middle and sew a half inch seam on each side.

Now pin the sides together and sew a 5/8" seam.  Check where your eyes are, because this is the top of the doorstop.  Mark in 1/2" down the side seam and across the top fold and another dot an inch from the side seam on both sides, draw up from the side to the dot on the fold, the down to the next dot, draw a line across to the dot on the other side and create the other triangles ... you have just marked out the ears, sew along the line and trim it close to the seam.

At the bottom of the owl, we are going to create a base like we did with Deborah's tote bag, iron open the seam and use the seam to bisect the triangle you have created, sew it an inch from the point and sew it across twice and trim off the excess.

Now turn your owl right sides out, use the fish knife to poke out the ears and the base.

Fill the door stop with rice (you will be relieved to know I did not use the risotto rice in the picture but a cheaper rice), fill it and then poke your fingers in there as you will probably be able to pop in about a quarter more.  

Pin the opening together and slip stitch it in place.

Set your owl on the floor and let it do its job.

You are probably wondering why it is called Carrie's owl, well I sat next to her at my last job and she loved owls, and is a wonderful artist as well as mother, also she had some of the best asides I have ever heard... and if she is not careful she may find one winging its way to her!


Now on  you go over to Wendy's Handmade Monday and see what everyone has been doing during the past week.  I missed posting last weekend because I was busy celebrating my birthday at our Jubilee Street Party.